Recap: Anthony Bourdain's 'Parts Unknown' Visits Armenia

Bridget Hallinan

 

Every Sunday, we live vicariously through Anthony Bourdain's globe-hopping, face-stuffing adventures on CNN's Parts Unknown. This week, he takes us to Armenia: a true "part unknown" for the TV host, as it's his first time in the country. With the accompaniment of Serj Tankian—lead singer of System of a Down, and an Armenian-American—Bourdain dives deep into Armenia's history. There are painful discussions (the Armenian genocide in 1915, when an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman government; the diaspora; the earthquake in 1988), as well as optimistic glimpses into the country's future, bolstered by a booming IT industry and impressive after school programs. “Armenia remains a dream, a subject of stories; it is still, against all odds, a place,” Bourdain said during the show.

Armenia's Peaceful Revolution Is a Lesson for Putin

Leonid Bershidsky

It was almost inconceivable after Russia's violent reaction to Ukraine's 2014 "Revolution of Dignity" that tiny Armenia, a largely Moscow-friendly nation, would attempt a revolution of its own. Yet on Monday [April 23, 2018], Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan was forced to resign by mass protests that paralyzed the nation.

Will Trump Ignore a Visit from the President of Nagorno-Karabakh?

John Evans (*)

 

In 451 A.D., Armenian warriors, having just lost a fierce battle with the superior Persian Empire, retreated into the forests of Artsakh in the South Caucasus. They had lost the war, but preserved their Christian faith, and thus considered it a victory. Armenia was the first nation to embrace Christianity, in the year 301.

In 2018, a small but determined Armenian democratic republic, the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (or “Artsakh,” as Armenians call it) is attempting to survive, threatened by a militarily superior power that wishes to crush it. Professor Audrey Altstadt, in her recent article about Azerbaijan did not mention Nagorno-Karabakh, but perhaps ought to have, as the plight of the citizens of that unrecognized de facto state constitutes a serious violation of human rights.

You Can Visit the Moon, but not Nagorno-Karabakh: the Mind-Boggling Politics of Azerbaijan’s Aliyev Administration

 Christopher Atamian

Haykaram Nahapetyan

Who’s out there? A bewildered Hamlet queries at the beginning of Shakespeare’s greatest of plays. In the case of Azerbaijan, a dictatorial Caviar Republic on the Caspian, the answer is a particular type of insane unscrupulousness that is perfectly in tune with the new wave of right-wing leaders and human rights violators coming to power and ensconced everywhere from Washington D.C. to Moscow. Journalists facing violence, even death, is nothing new but this particular story takes on unique importance because several governments (Belarus and Azerbaijan) have all collaborated directly or indirectly in order to persecute an innocent man—Aleksander Lapshin—as if he were guilty of murder.

Sasna Tsrer: The ARF Position in Context

Haig Kaiserian

 

Like most Armenians who followed the developments in Erebuni over the past two weeks, I am deeply passionate about the status of Armenia—our nation, as well as its inhabitants.

On July 17, an armed group calling themselves the “Sasna Tsrer”, primarily made up of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh/NKR) war veterans, stormed the Armenian Police Yerevan City Patrol Regiment Building in the suburb of Erebuni, announcing the start of an “uprising.” They took officers as hostages, demanding immediate regime change with the resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan and the release of “political prisoners”, especially the leader of the “Founding Parliament” movement, Jirair Sefilyan, himself an Artsakh war veteran.

President Serge Sarkisian Breaks Silence After Two-Week Standoff

A day after the surrender by the group “Daredevils of Sasoun,” who occupied a police compound in the Erebuni district of Yerevan from July 17-31, President Serge Sargsyan broke his silence and addressed the crisis that ensued in Armenia.

On August 1, 2016, Sargsyan hosted what his press service called “representatives of the different segments of the society group,” among them cultural figures, medical professional, members of the legislative and executive branches of the government, as well as clergy headed by Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s a Happy Breakaway Republic, But Its War Goes On

Anna Nemtsova

At sunset flocks of swallows race through the pink sky over the central square of Stepanakert, a city once bombed and largely destroyed in a the post-Soviet war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In the 21 years since the heavy fighting ended, there is still occasional shooting around the frontier with Azerbaijan, but this capital of the self-proclaimed state — this early “breakaway republic” — of Nagorno-Karabakh is peaceful.

Superficially, it resembles other quasi-nations dotting the map of the former Soviet Union: Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Transnistria and more recently the embattled self-proclaimed states of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine. But where those have depended mainly on Russian backing, and critics would argue they are Russian creations, Nagorno-Karabakh has found other sponsors.

Azerbaijan: Falling Economy, Rising Karabakh War Risk

Youri Smakouz

 

Azerbaijan is a major energy exporter. It is also one of the most oil-dependent economies in Eurasia and has been hit hard by lower oil prices. If the current fiscal trends persist, regional stability is likely to come under growing threat.

The country’s 2015 budget, which envisaged a high level of spending on infrastructure projects, was drawn up under the assumption that the average oil price would be $90 per barrel. Now the oil price is hovering around $60 per barrel and previously envisioned levels of state spending do not seem sustainable, at least in the near term. As a result, the government must confront austerity.

Azerbaijan Once Again Spreads Slander at an Official Level

“Azerbaijan once again spreads slander at an official level, trying to make other nations serve for the solution of its own problems,” said Ashot Sargsyan, Head of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs of the government staff of the Republic of Mountainous Karabagh, in response to the statement of Mubariz Qurbanli, Chairman of the Azerbaijani State Committee on Religious Organizations Affairs, that Armenians have destroyed numerous Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Aghvan (Caucasian Albanian) (*) monuments in the "occupied territories."

"All the monuments in Artsakh have been protected, regardless of their origin or religious affiliation. Unlike Azerbaijan, we preserve and reconstruct antiquities, but we not eliminate them. The mosques of Shushi and Aghdam (Akna) till remain as excellent examples. They are Muslim cultural and spiritual values, and we respect them. Otherwise, why do these mosques still exist?," he said, adding that there have been many examples of Armenian monuments vandalized, as well as graves desecrated and completely destroyed by Azerbaijanis.

The Turkey-Armenia Protocols: The End

In a statement issued on February 16, 2015, Armenian President Serge Sargsyan said he had asked National Assembly speaker Galust Sahakian to return the protocol to him. This marks the announced end of the protocols brokered by the United States and Russia, with the intermediation of Switzerland, in 2009.
On April 23, 2009, an agreement of “mutual understanding,” defined as a “roadmap,” had been agreed upon by Armenia and Turkey assuring the world that mutually beneficial relations between them were forthcoming.
In the days leading to the signing of the proposals, Sargsyan made a tour of several Armenian communities around the world, including New York, Paris, Beirut, and Los Angeles, only to be met with scorn and outrage.
Public outcry had virtually no swaying influence on the resolve of the Armenian authorities, and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian alongside his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu signed the protocols in Zurich on Oct. 10, 2009.
On April 22, 2010, only seven months after signing the accord, Sargsyan made a statement, in which he made it clear that the political majority in the National Assembly considered statements from the Turkish side unacceptable, “specifically those by Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, who has again made the ratification of the Armenia-Turkey protocols by the Turkish parliament directly dependent on a resolution over Nagorno-Karabagh.”
In his letter, Sargsyan says that prior to embarking on the process of normalizing Armenia-Turkey relations, the Armenian side had taken into account all possible future developments. The president stressed that just as they were prepared for the regulation of relations via the ratification of the protocols, they were also prepared for their failure. “…We had nothing to hide and it will become clear to the international community, as to who is responsible for the last closed border in Europe…” the letter reads.
“Almost six years have passed since the signing of the Armenia-Turkey protocols. During this entire time, Armenia has always illustrated a consistent position regarding the implementation of the protocols. However, it is necessary to point out the absence of political will by Turkey’s rulers, and the distortion of the spirit and letter of the protocols and the continual discussion of preconditions. Parallel to this, on the cusp of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the policy of denialism and the editing of history has gained more impetus,” Sargsyan’s letter states.
The President said that he has used every opportunity to raise this issue, including from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly in September, 2014 when he made some tough statements about Turkey’s intransigence and unwillingness to ratify the protocols.
“It pains me that Armenia’s entreaties were not heard by the leaders of Turkey. Thereby, I have taken a decision to recall the Armenia-Turkey protocols, signed on October 10, 2009 in Zurich, from the National Assembly.”

Aliyev’s Dictatorship is Threat to Regional and Global Stability

Viken Khlgatyan

Armen Sahakyan 

After inheriting the half-a-century-old reins of power in 2003 from his deceased father, Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev has tried to position his country as a reliable producer of energy and counter-terrorism partner for the West. At the same time he has pursued rapid militarization, anti-Armenianism, and the consolidation of a strongman regime.

Dangerous Trends Developing in the Caucasus

Edmond Y. Azadian

 

Call it with whatever you wish but realize that an intensifying Cold War is looming on the horizon. The East-West confrontation is gaining momentum and further developments in that direction may soon get out of hand.

Causes and Consequences of the Helicopter Attack, and Baku’s Motives for Escalation

The continuous state-sponsored terrorism campaign of the Republic of Azerbaijan against the Republics of Artsakh and Armenia recently culminated in a shooting of an unarmed helicopter belonging to the Air Force of the Republic of Artsakh. The helicopter was conducting a training flight within its sovereign air space. It is intellectually naive to attribute such aggressive behavior to one factor. Rather, there is a host of major drivers of Azerbaijan’s adventurism, which this article will address. They are namely heavy petrol-reliance, increasing domestic illegitimacy of the governing regime, loss of international reputation, the ongoing Ukrainian Crisis, the false parity of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, and the projected perpetual decline of Azerbaijan’s relative regional power and role.

Yerevan Considering Recall of Turkey-Armenian Protocols, Says Serzh Sarkisian at the UN

Speaking at the UN General Assembly on September 24, 2014, President Serzh Sarkisian hinted that official Yerevan is considering the recall of the Turkey-Armenia Protocols since Turkey continues to insist on the resolution of the Karabagh conflict in favor of Azerbaijan as a precondition for ratifying the documents.

Russia’s Next Land Grab

Brenda Shaffer (1)

Notes by "Armeniaca"

 

We have posted this fine piece of "political art" posing as political science only because The New York Times allowed itself to forget that a "newspaper of record" must have facts checked before running something, including giving away op-ed space to a lobbyist for a foreign country. Therefore, we took that task upon ourselves. Neither the First Amendment nor a Ph.D. degree should validate freedom to blatant lies. This article was published three days after the same newspaper ran an important report on foreign influence over American think tanks on its front page, including the following comment: "The government of Azerbaijan hired a Washington-based public relations and lobbying firm in 2012 with the explicit purpose of expanding its relationships with think tanks here to try to reinforce public opinion in the United States and to make it clear that this Central Asian nation is an important security partner. It is a campaign that produced real results" (The New York Times, September 7, 2014). Is the purpose of this piece anything different?

Serzh Sarkisian Speaks about Latest Meeting with Aliyev

Armenia’s President Serzh Sarkisian spoke in an exclusive interview with Armenia’s “Banadzev” (Formula) television program following his latest meeting with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on August 10 in Sochi, initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The full transcript of the President’s interview with ArmNews TV’s Artak Alexanian follows.

Karabagh Goes “Happy,” Pharrell-Williams-Style

Giorgi Lomsadze

 

Disputed and destitute Nagorno Karabagh has become the latest place to produce a version of Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” video, the fad which has gotten much of the world “clapping along.”

With funky dance moves and a vivacious collection of characters, “We Are Happy from Karabakh,” sponsored by the Los-Angeles-based Armenia Fund, does its best to make separatism look hip. British Baroness Caroline Cox, one of the breakaway territory's most prominent supporters, is featured rocking together with staff and patients at a clinic in the capital, Stepanakert. (*)

Stephan Astourian: "Turkish Policy is Coherent and It Will Not Be Altered"

Nvard Chalikyan

 

Panorama.am interviewed Dr. Stephan Astourian, professor of history and director of the Armenian Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Astourian commented on a number of issues related to the Armenian Genocide centennial in 2015.

Past the Tipping Point: An Interview with Ara Papian

Nanore Barsoumian

 

In April, I conducted an interview with Ara Papian, former Ambassador of Armenia to Canada (2000-06) and president of the Modus Vivendi Center, at the Armenian Weekly offices in Watertown. A former diplomat, Papian’s perspective is that of a strategist with a long-term vision. During the interview, we discussed the current geopolitical situation in the Caucasus, including Armenia’s decision to join the Russian-led Customs Union, military ties with Russia, U.S.-Armenia relations, the Syrian crisis, the Iranian nuclear negotiations, and relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

For Papian, Armenia has recently aligned itself dangerously close to Russia, subject to the whims of its politicians. He believes that Armenia’s independence is contingent on forging strong relations with many key world players. “I see our independence as interdependence on many powers,” he told me. “What I mean is, if we become dependent only on one power—like Russia or the U.S.—we will really become dependent on them. If we depend on many players—China, Russia, the West, and so on—we will be more or less independent.”

Mountainous Karabagh Calls on International Community to Condemn Maragha Massacre

Twenty-two years ago, on April 10, the village of Maragha located in the Martakert region of Mountainous Karabagh was attacked by Azerbaijani forces. The Maragha Massacre was the mass murder of ethnic Armenian civilians. Up to now the Azerbaijani government has not been appropriately reprimanded by the international community.