Month: May 2021

                                        Friday, 

Yerevan Insists On Ex-Soviet Common Energy Market


Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (C) and other Armenian officials 
participate in a virtual summit of the Eurasian Economic Union, Yerevan, May 21, 
2021.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian again called on Friday for the creation of a 
single energy market that could lower the cost of Russian natural gas imported 
by Armenia and other members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

The gas price is currently significantly lower for consumers in Russia than 
other ex-Soviet states making up the Russian-led trade bloc. Two of them, 
Armenia and Belarus, have said that this puts their manufactures reliant on gas 
in a disadvantaged position vis-à-vis their Russian competitors. Over the past 
year they have pressed Moscow to agree to uniform EEU energy tariffs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly opposed that in May 2020, implying 
that Yerevan and Minsk should agree first to deeper economic integration with 
Moscow which would result in a “single budget and system of taxation” for all 
EEU member states.

Pashinian insisted on the idea when he spoke at a virtual EEU summit attended by 
Putin. “We attach great importance to the formation of the union’s common gas 
market,” he said.

He added that Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan should also 
agree on “nondiscriminatory” transit fees for gas imported by them from third 
countries.

Pashinian noted that the creation of a “full-fledged common market for goods and 
services” is hampered not only by differences among the EEU member states but 
also “some objective difficulties.” “We continue to look for constructive 
solutions,” he said.



Armenian Official Denies Secret Concessions To Baku

        • Naira Nalbandian
        • Aza Babayan
        • Artak Khulian

Armenia - Yerevan-based foreign military attaches visit an area in Armenia's 
Syunik province where Armenian and Azerbaijani troops are locked in a border 
standoff, .

A senior pro-government lawmaker insisted on Friday that Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian has not secretly agreed to cede any Armenian territory to Azerbaijan 
as part of a demarcation of the border between the two states proposed by Russia.

Pashinian admitted on Thursday Moscow drafted earlier this week an agreement on 
the creation of an Armenian-Azerbaijani intergovernmental commission tasked with 
delimiting and demarcating the border. But he flatly denied the existence of any 
secret protocols to the agreement that would commit Yerevan to making major 
territorial concessions to Baku.

Opposition leaders and other critics of the Armenian government remained 
unconvinced by these assurances, renewing their demands for Pashinian’s 
immediate resignation.

Ruben Rubinian, the chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on foreign 
relations, also dismissed allegations about secret border deals with Baku.

“I want to make it clear to you that there is no agreement, including an oral 
one, on the return or exchange of villages or surrender of territory,” he told 
reporters. “Such an issue has not been a subject of discussions.”

Rubinian also stressed that Yerevan will continue to make the signing of the 
Russian-drafted agreement conditional on the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces 
from Armenian border areas occupied by them last week.


Armenia - Ruben Rubinian, the chairman of the parliament committee on foreign 
relations, speaks with journaists, .

Russia proposed the creation of the commission on the borer delimitation and 
demarcation as part of its efforts to end a continuing Armenian-Azerbaijani 
military standoff caused by the Azerbaijani troop movements at several sections 
of the frontier.

In remarks that seemed primarily addressed to Armenian factions, Kremlin 
spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday urged all stakeholders to ignore unconfirmed 
reports about the border crisis and possible solutions to it.

“This issue is so sensitive and efforts to resolve this situation are so serious 
that one must react to such frivolous reports in a very restrained manner and to 
follow only official sources,” Peskov said, according to Russian news agencies.

Yerevan maintains that Azerbaijani forces advanced several kilometres into 
Armenia’s Syunik and Gegharkunik provinces on May 12-13. The Armenian military 
sent reinforcements there in a bid to stop and reverse those advances. No 
gunfights or skirmishes between the two sides have been reported so far.

The Azerbaijani side has denied crossing into Armenian territory, saying that 
its troops simply took up new positions on the Azerbaijani side of the border.

Pashinian said on Thursday that between 500 and 600 Azerbaijani soldiers remain 
stationed within Armenia’s internationally recognized borders. The Armenian 
Defense Ministry reported the following day that the situation there remains 
largely unchanged but “stable.”

The epicenter of the standoff is a mountainous area about 10 kilometers north of 
the Syunik town of Goris. According to Syunik Governor Melikset Poghosian, three 
dozen Azerbaijani soldiers advanced on Thursday towards the Armenian village of 
Khoznavar located just east of that area.

Khoznavar residents confirmed the information. They said children and elderly 
persons living in the village were evacuated for security reasons.

Local shepherds said they were the first to notice the Azerbaijani servicemen 
while grazing cattle on nearby hills.

“We approached them, thinking that they are our guys,” one of them told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian Service. “We then saw that they are not wearing [Armenian] uniforms and 
not saying anything. One them signaled me to go away.”

The locals said that Khoznavar, which has about 400 inhabitants and is heavily 
dependent on animal husbandry, now risks losing most of its pastures.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee said on Friday that the Azerbaijani troops 
were forced to retreat from those pastures late on Thursday after brawling with 
Armenian soldiers guarding Khoznavar. Eleven Armenians were injured in that 
clash, the law-enforcement agency said, adding that it occurred on the Armenian 
side of the local border section.

Azerbaijani authorities did not report violent incidents or comment on troop 
movements in that area as of Friday evening.



EU Parliament Demands Release Of Armenian Prisoners Held In Azerbaijan


France - European Union flags fly in front of the European Parliament building 
in Strasbourg, October 6, 2020.

The European Parliament has demanded the “immediate and unconditional” release 
of all Armenian prisoners held by Azerbaijan more than six months after a 
Russian-brokered ceasefire stopped the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In a resolution overwhelmingly passed on Thursday, the European Union’s 
legislative body also expressed serious concern over “credible reports” that 
they have been tortured and held in “degrading conditions.” It said at least two 
Armenian civilians have died in Azerbaijani captivity as a result.

The resolution calls on both Azerbaijan and Armenia to fully comply with the 
November 2020 truce agreement that requires the unconditional release of all 
prisoners held by the conflicting sides.

The Russian peacekeepers stationed in Karabakh have arranged several prisoner 
swaps in recent months. No Azerbaijani prisoners are known to be held in Armenia 
or Karabakh at present.

A total of 73 Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians have been freed to 
date. More than 100 others are believed to remain in Azerbaijani captivity.

Azerbaijan says that they are not covered by the truce agreement because they 
were captured after it took effect on November 10. Azerbaijani officials have 
branded them as “terrorists” and said Baku does not intend to release them. 
Yerevan regards this as a gross violation of the accord brokered by Russian 
President Vladimir Putin.

The EU called for the release of the remaining Armenian prisoners in a statement 
released in late April. It also said Baku must also provide the European Court 
of Human Rights (ECHR) with information about their whereabouts and detention 
and health conditions

The European Parliament resolution notes that the Azerbaijani authorities have 
failed to comply with relevant “interim measures” issued by the Strasbourg-based 
court with regard to at least 112 Armenians. It urges them to “cooperate fully 
with the ECHR on the issue of Armenian prisoners.”


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

 

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55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
  
Friday, 
  
AGBU Adds New Insights on Coping with Crises in Second Resilience Summit

Building on the success of its first Resilience Summit held in February 2021, 
the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), in collaboration with the American 
University of Armenia (AUA), joined forces with the Armenian Psychiatric 
Association (ArPA) to organize a second online conference with a focus on recent 
events in the homeland under the theme Armenia: Coping with Challenging Times. 

The virtual event, hosted by AGBU’s Armenian Virtual College (AVC) on April 30 
and May 1 was aimed at helping Armenians in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora 
deal with their collective and respective psychosocial traumas caused by the 
global pandemic and the 44-Day War in Artsakh in 2020. With so many dimensions 
to these crises—personal, political and economic—there was much ground to cover 
during the two days of multiple panel sessions with distinguished discussants 
from across the Armenian world. While the first Summit was conducted in English, 
this time the event was presented in Armenian, along with simultaneous English 
translation. It also offered participating psychiatrists an opportunity to earn 
professional development credits.

Attracting over 200 attendees from 26 countries to this “heroic undertaking,” as 
one attendee described it, the forum provided professional advice and 
inspirational guidance on an array of related topics—from severe ongoing trauma, 
cumulative stress, intergenerational trauma and posttraumatic growth to breaking 
stigma, the impact of mass media on mental health, helping children avoid 
internalizing a victim identity, and promoting emotional and spiritual healing 
and recovery. 

In her opening remarks, AGBU Director of Education Natalie Gabrelian set a 
positive tone: “Once again, the Armenian nation finds itself in a battle for 
survival against enemies both visible and invisible. However, we should not 
despair, as our centuries-long struggle has shown that we are the embodiment of 
resilience. It is extremely important for us to be able to find light in the 
darkness, to live in peace, with faith, hope and love.” 

On behalf of the Armenian Psychiatric Association, Dr. Armen Soghoyan expressed 
readiness to work alongside AGBU to mobilize the professional community for the 
critical task of exploring the programs and mechanisms by which to develop a 
national level of resilience, as a basis for future security, development, and 
prosperity of the nation.
 
The first session How to Deal with Severe Ongoing Trauma was moderated by Dr. 
Arman Danielyan, a pediatric psychiatrist from San Francisco (USA). Speaking 
about recent research conducted among soldiers fighting in the 44-day war, 
discussant Dr. Samvel Sukiasyan, director of the “Stress” Mental Health Clinic 
at the ArtMed Medical Recovery Center in Yerevan, noted, “Combat trauma is not 
just a form of stress, it is a mental, physical, social and moral trauma that 
affects a person on different levels, undermining their physical and social 
wellbeing.” In turn, Dr. Shushan Kalantaryan, a licensed marriage and family 
therapist in the Los Angeles area, shared her experience with positive cognitive 
behavioral therapy (CBT) as an effective method for rehabilitating those with 
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). During the war, Dr. Kalantaryan led a 
team of mental health professionals from abroad in a humanitarian relief mission 
to provide direct mental health assistance for soldiers, survivor families, and 
refugees in Armenia.
 
For the session on Intergenerational Transmission of New Trauma and 
Posttraumatic Growth, Dr. Rita Soulahian Kuyumjian, a clinical psychiatrist and 
Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University in 
Canada and Dr. Khachatur Gasparyan, chair of the Medical Psychology Department 
at Yerevan State Medical University and clinical director of the INTRA Mental 
Health Centre, addressed the unresolved grief associated with the historic 
trauma of the Genocide. Describing it as an obstacle to developing resilience, 
they discussed ways to overcome intergenerational trauma with post-traumatic 
growth. In noting the Diaspora’s important role in building national resilience 
during the 2020 war and now in its aftermath, Dr. Gasparyan referred to the 
Armenian Earthquake of 1988, saying, “Just like after the earthquake, once again 
it was proven that the Diaspora is the source of our resilience.” Both had 
worked together in the aftermath of the earthquake to bring needed psychological 
care to children and families in the devastated region.

Dr Kuyumjian concluded with a call to action. “The time has come for us to 
re-evaluate ourselves, to wisely estimate our political reality, not to put 
ourselves above our enemies and not to underestimate them, and to continue to 
fight for our existence without despair.”

In considering the needs of the youngest generation, panelists Dr. Violet 
Hovsepian Mesrkhani, a clinical psychologist from the US and Dr. Lilit 
Karapetyan, a psychologist at the Psychosocial Recovery Center in Armenia, 
shared their expertise in the session on Helping Children Avoid Victim Identity, 
moderated by educator and non-profit director Nanor Balabanian. Balabanian had 
moved to Armenia from the US just a day before the war broke out and has since 
helped open temporary schools in several shelters for displaced children in 
addition to working with soldiers on their path to recovery.  

According to Dr. Mesrkhani, “Victim identity is a learned behavior developed in 
response to trauma, and it can also be “unlearned.” The panelists emphasized the 
role of parents in identifying the symptoms and helping children find the inner 
strength to overcome victim identity.
 
Summarizing the first day of the Resilience Summit-Armenia, Marietta 
Khurshudyan, CEO of the Armenian Psychiatric Association, and co-founder and 
host of the “Hogebanali” psycho-educational television program, along with Dr. 
Yervant Zorian, AGBU Central Board Member and Founding President of the AGBU 
AVC, agreed that lifelong learning is an effective means of developing 
resilience. “We cannot change the past, the history of our people, but we can 
always change the future. Today’s discussions were about the future,” noted 
Khurshudyan. Referencing participant demographics spanning young and old with 
equal participation from Armenia/Artsakh and the Diaspora, Dr. Zorian noted that 
“today’s psychological health issues, trauma and post-traumatic recovery are 
important for people of different ages, for our entire nation.”  
 
Whereas the first day of the Summit offered more professional guidance aimed at 
strengthening the expertise of professionals working with individuals and 
families in Armenia and Artsakh, the second day’s agenda was designed to appeal 
to and inspire hope in a broader audience.  
 
Dr. Varduhi Petrosyan, professor and dean of the AUA Turpanjian School of Public 
Health opened the proceedings, which began with a panel on Cumulative Traumas 
and Resilience, moderated by Yelena Sardaryan, senior counselor and coordinator 
of the counseling and disability support services at AUA. Discussant Dr. Levon 
Jernazian, a licensed clinical psychologist from California, posited, 
“Resilience is one of the ways to adapt to change. It starts with the truth.”

Dr. Garine Papazian-Zohrabian, a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist from 
Montreal (Canada), who had carried out her dissertation research in Artsakh 
during the 1990s, maintained that “resilience is a changing quality, so as a 
society, we are able to take steps to develop resilience in individuals, 
families, and society in a state of collective psychological trauma.” 
 
Dr. Jernazian described the Armenian reality as “living in a critical moment 
when we have to make a choice—either one of development, towards healthy 
national psychology, one that does not wait for outside support and does not 
rely on imaginary friends, or choosing to adopt the psychology of a victim, 
based on the idea that we cannot move forward until the issues of the past are 
resolved and the wounds of the past have healed.”
 
Fellow panelist Dr. Lara Tcholakian, who has been living in Armenia for the last 
17 years, made this observation: “A century ago, our forefathers who survived 
the Genocide didn’t have the resources we have today. While we have various 
means and better platforms of expression, such as social media, we still fail to 
use these tools to express ourselves and engage in a constructive conversation.”
 
The next session tackled the topic of Mass Media and Mental Health. Maria 
Titizian, editor-in-chief of “EVN Report” (Armenia) led the discussion with 
Jirair Jolakian, co-founder and director of “Nor Haratch” Weekly in France and 
Lara Setrakian, journalist and CEO of News Deeply, currently based in Armenia. 
Jolakian pointed out the lack of analytical, critical and independent media in 
today’s Armenia and the need for responsible journalism. “Media outlets are the 
expression of the mental health [of a society]; they are a microphone. A 
mentally healthy society also has a healthy media system.”
 
Setrakian had words of advice to those overwhelmed by the daily stream of 
negative information and fake news. “We can build a platform for better dialogue 
within the Armenian information ecosystem. Go on a news diet. Watching the news 
is not part of your responsibility. Whatever you do, make sure the news you are 
using is helpful to you.”
 
The third panel Breaking Stigma explored how those suffering with mental health 
issues fail to seek professional help, which leads to deteriorated health, an 
inability to work and an increased economic burden on the society. Moderator 
Marietta Khurshudyan, Dr. Armen Soghoyan and actress, producer and social 
activist Arsinée Khanjian stressed the importance of how all our returning 
soldiers, regardless of their age, should find help through therapy. “It will be 
helpful not only for yourself, but also to your family, your loved ones, your 
children, mothers, fathers,” urged Khanjian. 
 
In a move toward inner reflection, the session called Finding Light in the 
Darkness was moderated by Keghani Mardikian, MSW, RSW, trauma specialist from 
Canada now living in Armenia since the war. Dr. Ruth Kupeian, counselor at AUA, 
and Rev. Fr. Mesrop Parsamyan, dean of the Gevorkian Theological Seminary at the 
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, shared their wisdom. “Suffering is inevitable. 
The way we deal with the hardships determines whether there is darkness within 
us,” said Fr. Mesrop. “We must accept life as it is and try to find the light of 
God in the darkness.” 

Continuing the theme, actor, artist and writer Vahe Berberian spoke about Faith, 
Hope and Love as the core axis of life, and how they are vanishing from today’s 
world. “Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. Let’s love one 
another, be forgiving of one another and be helpful to one another as much as 
possible.” 
 
In closing the event, Dr. Zorian noted that the solid participation over the two 
days of discussions proved the need for such conversations. “There is still a 
lot for us to do as individuals, as families, as a community and as a nation. 
This was just a two-day chapter in our long journey,” concluded Dr. Zorian.

To that end, the resources and advice from both Resilience Summits are 
accessible on the AVC platform. Please register to watch the recordings at 
https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.avc-agbu.org__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!6EPshaosljb60mV66OBjDd32s-S9Y4-zBsod11uRWSgQjqkUpVN1B-qQp2QM2A$
 .

The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) is the world’s largest non-profit 
organization devoted to upholding the Armenian heritage through educational, 
cultural and humanitarian programs. Each year, AGBU is committed to making a 
difference in the lives of 500,000 people across Armenia, Artsakh and the 
Armenian diaspora.  Since 1906, AGBU has remained true to one overarching goal: 
to create a foundation for the prosperity of all Armenians. To learn more visit 
https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.agbu.org__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!6EPshaosljb60mV66OBjDd32s-S9Y4-zBsod11uRWSgQjqkUpVN1B-r1jvc6Rg$
 .

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AGBU-Adds-New-Insights-on-Coping-with-Crises-in-Second-Resilience-Summit_ARMENIAN-WESTERN.doc
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AGBU-Adds-New-Insights-on-Coping-with-Crises-in-Second-Resilience-Summit_ARMENIAN-WESTERN.pdf
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AGBU-Adds-New-Insights-on-Coping-with-Crises-in-Second-Resilience-Summit_ENGLISH.doc
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AGBU-Adds-New-Insights-on-Coping-with-Crises-in-Second-Resilience-Summit_ARMENIAN-EASTERN.doc
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AGBU Resilience Summit Armenia - Speakers 2 ENG.PNG
AGBU Resilience Summit Armenia – Speakers 2 ENG.PNG

AGBU Resilience Summit Armenia – Speakers 1 ENG.PNG

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AGBU Resilience Summit Armenia – Speakers 1 ARM.PNG