March: 27, 2026
Our nation needs unity and hope. This was announced by Samvel Karapetyan.
“It is sad how someone temporarily standing at the head of the country sows fear and division in order to maintain power.
He will lose in June because people are tired of divisions and the atmosphere of fear.
I promise you that as Prime Minister, I will unite the country and make it strong with a strong economy and strong peace.
The promise is that with me, as the Prime Minister, the coming September and every month after that will be peaceful. We will do more. we will lower taxes for businesses, create new jobs for people and improve the quality of life. We will have stronger diplomacy and a stronger defense that will guarantee peace with deeds, not words.
As for achieving lasting peace:
1. The outgoing government of the country promised peace, but brought three wars in which it lost. Why should anyone trust them after so many failures?
2. The country’s outgoing leadership is dividing our nation and waging a war of words against its people. If they bring conflict within the country, why should anyone trust them to keep Armenia safe?
3. Armenia has a temporary peace today. It is temporary because it is a weak peace without several guarantors, with weak borders and weak defenses.
As Prime Minister, I will ensure a strong and lasting peace. That peace will be based on strong diplomacy, multiple security guarantors, a strong defense with strong borders and 10,000 drones, protected skies and a modernized, professionally equipped army.
A strong peace also depends on a strong economy, with new factories, 300,000 new jobs and new opportunities for business and agriculture. In today’s world, a strong economy strengthens diplomacy and defense.
The outgoing leadership of the country is trying to convince you that this is impossible and that the only way to peace is weakness and submission to the demands of our adversaries. They are trying to assure us that if we give up our Armenian symbols, our legitimate interests, then we will have peace. This is a big lie.
Our national hero Garegin Nzhdeh used to say: “To be a coward, to remain a coward, and at the same time to dream of an independent homeland, isn’t it funny?” Isn’t it funny to be a sheep and complain about the wolf? Become a sheep, do not be surprised by the coming of the wolf. Peace and independence belong to the brave, because the brave walk in the way of God.’ Armenians keep these words in their hearts. It is sad to see that the government acts contrary to these words of Garegin Nzhdeh. They lost the peace three times and still do not want to learn from their mistakes.
I call on all Armenians not to be afraid. Don’t let the same people who have already proven themselves incapable of defending Armenia threaten you with war again.
I promise you one thing. together we will build a lasting and strong peace with an open front,” he said.
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Will Aliyev forget the “Khojalu Genocide” and “Gyan” in a mirrored way?
March: 27, 2026
On March 26, during a briefing with journalists after the government session, Nikol Pashinyan, referring to the estimate that in 2023 Azerbaijan carried out ethnic cleansing. mention is.
“We can say ethnic cleansing, but I consider this word harmful, because we can say ethnic cleansing and get a mirror of ethnic cleansing, then genocide, mirror genocide, everything mirrored, it means to enter the path of conflict. That’s not my concern. And I, as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, say that I completely refuse, so to speak, the agenda of restoration of historical justice, we must go after the just reality.”
Then he in the same “tone” continued.
“It is enough to feed our people with information about the new genocide. And, in general, the race of these genocides should be stopped. In our region, everyone accuses everyone else of genocides. With talk about genocides, by the way, it’s hard to say which one happened after, we get talk about genocides, with talk about return, we get talk about return.”
In this context, first, let us remind that in 2023 March 16 government session Pashinyan announced at the time.
“Our assessment remains the same: the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan sees preparations for ethnic cleansing and genocide against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. This protocol is largely present in the decision of the International Court of Justice of February 22, where it was clearly stated that the closure of the Lachin Corridor could bring irreversible humanitarian consequences for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. In this sense, I consider it important and urgent that Armenia takes measures in the direction of launching international mechanisms for the prevention of genocides. We are talking, in particular, about the mechanisms provided for in the UN framework. I have given relevant instructions to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about this.”
And if we consider that on March 26, 2026, Pashinyan was hinting about having intelligence and non-intelligence data, we can assume that what he voiced before the actions of Baku to depopulate Artsakh was not just an assessment, but a clear information and warning.
And in 2023 on September 21, when Azerbaijan had already started the attack against Artsakh, Pashinyan with a message applied to the people, where he first mentioned.
«I saw that there are reports that Azerbaijani troops are in Stepanakert, etc., and so on. There is no such thing: Of course, there are certain communication difficulties and complications, as far as I have heard from our colleagues in Nagorno-Karabakh, there are also certain problems on the roads leading to Martakert and Martuni, but in general the situation is stable.”
This is despite the fact that on September 19, as we mentioned, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale attack against Artsakh, and in 2020. On September 21, gunshots were already heard in the neighborhoods near Stepanakert, the evacuation of women and children had begun. Anyway, in his said message, Pashinyan continued.
“In my speeches of the previous period, I constantly accused Azerbaijan of trying to subject Nagorno Karabakh to ethnic cleansing. In other words, we have been making this accusation against Azerbaijan for a long time. And now I, when I analyze the situation, I get the impression that there are forces who want to carry out the plan to subject Nagorno Karabakh to ethnic cleansing so that Azerbaijan, so to speak, has no reason to be blamed. In other words, let me say: look, Armenia, the Republic of Armenia, the people of Armenia, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh themselves decided that no Armenians should stay in Nagorno-Karabakh, they decided and left.” he declared.
Let’s put it on the record, now it is Pashinyan himself who is clearing the crime of ethnic cleansing from Azerbaijan.
Already in 2020 of the government of September 28 during the session, when the picture, in practice, was already clear, Pashinyan said.
“The analysis shows that there will be no more Armenians left in Nagorno-Karabakh in the coming days. This is a direct act of ethnic cleansing and depatriation. Statements by various international players condemning the ethnic cleansing taking place in Nagorno-Karabakh are important, but if not followed by concrete actions, these statements will be seen as mere moral statistics for history. so that in the future, different countries will have the opportunity to formally dissociate themselves from this crime, saying, well, we have condemned it. If declarations of condemnation are not followed by adequate political and legal decisions, condemnations become acts of acquiescence.”
Despite the above-mentioned assessments, Pashinyan already calls the people of Artsakh “fugitives” when after some time he did not consider their return to Artsakh realistic, of course, in this case he considered this topic closed in general.
Now Pashinyan is backtracking, in fact, also from his previous assessments that Azerbaijan carried out ethnic cleansing in Artsakh in 2023. Moreover, he considers, in fact, that Aliyev has grounds for a similar accusation of “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” against Armenia. The fact that Baku and Aliyev blame Armenia for the “Khojalu Genocide”, the “ethnic cleansing” of Azerbaijanis who lived in Armenia, is not a secret, nor is it news, but when the Armenian leadership gives such “legitimate” grounds and rights, it is something completely different.
By the way, until yesterday Pashinyan was banning “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” rhetoric in RA, Baku had organized More than seven dozen international tourists from 37 countries visited the memorial complex dedicated to the memory of “Khojalu Genocide victims”, which was opened a month ago, and this without any conditions. And now, when Nikol Pashinyan hints that he still needs to understand the genocides that happened after that, he does not give Aliyev a “victory ticket”, and besides, regarding the events of Khojalu in particular, Aliyev ignores the obvious. the facts and puts the responsibility on the Armenian side.
Pashinyan knows, doesn’t he, that Aliyev blamed Armenia? A memorial was built not only for the “Ganja events” related to the 44-day war that took place during his reign, but also for the victims of the “Ganja events”.: And although today, in the context of the first Artsakh war and the 2020 war, the former military-political leadership of Artsakh was convicted in Baku, but during the trial, in the context of the “Ganja events”, they were given The name of the former military leadership of RA, specific military personnel. Pashinyan, who was in Artsakh in those days, is he sure that after closing the topic of “genocide”, Aliyev will not return to this topic regarding Armenia, because, as we mentioned, the former leaders of Artsakh were convicted in Baku, or is he going to say that he is not aware and blame the military?:
Against the background of Pashinyan’s statements mentioned above, we could not ignore the fact that Vilen Gabrielyan, Pashinyan’s teammate and candidate to become a deputy again, “Gardman-Shirvan-Nakhijevan” Pan-Armenian union is the leader who regularly spoke in 1988-1991. in the Azerbaijan SSR and in 1992 About state-sponsored genocidal actions in the Republic of Azerbaijan (Armenian pogroms in Sumgait, Baku, Kirovabad, forced deportation of Armenians from Northern Karabakh accompanied by pogroms) and noted that they were not subjected to any legal investigation. In addition to this, from time to time he responded to various statements from Baku, referred to the destruction of the Armenian historical and cultural heritage in the occupied Artsakh.
It should be noted here that the organization was quite active in previous years, in 2026. seem to have become passive. We should also ask Vilen Gabrielyan a question here. when their political leader questions the initiator of the Azerbaijani massacres and genocidal actions, doesn’t he have questions related to this, whose family moved from Baku to Armenia, doesn’t it turn out that the Armenians in Baku “did something”, that massacres started, that there was forced displacement, ethnic cleansing? Moreover, Gabrielyan always spoke from the right of return of forcibly displaced people, now Pashinyan considers that issue closed, neutralizes that right, how does he imagine his activity in this field? Maybe here, so to speak, “podvokh”, especially when Vilen Gabrielyan was not against the return of Azerbaijanis to Armenia on various occasions. By the way, the Azerbaijani “Hakkinaz” was published in 2024 had noticed in one of his articles that The creation of the “Gardman-Shirvan-Nakhijevan” union was a “symmetric” response to the creation of the “West Azerbaijan” community, that is, an attempt was made to balance the civil struggle for the right of return. Of course, there is logic here, the problem is that Pashinyan closed the topic of the right of return for the Armenian side, which Aliyev did not do.
About a month ago, 168.am published an article entitled “Aliyev’s dangerous and cunning proposal to Pashinyan”. And next are the next NA elections, after which it is not excluded that Pashinyan, who has put aside the subject of the return of Azerbaijanis, will practically return to it if he receives the next legitimacy…
“Nicole found herself in a trap of her own making. He and his entourage fled.” To:
March: 27, 2026
Metaxe Hakobyan, deputy of Artsakh NA “Justice” faction In recent days, he has been having even more intense meetings with our compatriots who were forcibly displaced from Artsakh, who, according to him, after being targeted by Pashinyan and his teammates, feel another deep insult and a feeling of betrayal.
“These authorities are doing everything, for reasons unknown to us, so that the people of Artsakh are filled with hatred towards themselves. Unfortunately, these manifestations exist. During our conversations, we state that, for better or worse, they cannot be in power forever, we must fight back, we must maintain our dignity, but never stoop to their level and not give in to their provocations, and in any case, any manifestation of hatred is unacceptable for all parties.
There is also depression, great disappointment, brokenness to such an extent that there are fewer and fewer people thinking for the better.” 168TV “Review” he said during the program, stressing that “the authorities are trying to eliminate the people of Artsakh from the field in every way”.
According to him, the authorities know very well that the people of Artsakh will not elect them. “The people of Artsakh can never support these authorities, and on the contrary, the people of Artsakh will be involved in all those national forces that try to remove these authorities. In other words, this aid will be exclusively for the national forces. Therefore, they will first try to show in our society that in any way the Artsakh citizen is not in the interests of Armenia with his behavior and the Artsakh citizen has no intention of helping them to build that peace. And they should present in every possible way that the people of Artsakh have a revenge against Armenia, which is not true.”
Referring to the well-known metro incident, he mentioned that Pashinyan found himself in a trap of his own making.
“He thought it was a good situation, he found a person from Artsakh, whom he could tell as if it was in reality, but he was wrong, because in front of him was the woman whose father had deliberately sacrificed his life, and her three children had grown up without a father, but they had not lost the dignity that came from the father’s genes as a result of the mother’s education. I have been saying a lot in recent days that what happened in the subway, Armine’s position, the response, can be considered as a collective response of the people of Artsakh to Nikol.
Today, the people of Artsakh found themselves in this situation because Nikol ran away, his entourage ran away, the people of Artsakh were left alone against several states.”
Details in the 168TV video
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Nikol’s appeal to Aliyev: come and conquer Armenia
March: 27, 2026
Edgar Ghazaryan and Davit Sargsyan of the “Erku front” podcast in the next edition, they discuss the threat of a new war by the head of the regime to the public, blackmailing Azerbaijan with the alleged September aggression in the event of a change of power, they also remind what disasters and destructions, wars and defeats this regime has brought to our country in the past six years.
Details in the video
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168: As long as Iran resists, there will be peace in Armenia regardless
March: 27, 2026
Nikol Pashinyan and his teammates are announcing from the NA rostrum, the corridors of the parliament and all possible platforms that if “KP does not become the government in the parliamentary elections of June 7, then there will be a war.” Nikol Pashinyan even recently mentioned when that war could happen: “After the elections, in September.”
Gas technologist Armen Badalyan in other words, Nikol Pashinyan presents his statement as a campaign of pride, because the strategy of the CP election campaign is “peace”, naturally, all this is put into circulation by Pashinyan himself and his teammates.
“Nikol Pashinyan declares that he has brought peace, so can’t he now stand up and declare that people, choose whomever you want, there will always be peace in the country?” On the eve of the elections, Nikol Pashinyan should advance the line of “black” and “white”, but not in the context of “formers”, but in the context of peace or war. Nikol Pashinyan identifies himself with peace and others with war, this is his strategy.” of 168.am Armen Badalyan said in a conversation with
According to the political technologist, this thesis put forward by Nikol Pashinyan can influence a part of the vacillating electorate, the electorate, which at the moment is still not well-orientated as to whom it will vote for.
“Nikol Pashinyan deliberately mentions that the war may start in September, let’s not forget that the 44-day catastrophic war of 2020 started in September itself. This will have a certain effect on the fluctuating electorate,” added Armen Badalyan.
According to his observation, the war Pashinyan said cannot happen not because he signed the peace agreement in Washington on August 8, nor because there are EU observers standing at the border, who “come and go through the mountains and valleys with binoculars”, but because today the war against Armenia is not in the interest of Armenia’s neighbor Iran.
“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran is stationed in the south of Armenia, in Iran. It is not in their interest for Azerbaijan to attack Armenia. After 2020, it has become more convinced of this and is doing everything to maintain peace here.
From the rank-and-file ambassador to the highest-ranking official in Iran, they have repeatedly said that the territorial integrity of Armenia is a “red line” for them. As long as Iran resists the Israel-United States tandem, there will be peace in Armenia, regardless of whether Pashinyan remains the head of the country or not. If Iran’s resistance is broken, then we also have a serious question to think about,” stressed Armen Badalyan.
At the same time, the mineral technologist said that today it is not in Russia’s interest for the so-called “corridor” in Syunik to come under the control of the Turkish world. If Iran loses and Russia is busy with Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Turkey will take this “corridor” without taking into account whether Pashinyan is the leader of Armenia or not.
“Peace doesn’t happen on paper, it doesn’t happen with a paper guarantee, but it happens with strength and troops. Therefore, the threat of war has nothing to do with reality in general, it has to do only with the upcoming elections,” emphasized Armen Badalyan.
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Sports: Regis Le Bris hails Finn Geragusian after Armenia senior call-up
Regis Le Bris hails Finn Geragusian after Armenia senior call-up
Regis Le Bris has hailed Finn Geragusian after the Sunderland teenager received his first senior Armenia call-up.
According to Sunderland Echo, the 18-year-old forward, yet to debut for the first team, has been named in Yegishe Melikyan’s squad for friendlies against the United Arab Emirates and Belarus after standout form for the U18s and U21s.
Geragusian called the invitation an unbelievable and proud moment for him and his family, and said he looks forward to learning from new coaches and team-mates to add different attributes to his game.
Melikyan said the call is to assess him at senior level and weigh his future with the national team. He praised Geragusian’s qualities and fit, but stressed he is very young, has not played senior football and is not yet ready for Armenia.
He added the camp should ease the transition and give his development a push. With a shortage in the attacking line, he is exploring every option and is not very satisfied with the current strikers.
At club level, Geragusian travelled with the first team for FA Cup ties at Oxford United and Port Vale earlier this year, and was named on the bench for the latter. Le Bris said he is pleased with the youngster’s recent progress.
The head coach highlighted strong training impressions, noting his character, physicality and competitiveness in duels, first contacts and second balls. He views the striker as well rounded, while emphasising that experience and further improvement are still required.
This season he has 13 goals and three assists in 27 appearances across U18 and U21 competitions, and in Premier League 2 he has three goals and two assists from 10 games.
Source: Sunderland Echo
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Sports: Regis Le Bris assesses Finn Geragusian after Armenia senior call-up
Regis Le Bris assesses Finn Geragusian after Armenia senior call-up
Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris has offered his view on Finn Geragusian after the teenager received a first senior Armenia call-up.
According to Sunderland Echo, the striker is yet to debut for the Black Cats. His form for the U18s and U21s has earned selection for friendlies against the United Arab Emirates and Belarus under head coach Yegishe Melikyan.
Geragusian said the news felt unbelievable, that he is proud to represent his country and family, and that the experience with new coaches could add attributes to his game.
Melikyan said the call-up would help assess him in senior football and clarify his future with the national team. He praised the youngster s qualities and fit, but noted he is very young, has not played senior football and is not ready yet. He added that a shortage in attack means every option is being considered and he is not satisfied with his current strikers.
At club level, Geragusian travelled with the first-team squad for FA Cup ties against Oxford United and Port Vale earlier this year, and was named on the bench against the latter. He still awaits his senior debut on Wearside, though Le Bris is pleased with his recent progress.
Le Bris said he appreciated the forward s profile after several training sessions, describing him as a good lad aligned with the region and club, physically strong and well-rounded, but still in need of experience and improvement.
This season he has 13 goals and three assists across 27 appearances in all competitions for the U18s and U21s. In Premier League 2 he has three goals and two assists in 10 games, averaging a contribution every other match.
Source: Sunderland Echo
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Sports: Regis Le Bris delivers verdict on Sunderland prospect Finn Geragusian
Regis Le Bris delivers verdict on Sunderland prospect Finn Geragusian after senior Armenia call-up
Regis Le Bris has praised Sunderland youngster Finn Geragusian after the striker earned his first senior Armenia call-up. According to Sunderland Echo, the 18-year-old has been included by head coach Yegishe Melikyan for friendlies against the United Arab Emirates and Belarus.
Geragusian is yet to make a first-team debut but has stood out for the U18s and U21s. He travelled for FA Cup ties at Oxford United and Port Vale this year and was on the bench against the latter.
Melikyan said the call-up is to assess him at senior level and judge his national-team future, while stressing he is not ready yet. He praised Geragusian’s qualities and fit, and noted Armenia’s issues up front mean every option is being considered.
Geragusian called the selection unbelievable, said he is proud to represent his country and family, and wants to learn from new coaches and team-mates.
Le Bris said the forward impressed in first-team training, citing his character, physicality and alignment with the club’s mentality. He added that in this league teams need two strong centre-backs, a strong forward and competitiveness in duels, first contact and second balls, and that Geragusian is well rounded but still needs experience.
This season he has 13 goals and three assists from 27 outings across the U18s and U21s. In Premier League 2 he has three goals and two assists in 10 games.
Source: Sunderland Echo
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Film: Four wives, two passports and a very elusive butterfly: one woman’s sear
Rena Effendi’s film Searching for Satyrus began with a quest for the endangered insect that bears her family name. Before long, she was reckoning with secrets, lies and the mysterious life of her wayward dad
Patrick Barkham
High in the Caucasus mountains, the photojournalist Rena Effendi is searching for the butterfly that bears the name of the father she hardly knew. It is rocky, bleak, beautiful – and impossible. The grass is fried yellow by the increasingly fierce summer sun, the butterfly’s food has been grazed by sheep and, if it exists at all, Satyrus effendi usually flies only as a single insect across a square kilometre of rock, scree and slope.
A butterfly hunt makes an unlikely subject for a prize-winning documentary, but Searching for Satyrus is a gripping quest that reveals a remarkable part of the world little known to western audiences while examining issues from war and nationalism to global heating and extinction. Ultimately, however, Effendi’s search for her father’s butterfly becomes a moving reckoning with the secrets and lies in her family and the life of her wayward father.
“Satyrus effendi is a melancholic, brooding butterfly,” warns her fellow hunter, the lepidopterist Dmitrii V Morgun, one of half a dozen people on the planet who have seen this elusive, ephemeral, endangered creature. The butterfly is a perfect metaphor for Effendi’s father, Rustam Effendi, a brilliant Azerbaijani butterfly scientist who was a flighty, capricious figure in Effendi’s childhood.
An “incorrigible” womaniser and wine lover – in the words of one of Effendi’s half-sisters – Rustam was rarely at home when Effendi was growing up. He ran relationships in parallel, eventually divorced Effendi’s mother and died when Effendi was 14. She remembers only women gathered around his coffin: three of his four wives, a half-sister and several other women she didn’t know. At the same time, the Soviet Union collapsed and Effendi’s home country, Azerbaijan, went to war with Armenia. While Donald Trump has taken the credit for a tentative peace deal, that conflict has still not ended. Growing up, Effendi pushed memories of her difficult father from her mind until, on impulse, she searched for his name online in 2017.
Reading a Wikipedia page in Russian, she discovered he had a butterfly named after him. Satyrus effendi was critically endangered and flew only in the mountainous borderlands between Azerbaijan and Armenia. “I thought: what a story – that this butterfly had to be there and nowhere else. And it carries my father’s name and it carries my name,” she says now on a video call from her home in Istanbul.
When another phase of the unending war saw Azerbaijan recapture these borderlands, it became possible for Effendi to retrace her father’s footsteps from the country’s capital, Baku, to the mountains where he found the butterfly.
The film unfurls much as Effendi’s quest did. She begins at the underfunded Institute of Zoology, where she discovers that the rare butterflies painstakingly collected by her father during decades of research and adventures are decaying – literally turning to dust.
Free movement was possible for her father in Soviet days, but is less easy for Effendi. She eventually obtains special permission to enter Armenia. “After about an hour of questioning and the bewildered policeman asking: ‘What are you doing here?’ – ‘I’m here to hunt for this rare species of butterfly,’ sounded like a perfect spy cover story – they let me in,” she says.
Her search for the butterfly is rooted in a quest to discover who her father really was. Her memories of him are fragments – appearing at home and then disappearing again on butterfly-hunting missions. “He had an almost ghostly presence in my life,” she says. “I would find jars with insects inside and his negatives in the wardrobe – vestiges of his life – around the house. One of the reasons for me to delve into this film was he had a full life outside our home. And I wanted to paint that picture of him in more vivid colours, but I couldn’t find those colours in my own history.”
When she became a photojournalist, she spotted the parallels between her career and his. “There is the hunt, its solitary nature, all the wandering and waiting until the moment comes and then you have to act fast, with a net or with a camera. It’s almost identical. Every butterfly comes with a story; every picture comes with a story. He collected thousands of butterflies; I have thousands of pictures in my archive. Pinning down a butterfly is like pinning down a moment. Even those tiny labels that he wrote [under pinned butterflies] – I see them as captions to my photographs.”
I wanted to paint a picture of him in more vivid colours, but I couldn’t find those colours in my own history
On her visit to Armenia, Effendi’s best find is an old lepidopterist friend of her father, Pavlik Kazaryan, an ethnic Armenian Baku native who became a refugee during the conflict and moved to Armenia. They head into the mountains to hunt for her father’s butterfly, armed with a net that Kazaryan reveals was made to Rustam’s design, based on a bra. Rustam “multiplied beauty” by having three daughters, Kazaryan says. But Effendi is called “little Effendi invisible girl, just like a butterfly” because, Kazaryan says, his mentor never spoke of her. “He was like a father to me, a good one,” he tells Effendi.
Why wasn’t he more of a father to her? Why was she invisible? Her butterfly quest becomes a search for family secrets and Effendi is torn between her roles as subject and journalist. The story gets richer for the audience, but more painful for her. One of her half-sisters shares the letters Rustam wrote to her mother. It was difficult reading them, says Effendi, because her own mother never received such letters and “my presence is erased from his life” in them. But the letters were wonderful, romantic evocations of his butterflying adventures – of alpine meadows, waterfalls and “poppies the size of teacups”.
“I could hear his voice for the first time. It was almost like being inside his mind for a second,” says Effendi. “And I craved that communication.”
Tracking down other friends and relatives, she is told that her father kept two passports, the implication being that it enabled bigamy. But Effendi doubts that a two-passport existence was possible in Soviet Russia. “Just like that butterfly is mythological and people refuse to believe it exists because it’s flying over the war border, my father’s life was also mythological,” she says.
With Effendi’s questions growing about her parents’ relationship, she circles back to her mother, who has been “always very evasive” when questioned about Effendi’s childhood. In a stark scene, we see Effendi shifting between her roles as journalist and daughter. On film, she says that she is entitled to the truth. Today, though, she says: “It was the camera’s power that really helped that along.
“When you put someone in the spotlight of a camera, it holds you responsible for telling the truth. The dynamic changes. It wasn’t ‘I’m the daughter and she’s my mother’. It was more ‘I’m an investigator and she’s my subject’. It’s almost cruel, but that’s what the camera does. In the end, she had to open up.” Her mother’s revelation turns Effendi’s understanding of her childhood on its head.
The film also tells powerful stories about global heating and extinction, as well as war and borders. As she tries to find Satyrus effendi, she learns that hotter summers are forcing shepherds to take their sheep higher into the mountains to find green grass, where they eat the high-altitude plant that the butterfly’s caterpillars feed on.
Effendi extended filming for another year to continue the hunt. “I became obsessed with finding it,” she says. “I dreamed about it.” She and Morgun camped for five days at high altitude, but were dogged by rain and wind. Yet, for all their struggles, the butterfly hunting offers hope that Armenians and Azerbaijanis can find peace alongside each other. “He flies above everything,” says Morgun. “For him, there are no borders, no wars, nothing. Just his mountains.”
Searching for Satyrus is in UK cinemas from 27 April. Rena Effendi will take part in Q&As after special preview screenings
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Under threat of dying out, Turkish Armenian evolves through art
Once spoken by two million people across the Ottoman Empire, Turkish Armenian has shrunk to the point of becoming an endangered language following a century marked by massacres and mass emigration.
Yet defenders of Western Armenian, a language essentially spoken only by Turkey’s now-miniscule Armenian minority, are refusing to let their native tongue become a historical curiosity.
“We live within this language; our very existence is intimately bound up with it,” said Vahakn Keshishian, whose Yeseyan cultural association has organised an Istanbul festival celebrating the language.
Up until the end of March, the Hantibum (Face to Face) festival will feature concerts, workshops and film screenings showcasing Western Armenian.
Classified by UNESCO as an endangered language, it differs in both grammar and pronunciation from the Armenian spoken in modern-day Armenia proper.
“Western Armenian is certainly under threat, but it is far from being a museum piece,” said Keshishian. “It remains alive, carried by music, theatre and the publication of newspapers and books.”
Yet today, the language is spoken by fewer than 100,000 people of Turkey’s 86 million population, as well as the descendants of the worldwide diaspora, following what most scholars agree was the Ottoman Empire’s genocide of the Armenians.
The Armenians are seeking international recognition for the massacres, which they say killed 1.5 million people between 1915 and 1917.
Turkey strongly denies the accusation of genocide, saying that both Armenians and Turks died as a result of the First World War.
– ‘Invisible’ –
The task of passing on Armenian culture through the language has been hindered by the decline in people learning and speaking it.
“Western Armenian is spoken less and less at home because it is no longer the language of everyday life.
To break this trend, we are organising workshops for young people,” explained Betul Bakirci of Aras Publishing, which prints books in both Turkish and Western Armenian.
“Books in Eastern Armenian are far more widely distributed and available. By contrast, to get hold of a book in Western Armenian, you have to make an effort. Our publishing house fills that role,” she added.
While Istanbul is still home to some 15 schools teaching Western Armenian to nearly 3,000 students, enrolment has been on the decline for years.
“The political and economic situation in Turkey is pushing young people to imagine their future elsewhere. Many families also prefer to enrol their children in schools that teach Western languages rather than Armenian,” said Pakrat Estukyan of Agos, a bilingual Armenian-Turkish weekly newspaper.
Estukyan argued that due to their history, “Armenians prefer to make themselves invisible when the political climate becomes tense.”
– ‘Democratise access’ –
Estukyan saw a glimmer of light in the rising interest from young readers in the Western Armenian-language pages of his newspaper, whose print runs number 5,000 copies.
For Keshishian, the festival organiser, digital tools have also given Turkey’s branch of Armenian a new lease of life.
“The possibilities offered by new technologies have been extremely beneficial. Online courses and artificial intelligence have helped democratise access to the language,” he explained.
In any case, Keshishian argued that Western Armenian speakers had learnt how to reinvent themselves during periods of crisis, and the diaspora had an important role to play in keeping the language alive.
“Wars in the Middle East might have led to the dispersal of Armenians across the region, but they also gave birth to new Armenian-speaking communities across the world.”
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