Author: Antonian Lara

CC: America’s Oldest Armenian Church Seeks Descendants of Founding Families f

Antonian Lara

· MAY 12, 2026


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Vladimir Putin eyes invasion of Armenia in new Victory Day speech

Antonian Lara
The Express
May 11 26

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has warned Armenia that Moscow would reconsider bilateral relations if Yerevan pursues EU membership

By Yelena Mandenberg
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a strong warning to Armenia, suggesting it should conduct a referendum on its future relationship with the European Union and Russia.
In remarks to state media, Putin said he has held numerous conversations with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan about Armenia’s possible EU membership application.
He compared Armenia’s current position with events that led to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. “We are now experiencing everything that is happening in the Ukrainian direction. But where did it all begin? With Ukraine’s accession or attempts to join the EU,” Putin said.
He claimed Moscow would back “anything that benefits the Armenian people,” with whom Russia has maintained “special relations for centuries.” However, the leader noted that it was essential to “keep in mind certain circumstances that are important both for us and for our partners.”
Putin did not elaborate on these circumstances, though analysts took his speech as a threat of Russia seeking to take hold of the former Soviet state, a similar position Moscow held prior to the outbreak of war in 2022.

The Russian leader proposed that Armenia hold a referendum to decide whether to pursue EU membership or remain in the Eurasian Economic Union. According to Putin, Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, must “make up its mind as soon as possible” about participating in either the EU or the Eurasian Economic Union.

Should this occur, the leader suggested, there could be a route toward an “intelligent and mutually beneficial divorce.”

Armenia, which last year signed a U.S.-brokered deal ending decades of conflict with Azerbaijan, has been working to strengthen relationships with the U.S. and the EU. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has expressed his country’s ambition to join the EU and has halted Armenia’s involvement in the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization.

On May 4, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported having a constructive discussion with Pashinyan during the European Political Community summit held in Yerevan, Armenia.

During a May 7 briefing, Pashinyan clarified that his nation does not stand with Russia regarding the conflict in Ukraine.

“As for the visit of the president of Ukraine, I have already made a statement on this topic. We have provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and I have already said that we are not Russia’s ally on the issue of Ukraine,” he said.

The Armenian prime minister additionally explained he would skip Moscow’s May 9 parade due to his focus on campaigning before upcoming elections. In 2025, Armenia’s parliament passed legislation initiating the nation’s European Union accession process. Moscow responded with warnings that Armenia would ultimately need to choose between EU membership and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

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A Fresno woman recalls her father, an Armenian genocide survivor | Opinion

Antonian Lara
Fresno Bee, CA
May 9 2026
Pauline Sahakian

A Fresno woman recalls her father, an Armenian genocide survivor | Opinion

Paul Keurejian upon his arrival to the United States.

 (Pauline Sahakian)

Throughout my childhood, living in the Armenian community of Fresno, I grew up in the silent shadow of the 1915 genocide, the systematic destruction and annihilation of an estimated 1.5 million Armenian Christians living in the Ottoman Empire.

Somehow, my 27-year-old father, Paul, and his uncle, Hampartzoom, who was 25, escaped into the desert and were found by the American Red Cross. That humanitarian organization played a major role in saving refugees.

Though I knew of the Armenian genocide, it was never openly discussed in my home.

My father’s story

My father and my maternal grandparents were born in Kharpert, (also known as Harpoot), a city built on a rocky hilltop with a castle overlooking the plains below. Historically, it was part of the Ottoman Empire, positioned near the Euphrates and Murat rivers. Once heavily inhabited by Armenians, this ancient city dates back to 2000 BC and served as a center for Armenian culture in the region. Today, the area is considered a historic district in modern-day Turkey.

Some Armenian refugees from Kharpert escaped into the mountains, as my father and his uncle did. They found their way to Marseilles, and with the help of the Red Cross, boarded a ship to Ellis Island.

My father and Uncle Hampartzoom settled first in Detroit. My father learned English and worked as a grocery store butcher. After a few years, he and his uncle reconnected with relatives in Fresno. They decided to relocate here, forming a tribe of extended family for us Armenian-American kids.

By 1930, my father had found work as a butcher at Hanoian’s Market in Fresno’s “Armenian town” on Railroad Avenue. There, he met my mother, Melania, who shopped weekly with her parents. A match was made, and they married in 1940, moved to a farm in Kerman and had me and my two siblings.

The American Dream was a reality, and my father and his uncle were forever grateful for the opportunities their new life provided. For my father, that dream was marrying, buying a vineyard and raising a family.

Armenians in Fresno

Today, recent figures suggest that approximately 30,000 residents in Fresno are of Armenian descent — the second, third and even fourth generation of genocide survivors, making it one of the most significant Armenian communities in the United States.

Though my father never talked about the horrors he witnessed, other Armenians shared accounts of young men chased by Turks on horseback with sabers drawn and struck down as they fled. I also heard stories of pregnant women killed with soldiers’ swords and of Turkish soldiers herding women and children into an Armenian church — including my father’s mother — locking the doors and setting it on fire.

Armenian families were also forced to march into the desert, dying from starvation, some choosing suicide. The primary destination of these death marches was Deir ez-Zor, a city in the heart of the Syrian Desert. It served as the central hub for concentration and annihilation camps, and where deportees were left to die of starvation, dehydration and disease.

No discussion of the past

No one in my family talked about the past, about living in the “old country.” It was as if their lives began when they arrived in America and earned their citizenship, something my father was most proud of and which I became aware of when he helped me study for my eighth-grade Constitution test.

My father and uncle built a new community of near and distant relatives, though I’ll never know whether we were bound by blood or by the overwhelming grief born of the mass killings of 1915–1916 and the broader campaign of persecution and violence that continued through 1923.

Being the child of a survivor — of one who escaped but forever felt the loss of his mother, father, brothers and sisters — I carry his sadness with me to this day.

Now retired, Pauline Sahakian taught AP English at Clovis and Buchanan high schools as well as composition and teacher education at Fresno State. She was the founding director of the UC Merced Writing Project.

https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article315631402.html

https://www.aol.com/news/fresno-woman-recalls-her-father-130000055.html 

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Armenpress: Developed, secure, democratic Armenia is the greatest tribute to

Antonian Lara
Armenia10:35, 9 May 2026
Read the article in: العربيةFrançaisՀայերենRussian

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan released a statement on May 9, Victory and Peace Day, saying that Armenians made a significant contribution to the fight against fascism during World War II and stressing the importance of condemning fascism in all its manifestations.

In his message, Pashinyan stated that Armenia is celebrating May 9, 2026, under conditions of peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He noted that for the past two years, there have been neither casualties nor injuries resulting from Armenia-Azerbaijan gunfire.

Below is the full statement published by the Prime Minister’s Office.

“Dear people, dear citizens of the Republic of Armenia,

Today marks the Day of Victory of the Soviet Union and the Western Allies in World War II, which is celebrated in our country as Victory and Peace Day.

In World War II, civilized humanity said no to fascism. The Armenian people made a significant contribution to this struggle, with more than half a million Armenians fighting against fascism in the Soviet and Western Allied armies, as well as in underground resistance groups. That struggle and contribution have been highly appreciated in many countries.

We are celebrating the 81st anniversary of the victory over fascism under difficult international conditions. We are obliged not to forget the disasters fascism brought upon humanity and to condemn this phenomenon in all its manifestations.

Today we bow our heads before all the martyrs who gave their lives to save humanity from fascism. We also pay tribute to all the countries and peoples who fought against fascism.

Dear people, dear citizens of the Republic of Armenia,

We celebrate May 9, 2026, under the conditions of peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan. For two years now, there have been neither casualties nor injuries resulting from Armenia-Azerbaijan gunfire. Our border settlements live in an environment free from shootings. This is the most important achievement our country has recorded for the first time since independence.

Our task today is to properly safeguard the peace we have achieved and make it stronger and more reliable every day. The established peace is a historic opportunity for our country to reach an unprecedented level of security, prosperity and development.

Today we are confidently moving along that path, and a developed, free, secure, prosperous and democratic Republic of Armenia is the greatest tribute to the memory of all the martyrs of our people throughout history, as well as the service we must provide to our citizens and future generations.

We will pay that tribute, we will provide that service.

Glory to the martyrs, and long live the Republic of Armenia.”

Read the article in: العربيةFrançaisՀայերենRussian

Published by Armenpress, original at 
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Over 2.48 million voters registered for Armenia’s 2026 parliamentary election

Antonian Lara
Politics18:35, 8 May 2026
Read the article in: EspañolفارسیՀայերենRussian

As of 30 days before election day, the total number of voters included in the voter register of the Republic of Armenia is 2 million 482 thousand 872. Armenia’s Migration and Citizenship Service has published the voter register data for the National Assembly elections to be held on June 7, 2026.

According to the report, the number of voters registered at polling stations by location is 586, while the number of unregistered voters is 16.

The service reminded that, in accordance with the constitutional law “Electoral Code of the Republic of Armenia,” the total number of voters included in the voter register during National Assembly elections is published on the 30th, 20th and 10th days before voting day.

Read the article in: EspañolفارسیՀայերենRussian

Published by Armenpress, original at 
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Chinese FM holds talks with Iranian counterpart

Antonian Lara
Iran10:07, 6 May 2026
Read the article in: ArmenianRussian:

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Beijing on Wednesday, China’s Xinhua news agency reported without providing further details.

Iranian state media had earlier reported that Araghchi would discuss bilateral relations, as well as regional and international developments, with his Chinese counterpart.

Araghchi visited Pakistan, Oman, and Russia last week.

His visit to Beijing comes one week before U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned trip to China, which was originally scheduled to take place earlier but was postponed due to the war with Iran.

Read the article in: ArmenianRussian:

Published by Armenpress, original at 
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OSCE Secretary General arrives in Armenia ahead of EPC Summit

Antonian Lara
Read the article in: Arabic Persian ՀայերենRussian中文

Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Feridun Sinirlioğlu, has arrived in Armenia to participate in the 8th European Political Community (EPC) Summit in Yerevan.

Deputy Foreign Minister Robert Abisoghomonyan welcomed Secretary General Sinirlioğlu at Zvartnots Airport, the Armenian government said in a press release.

The 8th Summit of the European Political Community will take place on May 4, 2026, under the motto “Building the Future: Unity and Stability in Europe.”

The summit will bring together European leaders and heads of international organizations at a pivotal moment in shaping and strengthening Europe’s collective path. It will serve as an inclusive forum for open dialogue, strategic coordination, and shared reflection on Europe’s priorities, fostering collaboration, mutual understanding, and tangible initiatives to support a more resilient and forward-looking continent.

The summit will be co-chaired by Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, and António Costa, President of the European Council. Nearly fifty heads of state and government have been invited to take part in the summit.

Read the article in: Arabic Persian ՀայերենRussian中文

Published by Armenpress, original at 
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168: Not “brotherhood”, but interests. The real lesson of May 1st. … The operation will be called

Antonian Lara

May 1, 2026


Arman Tatoyan, head of the “Wings of Unity” political initiative, writes: “Today is May 1. Labor Day…Not a working day. Most of the world celebrates this holiday.

In the history of Armenia, however, the first days of May are known for another reason. On April 30, 1991, units of the internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Soviet Army and the Azerbaijani OMON entered the Armenian-inhabited villages of the northern part of Artsakh.

In the first days of May, Getashen and Martunashen were “cleansed” of Armenians. villages were suddenly surrounded, men were arrested, women and children were deported in buses under surveillance, houses were looted, property and lands were handed over to Azerbaijanis.

The operation was called “Koltso”. Beginning on the actual May 1st, it lasted throughout 1991. summer, covered dozens of Armenian villages and became the last major punitive action of the Soviet army in its own territory against its own people. The USSR army deported Soviet citizens in trucks to the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs
(NKVD) with the methodical instructions inherited from the troops.

“Koltso” is the direct methodological heir of Stalin’s national deportations. The same troops, the same methods. the start of the operation on the same day as the holiday, the same logic. there is a population that prevents the solution of the problem, therefore it is moved. Only the formal reasons changed: “unreliability” in 1944, “passport regime” in 1991, but the essence of the procedure was the same.

In Artsakh, the architect of this model was Major-General Vladislav Safonov, the military commandant of the emergency region of Nagorno-Karabakh. For Azerbaijan, he is a hero with the nickname “iron general”. In the Armenian memory, he, like the whole action, was carefully pushed into the background, because remembering was inconvenient due to geopolitical considerations.

Why return to all this today and why exactly like this?
Not to say “Russia is bad, USSR was bad”. It is a pointless thesis. States are not “good” or “bad”. they have interests, resources and instruments with which they realize those interests.

USSR in 1991 was solving its problem of keeping Azerbaijan within the collapsing Union at the expense of the population of dozens of Armenian villages. An understandable, cynical, rational problem.
The problem of the Armenian political tradition lies elsewhere. It was built for decades on the thesis of “special”, “fraternal”, “inviolable” relations.

In theory, this is convenient, but in practice it is disastrous, because it interferes with calculation. It is difficult to see when Russian interests coincide with Armenian ones, and when they conflict. It is difficult to understand that the inactivity of the peacekeepers in Stepanakert in September 2023 was not a “betrayal of the company”, but a consistent implementation of interests that were visible for a long time, and never meant to sacrifice something for the sake of Armenia.

So that Koltso, Sumgait, Artsakh are not repeated, the solution is neither to restore the myth of “friendship” nor to reject it (for those who reject it, “Russia is an eternal enemy”, which is equally absurd).

The solution is a sober understanding: with whom do Armenia’s interests coincide, in which sector, on what issue, under what conditions?

Boring, unromantic, pragmatic work. But it is precisely the lack of it that has cost the Armenian people what it has cost them in the last 35 years.

Labor Day is a good occasion to remind that sober calculation is also work.”

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RFE/RL – Armenia Falls In Press Freedom Rankings

Antonian Lara
  • Astghik Bedevian
May 01, 2026

Armenia – Cameramen and a photojournalist follow a session of the Armenian parliament, Yerevan, April 18, 2023.

The French-based international organization Reporters without Borders (RSF) has significantly downgraded Armenia’s position in its annual survey of press freedom around the world.

The group ranked Armenia 50th out of 180 countries in its latest World Press Freedom Index released on Thursday. The South Caucasus country occupied 34th place in its previous rankings.

“Despite Armenia’s varied media landscape, its media remains polarized,” RSF said in a report. “The country is facing an unprecedented level of disinformation and hate speech fed by internal political tension, security problems at the country’s borders and the country’s complicated position between Russia and the European Union.”

“Only a handful of media outlets demonstrate independence,” it said, listing the Azatutyun.am website of RFE/RL’s Armenian Service among them.

“Journalists are often subjected to pressure, insults and violence by both ruling party officials and opposition politicians, as well as their supporters — whether in Parliament, the street, or on social media,” added the report. “In general, violence towards journalists goes unpunished.”

Artur Papian, the chairman of the Yerevan Press Club, believes that RSF painted an objective picture of the Armenian media landscape.

“The indicator that we have now is closer to the reality which I saw even last year,” Papian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

According to Aram Abrahamian, the veteran editor of the independent Aravot daily, the pressure cited by RSF is aggravated by Armenian officials’ and their loyalists’ claims about Russia’s “hybrid war” against Armenia.

“Of course, they do not directly apply only to journalists,” said Abrahamian. “But that intolerant atmosphere, their fairy tales that all oppositionists, including critical journalists, come from some hostile camps — from Armenia, abroad, etc. — of course, also add to and spoil the atmosphere.”

The Committee to Protect Freedom of Speech, another Yerevan-based watchdog, recorded eight instances of insults and threats addressed to Armenian journalists or obstruction of their work in the first quarter of this year. All but one of them emanated from the government, it said in a recent report.

The RSF report also noted that Armenia’s “state-owned media outlets refrain from all criticism of the government,” contradicting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s assertion earlier this week that the Armenian media is free from any government control or influence.

“If I stop being prime minister you will lose your jobs four hours later,” Pashinian told journalists.

“You just cannot fail to vote for us in the 2026 parliamentary elections,” he said. “Or else, you will at least become jobless or at most acquire disability … if you continue to exercise your right to free speech the way you do now.”

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Putin pays tribute to Armenian Genocide victims on Remembrance Day

Antonian Lara
Politics13:19, 24 April 2026
Read the article in: فارسیՀայերենRussianTürkçe中文

President of Russia Vladimir Putin has released a statement on the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

“Today we bow in memory of hundreds of thousands of victims of the Armenian Genocide, one of the most horrific tragedies of the 20th century,” Putin said in a statement published by the Kremlin.

“The brutal massacre of unarmed, innocent people—who were killed, injured, and forcibly displaced from their native towns and villages—shocked the entire civilized world, and its devastating consequences have clearly demonstrated where the incitement of religious hatred, nationalism, and xenophobia can lead.

I would like to note that our country’s position on this issue has always remained unchanged. It was already reflected in the joint declaration of Russia, Great Britain, and France in May 1915, which condemned the violence against the Armenian people as a crime against humanity and civilization, and later, in a new historical stage, in the State Duma’s statement of April 14, 1995.

We are convinced that policies of mass extermination and deportation based on national identity have no justification and cannot have any, and that the international community must unite its efforts so that such barbarity is never repeated anywhere.

The persecutions and repressions of those years became an unhealed wound for many generations, yet the catastrophe and its aftermath united people who demonstrated devotion to traditions, wisdom, and courage. I am confident that in the future as well, the sons and daughters of Armenia will preserve their national identity, their millennia-old culture, language, freedom, and spiritual values.

I wish the friendly Armenian people prosperity, well-being, and all the best,” he said.

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Published by Armenpress, original at 
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