- Armine Martirosyan
- jam-news.net
How Armenia should ensure its security
The situation in the Middle East is extremely tense. Powers are trying to redraw borders, and the balance of power is shifting. Some Armenian experts say the region now follows the same logic that the South Caucasus experienced in 2020. In their view, the war in Nagorno-Karabakh that year created a new regional order. In this order, force dictates the rules rather than law. Since then, they argue, Yerevan has chosen a strategy of concessions.
CIS affairs expert Lilit Grigoryan says this approach amounts to “not peace, but defeatism”. Here is her view on what Armenia should do to ensure its security.
Comment by CIS affairs expert Lilit Grigoryan
Iran between weakening and fragmentation
“What is happening in Iran is the result of processes that have unfolded over decades. The weakening of Iraq after the US invasion disrupted the regional balance of power. A redistribution of that balance became only a matter of time. Today the Middle East is undergoing a major reconfiguration, in which Israel pursues its own ambitions.
Two scenarios appear possible for Iran. The first is the gradual weakening of the regime while the country’s territorial integrity remains intact. Most European states support this scenario. The second is the fragmentation of Iran through support for separatist movements in certain regions. Israel is primarily interested in that option.
In any case, the regime will weaken. However, a prolonged conflict harms the countries of the Persian Gulf, which are already suffering significant losses. War drives oil prices up. Russia benefits from this situation. The United States has eased sanctions pressure in some areas and granted India a 30-day exemption from the ban on purchasing Russian oil. In addition, some weapons that had been intended for Ukraine are now being used against Iran. The conflict itself also shifts international attention away from the Ukrainian front, which again works in Moscow’s favour.”
South Caucasus without international law
“What is happening in the Middle East today already took place in the South Caucasus in 2020. At that time, with the consent of Russia, Turkey and Iran, a redistribution of power began. Russia and Azerbaijan changed the regional balance to Armenia’s detriment. This process created a new model — regionalism. In this model, major players, primarily Russia and Turkey, set the red lines, while smaller countries such as Armenia and Georgia accept the new realities. Azerbaijan became a co-author of this model.
Regionalism is essentially an anti-Western concept. Smaller states seek security through cooperation with regional heavyweights rather than through Western institutions. Armenia now acts within this logic. It declares friendly relations with everyone but relies primarily on regional powers. Discussions about Yerevan pursuing a Western course contradict the idea of regionalism. Armenia’s actual policies suggest something different.
However, this model contains a fundamental flaw. The new order rests on force rather than law. Previously, the issue of Artsakh was addressed within the OSCE Minsk Group, where the key principle was the non-use of force. Russia and Azerbaijan dismantled that structure with Armenia’s effective participation. The region now operates according to the principle of force. This means the costs of the new order will fall first and foremost on the weakest states — the smaller countries.”
Peace in exchange for concessions
“Military action against Armenia will resume the moment it stops making concessions. As long as it continues to concede, there will be no military escalation.
Ahead of the elections, the authorities will avoid any steps that could provoke escalation. Their key message is an economic breakthrough and lasting peace in the region for 99 years, according to TRIPP. It is a politically advantageous position: the authorities can accuse any opponent of potentially bringing the country to disaster and war.”
The “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP) is a proposed transport corridor that would connect mainland Azerbaijan with its exclave of Nakhchivan.
Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to unblock the route with mediation from the US president. An American consortium would take part in managing the business operations linked to the project.
“But in a situation where the collective West no longer exists as a guarantor of international law, the greatest danger is the loss of a sense of reality — something the authorities are actively encouraging. Countries that can assess the situation soberly and recognize that the region is entering a period of military tension will emerge with the fewest losses.
When society sincerely believes that a single route — TRIPP, whose economic dividends remain uncertain — can solve everything, the most dangerous combination arises: loss of vigilance, lack of political will and absence of strategy.
The minimum Armenia can do under these conditions is pursue a policy of deterrence. But that requires political vision and determination.”
Deterrence strategy — the only way forward for Armenia
“A policy of deterrence is not the same as resilience. Resilience responds to blows after they occur. Active deterrence works preventively. A country identifies risks in advance and removes them before they grow. It seeks autonomy in all areas, not only in the military sphere.
Armenia has proclaimed ‘peace at any cost’. In reality, the country is moving not towards peace or stability but towards steady decline. The authorities have no plan B. Society is becoming divided and losing a clear understanding of what is happening. Under such conditions, the country risks finding itself unprepared for new challenges.
A policy of deterrence requires concrete steps. Armenia must secure supply chains. It must ensure food and energy security and manage water resources. Psychological preparation of society is also important. This is not about military mobilization but about civic readiness. People should know what to do in a worst-case scenario. Regions should be able to provide themselves with food and fuel. They should maintain communication even without the internet and deliver basic medical assistance.
The military dimension also requires deep reform. Azerbaijani forces are consolidating their presence in occupied territories while Armenia remains passive. This passivity opens the way to creeping annexation. The logic is simple: if a country allows an adversary to entrench itself, the next step will be further advances. Limited tactical operations and targeted actions could prevent the opponent from feeling secure there and gradually push it back from the positions it has taken.”
Armenia plays by its opponent’s rules
“Armenia’s current policy accepts Azerbaijan’s appeasement program. Baku openly calls it the peace of the victor: Azerbaijan sets the terms and Armenia agrees.
Inside the country and across the diaspora, many follow the same logic. First accept these conditions, rebuild strength and later address the accumulated problems. Today’s peace agenda operates within that framework.
Armenia’s fundamental problem lies elsewhere. For decades it has not monitored the strategies of its opponents, including Russia. It has not studied their tactics or drawn conclusions.
People now forget Russia’s role in the current situation with striking speed. That itself creates a security risk. A state that cannot identify hostile policies directed against it is destined to face the same scenario again — but in a worse form.
Meanwhile, the tactics of hostile countries are clear. They aim to prevent Armenia from accumulating strength, resources and capabilities so that it cannot, in their words, pursue revenge. One instrument is control over Armenia’s political field.
Aliyev’s rhetoric in Munich illustrates this approach. His references to Nuremberg and fascism were not accidental. Azerbaijan is building a narrative in which it presents itself as a fighter for justice while portraying Armenians as aggressors. Behind this stands a state-centred strategy with long-term planning and well-established mechanisms. Armenia does not counter this strategy — it adapts to it.”
Armenia should become a “poisonous flower”
“Armenia must openly defend its rights. This includes the issue of Artsakh, the deportation of the Armenian population and the demand for a just peace. Peace imposed by a victor never lasts. Either the winner continues the pressure, or the defeated side eventually pushes back. This is not stability. It is a postponed conflict.
For 30 years Azerbaijan built a strategy. Now, facing little resistance, it is moving to the next stage. Officials speak about ‘historical lands’ and the ‘restoration of Azerbaijani communities’ inside Armenia. As long as Yerevan believes concessions are a winning tactic, it keeps losing its already weakened strategic position. Armenian rhetoric increasingly repeats the narrative created in Baku, and changing that becomes harder each time.
Building a security policy on the assumption that ‘Azerbaijan also wants peace’ is extremely risky. Such an approach might have made sense in the early 1990s. At that time liberal democracy expanded and the collapse of the Soviet Union strengthened the discourse of human rights. Presenting that logic today as the only correct strategy is an anachronism and a gamble.
When a victor faces no real leverage from Armenia or outside actors, the absence of a plan B allows it to change the rules at any moment. Deterrence works in the opposite way. The adversary understands that any misstep will carry a high cost and that victory will not come easily. Being small does not mean being defenceless. A country can become a ‘poisonous flower’.”
TRIPP is not deterrence
“TRIPP is exactly what Azerbaijan sought — and obtained without firing a single shot. It is difficult to describe this as a deterrent. By the same logic, Armenia could ‘deter’ Baku by handing over all settlements where some Azerbaijanis once lived, abandoning the term ‘Artsakh’ and agreeing to any other concessions. The correct term here is not deterrence but defeatism.
The same logic appears in the case of Ukraine. If Kyiv agreed to territorial concessions and abandoned its course towards NATO, it could also ‘stop the war’. The question is at what price.”
How Russia controls Armenia’s political field
“Armenia is going through a deep crisis today, and it is not only about the current authorities. The emerging opposition does not resemble the old-style pro-Russian forces. Instead, Russian oligarchic structures have penetrated it. These actors offer no way out of the regionalism that threatens Armenia. Russia exercises almost total control over Armenia’s political field.
Moscow has no real problem with the current government. The real problem for Russia would be Armenian citizens who could create new parties, raise questions of justice and demand accountability — not only from Azerbaijan but also from Russia. Russian influence systematically closes that political space.
Russia has lost the Armenian people, but it has not lost the political field. Moscow now pursues three goals:
- to close the issue of Artsakh
- if possible, to attract Armenians from Artsakh to Russia — for this reason hostility toward them is artificially encouraged in Armenia
- to shift responsibility for the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh onto Pashinyan alone and attribute the redistribution of power in the region to other centres of influence.
At the same time, a more vulnerable Armenia could be brought back under control more easily if necessary. For now, Moscow does not need to do this. At present, Armenia — like Georgia and Azerbaijan — serves as a channel for bypassing Western sanctions.”
Why the West views Armenia through Baku’s lens
“The West is undergoing a deep transformation. This process will intensify over the next two to three years. Western decision-making centers do not act as a single bloc. Countries with organized lobbying networks promote their narratives more effectively.
Azerbaijan understood this long ago. It works successfully with Western experts against Armenia. A striking example illustrates this trend. A well-known Azerbaijani propagandist publicly claimed that Azerbaijan would help Armenia free itself from Russian influence. Armenia offers no comparable voices. Moreover, since 2023 some voices inside Armenia have begun repeating Azerbaijani messages.
As a result, Western perception forms in layers. First comes the Azerbaijani narrative. Then experts repeat and reinforce it. Finally, Western observers see a simplified Armenian political landscape. On one side stands a Russian oligarchic opposition. On the other stands the current government, despite its flaws. Western actors choose the latter as the lesser evil. They applied the same approach to Armenia’s previous authorities.”
Yerevan should not be drawn into Baku and Ankara’s ‘virtual reality’
Political analyst says Azerbaijan and Turkey project an image of “peace-loving states,”urging Armenia’s authorities to assess the situation soberly.
Worst-case scenario for Armenia
“A multipolar world order is the worst scenario for Armenia. When major centers of power become equal in strength, they start competing for the periphery. Armenia lies exactly in that zone. The first step large powers may take is to divide smaller states among themselves. Multipolarity will not bring friendly or cooperative relations between centers of power. It will produce confrontation.
Under such conditions, regionalism becomes a trap rather than a solution. Armenia therefore needs to build a strong core inside the country. It should stop making constant concessions. It should accumulate strength and carry out reforms so that it can defend its rights in the future. Azerbaijan followed exactly this strategy for 30 years.”
CC: ‘This is not peace, but defeatism’: a dissenting view on Armenia’s securi
We used to say “Gubernia”, now on the threshold of turning into a Turkish-Azerbaijani province
March: 16, 2026
Armenia is on the verge of turning into a Turkish-Azerbaijani state. The “creeping” processes of recent years have led to the fact that the Republic of Armenia almost does not exist as a sovereign entity. About this 168TVof Revue announced on the air of the program Raffi Hovhannisyan, the founder of the “Heritage” party, the first foreign minister of the newly independent Republic of Armeniatalking about Armenia’s current challenges.
“What is heard from the international podiums is not the speech of the representative of the sovereign Republic of Armenia, but the speech of some leader of the Armenian state, which is already an object. Therefore, the change that we have experienced with the last years, months and every passing day, really means that we are living in existential identity, sovereignty and statehood anxiety,” Raffi Hovhannisyan thinks.
According to the leader of “Heritage”, regional and international developments are such that many things are already happening around Armenia: war, military operations, geopolitical changes.
Raffi Hovhannisyan considers “creeping pan-Turkism” as one of the biggest threats, for which we are not ready nationally and state-wise.
“I think that first of all, there is the existential problem of the Armenian man, the RA citizen, there is the question of the existence of our statehood. In the past, we used to say “governia, gubernia”, now, really, I shouldn’t say vilayet, but we are on the verge of turning into a Turkish-Azerbaijani province,” adds Hovhannisyan.
According to the political leader, without the Armenian national identity, memory and history, one cannot expect a strong, far-reaching, self-confident future as a state, and trampling on our values and national symbols by the current government, the path we have taken, has brought Armenia to the edge of the abyss, which “either we must accept, reconcile, or we must change within these weeks and months.”
According to him, one of the ways of this change is the upcoming parliamentary elections, but there are also other constitutional ways.
“All possible legal means and methods should be implemented not to guarantee the salvation of Armenia, but at least to create sufficient conditions so that Armenia, the Armenian people have the opportunity to breathe, to reform, to look to the future, and finally to have state representatives who are not only self-confident in front of the world, but also represent the rights of the Armenians, the rights of the Armenian people, the rights of the state, the nation. We have put all possible rights on the altar, we have refused, and there is not a single word, a government rhetoric, that speaks about Armenians and Armenians, Armenian rights,” said Raffi Hovhannisyan.
To the question of when the RA Declaration of Independence was a reason for war or a source of conflict, as Nikol Pashinyan tries to present in order to justify his desire to remove the reference to the Declaration of Independence from the preamble of the Constitution, Raffi Hovhannisyan emphasizes in response that the Declaration of Independence is an unchangeable part of our Constitution.
“I will not comment on them. They came to gradually implement the positions of the neighboring dictators, not having the courage to say at that moment that we should talk about Armenia’s interest: statehood, sovereignty, territorial integrity, we should write some maps, but in the end, we will come to the point that we should implement all their preconditions and demands, and they are doing that, and the Declaration of Independence is only a preamble expression, which also summarizes a part of our national rights, and it is clear that it is part of our Constitution. is an invariable part, it is not subject to change.
If we have legality, constitutionality in our country, it is not subject to change. But we should not be surprised that with one trick or another they will be able to present it as a necessity. Let there be change, let there be improvement, let us have a Constitution that is finally acceptable and accepted by the people, but not at the expense of our national interests, rights, and values. They think that they are writing a new history, but they are not writing the history of the Republic of Armenia, but the history of the Yerevan province as part of Azerbaijan,” says the leader of “Heritage”.
In this context, Raffi Hovhannisyan emphasizes that, of course, we should have lived in a different way for 30 years, but under the conditions of statehood, this government and its leader are primarily and entirely responsible for our depatriation, the loss of thousands of our bright boys, and the concession of Armenia’s territorial integrity.
“I can say that as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I was in favor of the recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic from the very first day. I can justify it now, why it was right from the beginning or at least parallel to the 1994 Tripartite ceasefire, but that doesn’t change anything now. We were not prepared as systematically as possible. We thought that security was given to us, that there was an “umbrella” over Artsakh, that everything was protected, but we did not understand that the interest of the state is higher than our personal and partial interests.
We did not realize it and did not protect it, but I can say that in diplomacy, also from the point of view of providing a border line, a front line, we protected the minimum, that is, the minimum threshold of our integrity, sovereignty and independence, and dedication to the same principles of the Declaration of Independence were secured, with big reservations, big mistakes and sins, but they were secured,” recalls the former Foreign Minister.
According to him, no figure or leader of any region is above criticism, everyone has his own fault, but this total fault does not change the direct and direct responsibility of today’s government and the ruler for our losses, defeats and humiliation.
“We are simply humiliated when we live in our country every day as Armenians and Armenians and watch how those representatives, having already lost their legitimacy, try to represent our country, our values, our identity, our civilization in accordance with the interests and words of the neighboring dictators, those who occupied us, those who subjected us to occupation. I consider that today’s ruler and the government is simply Mr. Aliyev’s authorized representative in the Republic of Armenia,” added Raffi Hovhannisyan.
Recalling Monte Melkonyan’s famous words that if we lose Artsakh, we will turn the last page of Armenian history, and answering the question, what danger is Armenia facing after the occupation of Artsakh, Raffi Hovhannisyan says:
“What we are experiencing today is montheurization.”
The founder of “Heritage” also referred to the statements allowed by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, about the military and political leaders of Artsakh in an interview with France 24 last month, in particular, comparing the Armenian prisoners of war with the Nazis sentenced to death at the Nuremberg Trials, and on that occasion, the Lemkin Institute for the Prevention of Genocide. to the announcement, in which Aliyev is characterized as the leader of a genocidal state.
Raffi Hovhannisyan answers: it is hard to imagine anything more shameful, disgusting and reprehensible than the words of that dictator.
“He will have to stand before the Nuremberg court first, Armenian Nuremberg or modern international Nuremberg. He and the representatives of his military-political system should be subjected to Nuremberg justice and not by turning the reality upside down and trying to direct it in a different direction. First, they should experience their Nuremberg personally.
We know that the geopolitical reality is not such that we can expect this to become a priority agenda, and that one episode shows why it is impossible to establish real peace without symmetry, without dignity and equality. It simply depicts the inner world, on the basis of which that man and his government continue to implement their policies to this day. It is a corridor, it is “Western Azerbaijan”, it is the ongoing genocide against the cultural, church and spiritual heritage of Armenia and the Armenian people.
There are different measurements, but that one sentence shows how they treat the Armenian people, the future of Armenia and that vertical expectation that they have. They need an Armenian state, which is subordinate to Baku and Ankara, and which does not have an independent backbone and point of view,” stated Hovhannisyan.
According to Raffi Hovhannisyan, that is why we see what is happening today: the denial of the Armenian Genocide, the dismissal of the director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute for presenting a book to the US Vice President JD Vance.
According to Raffi Hovhannisyan, Vance’s speech in Yerevan, that is, expressing support for Nikol Pashinyan in the upcoming elections, is a direct interference in Armenia’s internal affairs.
“To say phenomenal would be a bit too extravagant in this case, but the ground that they have created in diplomacy and in real life does not surprise us, but when the state representative of the people subjected to genocide already takes upon himself the propaganda of the genocidal regime, their theses, their approaches, even blaming the victim, this is simply beyond this, beyond any reason, when they take the truth of the people subjected to genocide, the rights of the world, etc., turn it upside down and present it are the approach of the perpetrator, where the victim is “guilty”, he added regarding the denial of the Armenian Genocide.
Raffi Hovhannisyan compares Nikol Pashinyan’s government with the Vichy collaborator regime of Marshal Pétain, who collaborated with the Nazis in France during the Second World War.
“These are the same Vichy regime that justifies the genocidal regime and tries to present as a way to save Armenia that five thousand golden boys would die, Artsakh would be denationalized, and these were “ransoms to ensure the future of the statehood of the Republic of Armenia”. I have never seen a more absurd, more vulgar, more inhumane, stupider and meaner approach in my entire experience,” says Raffi Hovhannisyan.
According to Raffi Hovhannisyan, the issue of Artsakh is not closed, it can be returned to the international agenda in the future, that hope and dream must be kept, but it implies a lot of work and nationwide improvement.
“Armenia’s place in international politics must be restored, we must return as a subject, and in relation to the same Minsk Group, I must mention that I was the one who, as a minister, on behalf of the Republic of Armenia in 1992 In March, I accepted the mediation of the Minsk Group in Helsinki, and there, at the diplomatic table, the Republic of Armenia was represented as a full, full member and with the right of veto. There, the elected representatives of Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh, would participate in the Minsk conference, which would decide the status of Artsakh.
In that same Helsinki document, there was the thing that since there were ongoing war operations, that the organization should open a humanitarian corridor between Armenia and Artsakh, and in fact, months later, the Armenian people themselves opened that corridor, which was decided by that same CSCE, so to say that from the beginning it was like we misunderstood the international situation, that “the Karabakh movement is some kind of dark movement”, I’ll just say them are expressions of anti-legal and criminal meaning, which deny their own history and, beyond their own history, the concept of law itself. You violate the individual and collective rights of your own people, and there can be no forgiveness for that,” recalls the former Foreign Minister of Armenia.
Full interview in the video.
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Don’t raise the prices, keep that 10,000 drams… There is no future, only words.
March: 15, 2026
During the survey, residents of Vardenis talked about security and social problems, as well as the upcoming parliamentary elections.
• Turks are our enemy, our enemy, our “adversary”. They don’t want the good of Armenians. When making friends with a dog, you have to keep a stick, the enemy remains an enemy, do whatever you want… We need to protect the borders, we need to furnish the borders well, strengthen them and have weapons.
• The people are in poverty, people barely survive…
• There is no one who dominates the villages of Vardenis, Ani’s ruins are pits, neither shoes nor cars…
• I am the father of four children, but I do not know what will be the fate of our child.
• The future prime minister of Armenia must be a strong person.
• The next prime minister should not think about his pocket, but about the people and generations.
• How to live now…people are leaving, they don’t know what to do due to the uncertainty of the future…
• That I have to work and pay off the loans, what will be left for us… the situation of small-medium businesses is difficult…
• The authorities are quietly, without words, slowly emptying Vardenis and the villages… a special plan is being made for people to leave…
• They make everything more expensive…
• We have been standing near the store for several hours, there is no trade, no people. They buy goods, but since there is no trade, everything expires.
• I would like them to lower the taxes a little, to pay attention to this medium and small business. At least they will lower the tax threshold a little so that we can get out from under that tax…
• Businesses close, people’s years of work, years of sweat are lost, everything closes.
• Everything was closed near us, there was a passport desk, they also closed it, why do we have to go to Martuni and stand in line for hours for a passport? They also closed the bank…
• There is no job here. There is no one who cares about us. Today’s 10,000 AMD is barely enough for one day’s food. Այն ժամանակ 10000 դրամով կարող էիր մեկ շաբաթ ապրել, հիմիկվա 10000 դրամով կարաս ապրես 1 օր։ Ամեն ինչը թանկացնում է, 10000 ավելացնում է, ասում է` դե ապրեք… Իշխանությունը թող գները էժանացնի, էդ 10000-ը չբարձրացնի։ Մի՛ թանկացրու գները, էդ 10000 դրամն էլ քեզ պահիր… Ապագա չկա, դրանք միայն խոսքեր են, ուրիշ ոչինչ…
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Zakharova confirmed. The RA authorities did not allow Russia to be a humanitarian
March: 12, 2026
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, confirmed that the official Yerevan refused to give Russia the opportunity to provide humanitarian assistance to the Artsakh Armenians. During today’s briefing, Zakharova said that Armenia has given up support to the Karabaghs through “Russian Humanitarian Mission”, “Eurasia” organizations and Rossotrudnichestvo, which was launched in June-July 2025, in response to the request of Armenian non-governmental organizations.
“During this period, assistance was provided to almost 7,000 families located in almost all major cities of the republic and in remote and hard-to-reach communities and villages,” he detailed.
According to him, Russia has never left the people of the mentioned region without support and help and has never remained indifferent to the fate of the Karabakh people in Armenia.
Zakharova reminded that Moscow was one of the first to send humanitarian aid to Armenia, although at that time Yerevan was not very happy with the support of the Russian side, declaring: “Thank you, but it’s not necessary.”
“Even now, they refuse to continue the support planned for the people of Karabakh,” he said.
Zakharova detailed that during this period, about 140 tons of cargo were delivered: food, basic necessities, children’s kits. He emphasized that meeting such needs allowed the Armenian authorities to focus on the most pressing issues: housing security, employment and social integration. In addition, according to him, some products were bought in Armenia, which became an incentive for local production and small business.
Zakharova read the letter received from Armenia. “The legal norms of the Republic of Armenia limit the provision of donations and charitable aid during the pre-election period.”
He noted that the Russian side tried to find out what it meant, but there was no clarification.
He emphasized that the refusal of humanitarian aid, which has no political context, is due to the pre-election desire of the RA authorities to erase any mention of Russia in that period.
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Pashinyan says he asked genocide museum director to resign over gift of book a
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Thursday he had asked the director of Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, Edita Gzoyan, to submit her resignation after she presented a book about Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) to U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance during a tour at the Armenian Genocide Memorial.
Speaking at a press briefing in Yerevan, Pashinyan confirmed reports that Gzoyan’s departure was linked to the incident and said the move was necessary because foreign policy is determined solely by the Armenian government.
“When the country’s prime minister says there is no ‘Karabakh movement,’ what does it mean to present a foreign guest with a book about the Artsakh issue?” Pashinyan said.
“In Armenia, foreign policy is conducted by the government,” he added. “Any state official who says or does something that contradicts the government’s foreign policy must leave their position.”
Responding to a question from reporters about whether Gzoyan’s removal was directly connected to the book given to the U.S. vice president, Pashinyan said: “Yes, I asked her to write a resignation letter. I regarded this as an action contradicting the government’s foreign policy and considered it a provocative act.”
The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, located at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex in Yerevan, is Armenia’s leading state research institution dedicated to the study and commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.
Nagorno Karabakh, or Artsakh, historically populated by ethnic Armenians, has been the center of decades of conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Following a 44-day war in Fall 2020 and occupation of swaths of territory in Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan continued military provocations along the new Line of Contact, and following a 9-month siege of the region (despite presence of Russian peacekeepers), launched a two-day war in September 2023 and took full control of the region, prompting more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians to forcefully flee to Armenia.
Pashinyan’s government has since signaled a shift in policy toward recognizing what he labeled as ‘Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity’ as part of efforts to negotiate a peace agreement between the two countries.
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US Embassy in Armenia joins in mourning victims of 1988 Sumgait tragedy
12:42,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Today, we join with Armenians mourning all who were killed in Sumgait in 1988, the US Embassy in Armenia said in a statement issued Tuesday.
“Our deepest sympathy rests with the families of those killed, injured, and displaced. We will continue to work for peace in the region, so such tragedies will not be repeated,” the embassy added.
Armenpress: Prime Minister Pashinyan congratulates Estonia’s Kaja Kallas on Independence Day
11:20,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has congratulated the Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas on the country’s Independence Day.
"I congratulate you and the friendly people of Estonia on the occasion of the national holiday of the Republic of Estonia, Independence Day,” PM Pashinyan said in a letter addressed to his Estonian counterpart. “I would like to note with satisfaction that between Armenia and Estonia, political dialogue has been formed and is rapidly developing in the recent period, as well as cooperation in areas of mutual interest. I express my gratitude for Estonia's willingness to support the process of democratic reforms implemented in Armenia, as well as the further development of the Armenia-EU partnership. We highly appreciate Estonia's position in supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia. I sincerely hope that in the near future there will be an opportunity to meet with you and to intensify bilateral relations through joint efforts."
France Arms Armenia With Cutting-Edge Air Defense Radars & Missiles; Fills Russian Void In The Country
The French have stepped in to take the position that Russia once held in Armenia. With its recent delivery of military equipment, France has strengthened its ties with Armenia – a move that comes on the back of a “large-scale conflict” that went in Azerbaijan’s favor.
The French Defense Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, traveled to Yerevan on February 22 in light of reports that Armenia is finally set to take delivery of the military equipment that was promised by France last year.
In October 2023, a deal was reportedly signed by the Armenian Defense Ministry and the French defense group Thales for the purchase of three cutting-edge GM-200 radar systems. The ceremony was attended by Lecornu and his Armenian counterpart Suren Papikian.
At that time, Sebastien Lecornu announced that France had decided to assist Armenia in strengthening its air defense capabilities by selling three radars and reaching an agreement to supply Mistral anti-air missiles in the future.
A “letter of intent” on the prospective transfer of French short-range surface-to-air missiles to Armenia was signed by the two ministers in October.
Later, it was revealed that France would also arm Armenia with 50 armored personnel carriers to bolster its ground forces. The carriers would provide Armenian armed forces with high-level protection and multi-mission capabilities.
By December, the first 24 Bastion carriers ostensibly headed for Armenia were seen in the port of Poti, Georgia. Neither side has confirmed the Bastion delivery so far.
ACMAT Bastion – Wikipedia
According to reports in local French media, the three GM-200 radars and French night-vision equipment pledged by the French Macron administration were scheduled to be shipped to Armenia on February 22. The Armenian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has refused to comment on these reports.
The delivery of GM200 radars would be significant as they can simultaneously identify and track warplanes, drones, and even rockets within a 250-kilometer radius, making them a valuable tool for air defense troops.
With the lingering threat of Azerbaijan’s deadly drone attacks, the deployment of these radars would bolster Yerevan’s defense. France, incidentally, sent Ukraine two of these systems a year ago, where they have proved their combat efficacy.
Lecornu emphasized on February 21 that French arms deliveries to Armenia were “purely defensive while making an obvious allusion to the possibility of an attack by Azerbaijanis on Armenia when he told the French channel RTL that the nation was facing “major security challenges.”
Lecornu and Papikian are expected to meet on February 23. The head of the defense and security committee of the Armenian parliament, Andranik Kocharian, did not rule out the possibility that other agreements between France and Armenia would be inked as a consequence of their discussions. Kocharian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, “Armenia seeks to acquire weapons of very high quality from multiple sources.”
Though the decision to diversify defense imports was triggered by Russia’s failure to provide the country with ordered weapons worth around US $400 million, it is now also influenced by Armenia’s obvious decoupling from Russia and the Russian-led Central Security Treaty Organization (CTSO) security bloc.
Armenia has reportedly withdrawn from the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told France 24 in an interview.
“In our opinion, the agreement on collective security about Armenia was not implemented, especially in 2021-2022, and this cannot go unnoticed. We are freezing our participation in this agreement. Let’s see what happens next,” he said.
Armenia has charged Moscow and the CSTO with breach of duty on several occasions. Armen Grigoryan, the secretary of the Armenian Security Council, stated in January that the republic “has no expectations” from the Collective Security Treaty Organization because it did not receive sufficient support in September 2022, the period of “large-scale conflict.”
The prime minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, declined to attend the CSTO meeting on November 23 in Minsk.
The six states that make up the CSTO are Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Regarding Armenia’s potential membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that Moscow would communicate with its friends in Armenia as well as CSTO.
Over the past year, Armenia has nearly doubled its defense acquisitions. The amount spent has increased to $1.5 billion from roughly $700 million to $800 million in 2022.
France and Armenia have traditionally shared strong diplomatic ties, as the former is home to a large Armenian diaspora. France has backed Armenia politically thus far. However, there has been a shift in its policy as Yerevan seeks to diversify its imports, and Paris is looking to expand its military exports to partners.
Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher – Wikipedia
Armenia has also inked several defense contracts worth at least $400 million with India since September 2022. A deal was made between Armenia and India to purchase PINAKA multi-barrel rocket launchers (MBRL), anti-tank munitions, and ammunition worth US $250 million.
As previously reported by EurAsian Times, Armenia also contracted to buy India-developed Zen Anti-Drone System (ZADS), which is a Counter Unmanned Aerial System (CUAS).
The acquisition of these sophisticated arms from France and India comes on the back of a protracted conflict with Azerbaijan. France’s show of support and pledge of arms sale was preceded by Azerbaijan declaring victory after a swiftly executed military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, the main bone of contention and a “frozen conflict” between the two bitter rivals.
Armenia’s main source of weaponry and ammunition has historically been Russia. But Yerevan has been showing interest in looking for new armament suppliers as the relationship with Russia deteriorates and it becomes more involved in the protracted conflict with Ukraine. France is effectively filling the void left by Russia.
In the latest battle between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the two Caucasian neighbors, which broke out on September 19, Azerbaijan declared victory over the breakaway province of Nagorno-Karabakh a day after going on the offensive. Although peace negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia are being discussed, the latter is not ready to let its guard down yet.
Prime Minister arrives in Paris on a working visit with his wife
17:49,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived in France on a two-day working visit with his wife Anna Hakobyan.
Today, the Prime Minister is scheduled to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, the PM's office said.
According to the source, in the evening, the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of France, together with Anna Hakobyan and Brigitte Macron, will be present at the Paris Pantheon for the relocation of the remains of Armenian hero of the Resistance Movement, Missak Manouchian, and his wife Mélinée Manouchian in the pantheon of the greatest figures of France.
It is noted that today, Nikol Pashinyan will also have a meeting with the President of the French Senate, Gerard Larcher.
Meetings with French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo are planned as part of the visit.
Missak Manouchian, symbole des "étrangers anonymes" de la Résistance
Rescapé du génocide arménien, apatride et communiste, Missak Manouchian est devenu une figure de la Résistance dont l'entrée au Panthéon mercredi marque la reconnaissance du rôle joué par les étrangers en France dans la lutte contre le nazisme.
Sa panthéonisation "est aussi celle de tous ces étrangers anonymes qui sont morts pour la France", estime Katia Guiragossian, petite-nièce du résistant arménien fusillé le 21 février 1944 au Mont-Valérien.
Décédée en 1989, Mélinée Manouchian sera admise en même temps que lui, en tant qu'épouse, dans le temple des personnalités qui ont marqué l'histoire de la nation française.
Né le 1er septembre 1906 à Adiyaman (actuelle Turquie) au sein d'une famille paysanne, Missak (Michel) Manouchian s'est retrouvé orphelin très jeune, après la mort de son père tué lors du génocide arménien de 1915, puis de sa mère emportée par la famine.
Caché par une famille kurde, il est recueilli avec son frère Garabed dans un orphelinat de Jounieh (actuel Liban) où il se découvre un goût pour l'écriture et apprend le métier de menuisier.
Au milieu des années 1920, à bord du bateau qui le transporte de Beyrouth à Marseille, Missak s'épanche dans un long poème sur les espoirs que lui inspire sa future terre d'accueil.
– Poète ouvrier –
Il exerce un temps aux chantiers navals de La Seyne-sur-Mer (Var). Mais il n'apprécie guère ce travail et monte avec Garabed à Paris où il est embauché comme tourneur à l'usine Citroën du quai de Javel.
Ballotté de crise personnelle – avec la mort de son frère en 1927 – en crise économique – avec la perte de son emploi lors de la Grande dépression du début des années 30 -, Missak enchaîne les métiers tout en continuant d'explorer sa fibre artistique.
"Il s'intéressait aussi à la musique, à l'histoire, il suivait des cours à la bibliothèque ouvrière, fréquentait la bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, écrivait des poèmes… Il avait même suivi des cours d'écriture de scénario!", raconte Katia Guiragossian.
En 1934, le jeune homme rejoint le Parti communiste français (PCF) et le Comité de secours pour l'Arménie. C'est là qu'il rencontre Mélinée, elle aussi orpheline survivante du génocide arménien.
Née Mélinée Soukémian en 1913 à Constantinople (devenue Istanbul), elle est issue d'une famille aisée de fonctionnaires de l'Empire ottoman. Après la mort de ses parents, elle vit en Grèce, dans un orphelinat de Corinthe avant d'être envoyée en 1926 à Marseille pour poursuivre ses études.
Après une formation de comptable et de sténo-dactylographe, elle s'installe à Paris. Tous deux apatrides, Missak et Mélinée ont en commun une pleine adhésion à la civilisation française. Le couple se marie le 22 février 1936.
Trois ans plus tard, Missak Manouchian est interné comme communiste étranger dans un camp, puis incorporé dans l'armée. A son retour en 1940 dans Paris occupée, il poursuit clandestinement son activité militante, distribuant des tracts anti-hitlériens avec son ami historien Arsène Tchakarian.
– "Héros" de "l'Affiche rouge" –
Début 1943, il rejoint le groupe armé de la résistance communiste, les Francs-tireurs et partisans – main-d'œuvre immigrée (FTP-MOI).
La soixantaine de Polonais, Italiens ou Arméniens dirigés à compter de l'été 1943 par Missak Manouchian mène une centaine d'actions contre l'occupant: sabotages, déraillements, attaques de soldats… Jusqu'à leur principal fait d'armes, le 28 septembre 1943: le meurtre du général SS Julius Ritter, responsable du Service du travail obligatoire (STO), rue Pétrarque à Paris.
Le matin du 16 novembre 1943, alors que Missak Manouchian doit retrouver le chef des FTP-MOI de la région parisienne, Joseph Epstein, à la gare d’Évry-Petit-Bourg, les deux hommes sont arrêtés puis torturés et emprisonnés pendant plusieurs mois.
Au terme d'un simulacre de procès relaté dans la presse collaborationniste, Missak Manouchian est fusillé à l'âge de 37 ans, avec une vingtaine de ses camarades.
Dix d'entre eux figuraient sur "l'Affiche rouge" placardée dans les rues par l'occupant allemand, qui les présentait comme "l'armée du crime" menée par le "chef de bande" Manouchian et leur imputait "56 attentats, 150 morts, 600 blessés".
"+L'Affiche rouge+ voulait en faire des assassins, mais en a fait des héros", souligne l'historien Denis Peschanski, auteur du livre "Des étrangers dans la Résistance" (éd. de l'Atelier, 2002) et responsable scientifique du comité Missak Manouchian au Panthéon.
Sa panthéonisation concrétise sa prédiction: "Je suis sûr que le peuple français et tous les combattants de la Liberté sauront honorer notre mémoire dignement", avait écrit Missak dans sa dernière lettre à Mélinée, quelques heures avant d'être passé par les armes.