As the Met reclassifies Russian art as Ukrainian, not everyone is convinced

 Edgar Helmore

Questions of attribution are constantly under review by art scholars, but rarely are they so topical or heated as institutional efforts underway in the US and in Europe to reclassify art once described as Russian as Ukrainian.

In New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has quietly changed the name of an 1899 painting by the French Impressionist Edgar Degas from Russian Dancer to Dancer in Ukrainian Dress.

The Met also holds works by Arkhyp Kuindzhi and Ilya Repin, a 19th-century painter who was born in what is now Ukraine. The artists were previously listed as Russian and are now categorized as Ukrainian.

But seascape painter Ivan Aivazovsky, whom the Met had also changed from Russian to Ukrainian, was abruptly relisted as Armenian on Thursday, after an outcry from New York’s Armenian community.

Amid International Backlash to Invasion of Ukraine, I Wonder: What About the Armenians?

 Ani Arzoumanian

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a horrifying attack on human rights and on a nation’s entitlement to self-determination. My heart goes out to all Ukrainians across the world, especially to those forced to flee from their homes and to those determined to stand their ground and fight in Kyiv.

In response to this attack, the U.S. and other major powers have imposed significant sanctions on Russia, according to The New York Times, and international media outlets continue to cover the progress of events day and night. People around the world are outraged, many taking to the streets in protest or using social media as a platform for activism, according to The New York Times. Even The Maroon-News has been flooded with submissions from student writers eager to cover the events in Ukraine, many of which were published in the first March 2022 issue.

I am not dismayed by the attention that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is getting in the media. I am envious. 

Where do Russia and the West fit into the new Armenian government?

Naira Hayrumyan

A month has passed since Armenia’s ‘violet revolution’. The country is being lead by a new prime minister who came from outside the old system, and the new government, young and energetic, is completely unalike any other government that has been in power before.

But what has changed in Armenia, both within the country and within its foreign relations, especially with Russia and the West?

National Assembly Fails to Elect Prime Minister in Armenia; General Strike Ahead

With hundreds of thousands of people gathered at Republic Square beginning early morning hours on Tuesday, Armenia’s National Assembly convened an extraordinary session at noon to elect a new prime minister, for which opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan was the only candidate who after a dramatic almost 10-hour session did not receive the majority of votes to occupy that position.

In the end, with businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s alliance’s 29 votes, the Yelk factions nine votes and six votes from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Pashinyan received only 45 of the 53 votes needed to secure the prime ministership. The Republican Party of Armenia announced that its lawmakers would not support his candidacy. Only one Republican member, Feliks Tsolakyan, broke ranks with his party and voted for him.

Two members of the Tsarukian alliance did not attend the parliament session, with one Republican Party of Armenia member, Grigor Avalyan, announcing his resignation from parliament ahead of Tuesday’s session.

The National Assembly has seven days to convene another vote, which by all estimation will take place on Tuesday. If on that day the legislature fails to elect a prime minister, the parliament would have to organize snap parliamentary elections, under the Republican Party of Armenia’s leadership.

Pashinyan Warns Republican Party of Armenia Planning to Sabotage Prime Minister Election

Opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan late on Monday warned that the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) is attempting to sabotage Tuesday’s parliament vote for a new prime minister, which will take place with Pashinyan as the only candidate.
In a Facebook Live broadcast after midnight local time, Pashinyan said that he received information that during a late night meeting led by former prime minister Serzh Sarkisian, the RPA has decided to sabotage the election of a prime minister. The Republican Party had earlier announced that they would not hamper the “election of the people’s candidate,” and also said that they will not put forward their own candidate.

Did the Armenian People Win the Battle or the War?

The Zoryan Institute

 

Today April 29, the people of Armenia won!
The three parliamentary parties agreed to support the “people’s choice,” Nikol Pashinyan, for prime minister. The fourth, the ruling party, has promised not to object to it.
“Nikol Pashinyan was right. I was mistaken,” Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan said after leaving his post on the fifth day of an unprecedented popular protest against his regime, lead by Nikol Pashinyan.
Sargsyan added, “The movement in the streets is against my tenure. I am fulfilling your demand. I wish our country peace, harmony and common sense.”
“We are in Euphoria. We took down a powerful man,” said one of the protestors. He then added, “We are back in charge of our self-rule and have regained our national pride and integrity.”
But this is bittersweet. What was won? A battle or the war?

Armenia rejects the ‘politics of eternity’

Chase Johnson

 

Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, three countries in the South Caucasus once ruled by the former Soviet Union, still operate in the shadow of what is now called Russia.

The three states are located between Iran and Turkey on the western side and Russia to the north. What happens in them affects Russian interests in the region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, over the last 18 years, has maintained strong political, military and economic relations – sometimes welcome, sometimes not – with these countries and their leaders in an attempt to keep them on Russia’s side. Russia’s intervention in Syria’s civil war and its growing alliances with Iran and Turkey makes maintaining influence over the South Caucasus states even more enticing for Putin. He wants to be the guy in charge.

People power worked in Armenia. It won’t work everywhere.

Anne Applebaum

 

“When I saw the masses of East German citizens there, I knew they were in the right.” A quarter-century later, that was how Lt. Col. Harald Jäger explained his decision to open the gates and let his fellow citizens through the Berlin Wall. Jäger was guarding a border checkpoint on Nov. 9, 1989, in the hours after East German leaders had announced that the travel rules were changing. As Berliners flocked to the wall, demanding to cross into the West, he asked repeatedly for clarification from his superiors, but nothing was forthcoming.

In the end, the crowds persuaded him to act: “At the moment it became so clear to me . . . the stupidity, the lack of humanity. I finally said to myself: ‘Kiss my arse. Now I will do what I think is right.’ ” That moment is one of the clearest illustrations of how and why street demonstrations can sometimes create political change. They can appeal to a deeper morality and thus persuade people in power to change course, to abandon a repressive regime, to stop using force.

Moscow Reacts to Resignation of Armenian PM Sargsyan

Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan resigned on Monday after days of anti-government protests in the capital Yerevan and other cities.

Sargsyan, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had served as Armenia's president for a decade until earlier this month and had faced accusations of clinging to power when parliament voted for him to take up the post of prime minister.

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.

Aivazovsky at 200: Turkey’s Love Affair with a Russian-Armenian Painter

Scott Abramson

In late-nineteenth-century Russia, a speechless beholder of something very beautiful always had recourse to a popular cliche when a description was needed but inspiration failed. A sight “worthy of Aivazovsky’s brush” were the words with which the observer awed into silence could recover the faculty of speech. The hand that wielded this brush of such creative aesthetic power that it became the subject of cliche belonged to the Russian-Armenian Romantic painter Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900), the bicentennial of whose birth is on Saturday [July 29, 2017].

Yes, We Can’t! The Apathetic Business of the Armenian Elections

Nelli Babayan

 

When voters re-elect an incumbent, it usually means the country is on the right track. Well, not everywhere and especially not in Armenia, which held parliamentary elections on April 2.

Armenia’s foreign debt has tripled since 2008; instead of an agreement with the European Union, it joined the Eurasian Union with no tangible benefits; increasing brain drain has shrunk the population; 30% of Armenia’s population lives below the poverty line; and in 2016, the escalation of the frozen conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh almost exploded into full-scale war. Yet, the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), which has been ruling together with the incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan since 2008, has managed yet again to cement its rule with an unprecedented share of votes.

Russia's Dirty Play

Maro Matosian

Most of Armenia’s infrastructure, including energy, railways and mining, was sold to Russia to pay off debt. Over a 10-15 year span, Armenia has lost its sovereignty to Russia. However, not only it is subject to economic hegemony, but the liberal democratic fabric of Armenian society is under threat. The principles of human rights and democracy are perceived as a tool for the opposition to rally against the establishment. Rightfully so, civil society in post-communist states like Armenia is fighting for human rights and against autocratic and dictatorial rule.

Though unable to categorically forbid human rights as in Soviet times, Russia has shrewdly found a more subtle and effective method in shaking the liberal democratic order by spreading alternative news, lies and fear. Let’s observe more closely how “information” is disseminated in Armenia to create public confusion and derail public opinion, ultimately impeding legislation that advances 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.

Armenia: Is Concern About Domestic Violence a Liberal Value?

Gayane Abrahamyan

 

Legislation aimed at preventing domestic violence in Armenia has been scuttled after opponents charged that it is a European attempt to undermine traditional Armenian values.

The draft law, titled “Prevention of and the Struggle against Domestic Violence” was published in November on the website of the Ministry of Justice. The bill would have strengthened laws against domestic violence, and created mechanisms aimed at preventing it, as well as services for its victims. It was introduced as part of a European Union program, under which Armenia would be eligible for 11 million euros in aid, contingent on the country passing a law on domestic violence.

After an immediate outcry, the ministry withdrew the bill the next day, and promised to organize public discussions and elicit citizens’ feedback on the legislation.

The Gyumri Killings: Beyond the Legal Arguments

Houry Mayissian

 

More than a week since the Gyumri killings, the city and Armenia at large are still struggling to come to terms with the heinous crime that wiped out an entire family. As the massacre’s youngest victim, six-month-old Seryozha Avetisyan succumbed to his injuries on Monday, many questions remain unanswered; chief among them – what happens to the culprit?

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.

Armenia's Membership in the EEU Raises More Questions than It Answers

Babken Dergrigorian

 

Upon reading Harut Sassounian’s latest article “The West Must Offer Armenia Incentives Rather than Decry its Ties with Russia,” I have been compelled to write a response addressing its shortcomings and inaccuracies, increasingly common also within the broader narratives regarding Armenia’s accession into the EEU in the Armenian community.

The West Must Offer Armenia Incentives Rather Than Decry Its Ties with Russia

Harut Sassounian

On October 10, after lengthy heated debates, Armenia signed a treaty to join the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), composed of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. The agreement goes into effect on January 1, 2015, subject to ratification by parliaments of the four countries. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have also expressed an interest in joining the Union.