Author: Emma Jilavian

Greece seeks to help ally Armenia shift alliances westward to improve EU ties

Emma Jilavian
FOX News
Feb 27 2024
Associated Press
  • Greece has voiced its intention to assist Armenia in shifting alliances towards the West.
  • Armenia, having strong ties with Russia, has faced challenges including a recent border conflict with Azerbaijan.
  • The country participated in joint military exercises with the U.S. and committed to reforms aimed at strengthening ties with the EU.

NATO member Greece said Tuesday it wants to help traditional ally Armenia shift alliances westward, arguing that improved ties with the European Union would boost stability in the troubled Caucasus region.

Armenia, which has close military and trade ties with Russia, is reeling from a border conflict with neighbor Azerbaijan in recent years. Last year, more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled from an Azerbaijani military offensive in the breakaway Karabakh region in Azerbaijan to Armenia.

Angering Moscow, Armenia last year held a joint military exercise with the United States and also pledged to speed up reforms aimed at strengthening its partnership with the EU.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitstoakis on Tuesday told his visiting Armenian counterpart, Nikol Pashinian, that his government hoped to assist in that process.

"We fully support Armenia’s orientation toward the West," Mitsotakis said. "It is natural, as a member of the European Union and NATO, that our country is ready to contribute with know-how and experience to building this new liberal democracy."

Pashinian thanked Mitsotakis for his government’s support in forging new EU-Armenia partnership talks agreed on earlier this month that outlined rule-of-law reforms planned in Armenia as well as EU-backed investment programs.

"Our cooperation (with the EU) has already yielded results and I am sure that in the near future, these results will become more visible," Pashinian told reporters.

EU Ambassador Maragos expresses condolences on the occasion of the 36th anniversary of the Sumgait massacre

Emma Jilavian

 15:33,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia Ambassador Vassilis Maragos has expressed his condolences to those who lost their relatives and friends as a result of Azerbaijani atrocities in Sumgait 36 years ago.

“I express my deep condolences to all those who lost relatives and friends 36 years ago in Sumgait. We all need to continue with strongest efforts to achieve reconciliation and a sustainable, lasting peace in order to make sure that such tragedies never happen again ," Ambassador Maragos said in a post on X.

Today marks the 36th anniversary of the Sumgait pogroms, which have become one of the most tragic and hideous pages in the recent history of the Armenian people. From February 27 to 29, 1988, in the city of Sumgait, located just 40 kilometers from Baku, with the criminal connivance and even at the direction of the Azerbaijani authorities, mass pogroms against the Armenian population took place, accompanied by murders, torture and other atrocities.




Turkey Threatens to Invade Greece and Armenia

Emma Jilavian
AEI - The American Enterprise Institute
Feb 12 2024

By Michael Rubin

Middle East Forum Observer

February 12, 2024

On January 27, 2024, two days after the Biden administration again urged Congress to greenlight F-16 sales to Turkey, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at a public meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), “Our struggle did not end with expelling the enemy [Greeks] from our lands and throwing them into the sea from Izmir.” It was a provocative statement given the massacre at Smyrna, today’s Izmir, killed up to 100,000 and, according to scholars, amounted to genocide against Anatolia’s Greek Christians.

On cue, just over a week later, Turkish analysts on CNN Türk discussed the prospects of Turkey launching Tayfuns, Turkey’s first indigenous ballistic missile, at Greece. “If we fire it from Edirne or Izmir, we can hit Athens,” they concluded.

Pride in “throwing Greeks into the sea” is mainstream among Erdoğan’s government. It is also a popular slogan in Turkey. There are Turkish nationalist songs as well as annual public ceremonies that celebrate the massacre of Smyrna’s centuries-old Christian population as “Izmir’s liberation from enemy forces.” To mark the 100th anniversary of the massacre in 2022, for example, one of Turkey’s biggest pop stars gave a concert in the city center in Izmir, celebrating the slaughter. Hundreds of thousands attended.

The threat to launch missiles at Athens comes against a backdrop of Turkish revanchism. Turkey’s media repeatedly claim ownership over 152 islands and islets in the Aegean Sea awarded to Greece in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, 1932 Convention between Turkey and Italy, and 1947 Treaty of Paris.

Greece is not alone as the target of Turkey’s territorial demands. Hulusi Akar, a former defense minister who today chairs the parliament’s National Defense Commission, threatened Armenia during a January 29, 2024 visit to Azerbaijan, suggesting Turkey could repeat its and Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh’s indigenous Armenian population against Armenia proper. With Turkish backing, Azerbaijan continues to occupy several dozen square kilometers of Armenian territory.

As Turkey lobbied for F-16s as part of a quid pro quo to lift its hold on Sweden’s NATO accession, it stopped overflights and harassment of Greek islands. That Erdoğan so quickly violated his agreement after receiving Biden administration endorsement of the F-16 sale suggests tremendous bad faith.

The Biden administration may celebrate Turkey’s agreement to allow Sweden’s NATO accession as a diplomatic win, but the growing risk of an intra-NATO war offset any benefit Sweden might bring. Addressing Erdoğan grievances or augmenting his military will not bring Turkey back into the community of responsible nations. Rather, the problem remains Erdoğan ideology. Ignoring that reality will not bring stability or security, but could rather destroy NATO and force the United States to confront yet another unexpected war in Europe.

 

France is one of first countries to respond to Armenia’s decision to diversify its security sector: Pashinyan to Lecornu

Emma Jilavian

 14:31,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the delegation led by French Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, who arrived on an official visit to the Republic of Armenia.

According to the readout issued by the PM's office, welcoming the delegation led by the Minister of the Armed Forces, the Prime Minister noted. "Dear Minister, I welcome you and your delegation to the Republic of Armenia. This is the first visit of you and, in general, the Minister of the Armed Forces of France to the Republic of Armenia, and it is already historic by this fact.

I want to thank you for your support in forming our bilateral agenda and implementing that agenda. I must emphasize that, of course, the changes taking place in our security situation and cooperation are logical and justified. Of course, by thanking you, I should also consider it logical that France is one of the first countries to respond to our decision to diversify our relations in the field of security, because as we had the opportunity to discuss in Paris two days ago, our relations are very deep and multi-layered, and it is logical that these relations must be expressed also in the field of defense and security. I also want to emphasize that the security component has always been present in our discussions with President Macron, and now I am glad that these discussions are getting a concrete _expression_, including with your support."

In his turn, Sébastien Lecornu noted. "Thank you for these words and reception. You thrilled the French people with your presence at the Pantheon. It can be said that this was a very unique week for our two republics. As I told the media representatives with whom I just met, there was indeed a certain gap: on the one hand, the warm friendly relations that we had, and the defense sector, which was not yet fully realized.

I think that your personal relationship with the French president also plays a big role in this progress. I think it's based on trust, and let me say, our mutual trust as well. I think that our teams have mapped out a very specific path for us together with your Defense Ministry. And taking into account the threats that hang over Armenia's head, we are forced to move forward faster. That is, it is very important for us to react quickly and arrange the steps.

A lot was already underway, but thanks to the bilateral relations and the meeting you had with President Macron, it allowed us to move forward this morning in the same directions you had indicated together in Paris."

According to the source, the interlocutors discussed the works carried out in the direction of defense cooperation and upcoming plans.

The parties emphasized Armenia-France cooperation within the framework of the reforms of the Armenian Armed Forces, including military education, combat training and other directions.

The sides exchanged thoughts on issues related to regional security and stability.

Ararat-Eskijian Museum Research Center and UCLA’s Armenian Genocide Research Program Launch Archive Project

Emma Jilavian
by Contributor

 

 

 

in Latest, News, Top Stories
Vahakn N. Dadrian


The Ararat-Eskijian Museum Research Center and the Armenian Genocide Research Program, within The Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA, announced the launch of the Vahakn N. Dadrian Archive Project. 

Professor Vahakn N. Dadrian (1926–2019) was a preeminent scholar of the Armenian Genocide and instrumental in establishing the larger field of genocide studies. He lectured and published widely in the field, leading to greater international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. His unique collection of archival materials and books is of extraordinary value to those researching the origins of the Armenian Genocide, the Genocide itself and its aftermath. 

Throughout his long career, Professor Dadrian accumulated a wealth of material on the Armenian Genocide throughout the different archives in the world, American, British, German, French Armenian and Ottoman among them. His archive has also numerous unpublished manuscripts and newspapers from various languages. Before his death, he transferred these materials to the AEMRC. The Vahakn Dadrian Armenian Genocide Book Collection is now housed in The Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library located at the University of Southern California. 

After a gradual process of herculean efforts and numerous trips across the nation transporting Professor Dadrian’s archives, the AEMRC initiated a project in 2009 to digitize his personal notes and archives of historical documents and make them available for future generations of researchers interested in furthering their knowledge of Armenian Genocide Studies and general genocide studies.

Pages archived by the Ararat-Eskijian Museum Research Center and UCLA’s Armenian Genocide Research Program

A total of 28,000 pages out of a total of 110,000 pages were digitized and indexed by 2018. It took two years of efforts to appropriately preserve the entire archive collection into special folders and boxes. This full archive has been available to scholars and researchers by in-person appointment only at the AEMRC. Due to a large grant recipient in 2023, participants of the project will be resuming the continuation of digitization and indexing of the remaining 80,000 pages.

They are also in the important process of facilitating the accessibility of the digitized collection, particularly to make it searchable through keywords for researchers. Dr. Anna Aleksanyan, a post-graduate student from Clark University, has been involved in these efforts. Dr. Aleksanyan is also currently on fellowship with the AGRP.

The Vahakn N. Dadrian Archive Project is led under the direction of Professor Taner Akçam, the inaugural Director of the AGRP. This project is anticipated to be completed by December 2025. Upon completion, the entire collection will be available online.

The AGRP will host a webinar this spring to offer additional insight into the project. For more information, visit the AGRP website.   

The Ararat-Eskijian Museum was founded in June 1985 by Genocide survivor, Mr. Luther Eskijian, and includes a unique collection of Armenian artifacts as well as books and materials about the Armenian Genocide. The museum is also a cultural and educational center where scholars, artists, writers, and community leaders can present current and historical subjects related to the Armenian people, as well as Genocide education. 

The Armenian Genocide Research Program was established within The Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA in early 2022. Led by Taner Akçam, Ph.D., the AGRP engages in research and scholarly activities pertaining to the study of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire during the early 20th century.

Goal of Armenia’s foreign policy vector should be protection of country’s interest – PM

Emma Jilavian

 10:59,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that the goal of Armenia’s foreign policy is the protection of the country’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“Our country’s interest should be the goal of our foreign policy vector,” Pashinyan said when asked whether the Armenian government plans to change the vector. “Now, are we pursuing the interests of our country in the foreign policy, or aren’t we? And from this perspective the narrative on the change of the vector isn’t acceptable for me. The goal of our foreign policy is the protection of our independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. In this sense, this is our vector in all our foreign relations,” Pashinyan said when asked on the matter during his meeting with the Armenian community in Germany where he was on a visit for the Munich Security Conference.

The Armenian PM added that in the relations with the EU and Western partners he attaches importance not only to material, relations, but also the value-based relations. The Armenia-EU ties, according to PM Pashinyan, are developing first and foremost because of democracy.

“The EU supports us with democratic reforms, and furthermore, we will learn more about democracy here, and there’s no shame in speaking about it,” Pashinyan said, adding that Armenia’s ties with the EU are first of all value-based.

Armenpress: Azerbaijani gunfire kills 2 Armenian soldiers near border

Emma Jilavian

 08:34, 13 February 2024

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani forces on early morning Tuesday opened small arms fire at Armenian military positions in the Nerkin Hand section in Syunik Province, killing two Armenian servicemen and wounding others, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The Defense Ministry did not specify the number of wounded troops.

“As a result of the Azerbaijani armed forces firing towards Nerkin Hand, the Armenian side has, according to preliminary information, reported 2 killed in action and wounded. The Ministry of Defense will issue an additional statement,” the Defense Ministry said.

The Azeri forces started firing at Armenian positions near Nerkin Hand at 05:30, February 13.

Russia has obtained a ‘troubling’ emerging anti-satellite weapon, the White House says

Emma Jilavian

 10:32,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. The White House publicly confirmed on Thursday that Russia has obtained a “troubling” emerging anti-satellite weapon but said it cannot directly cause “physical destruction” on Earth, AP reported citing the Biden administration’s national security spokesman.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said U.S. intelligence officials have information that Russia has obtained the capability but that such a weapon is not currently operational.

“First this is not an active capability that’s been deployed and though Russia’s pursuit of this particular capability is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone’s safety,” Kirby said. “We’re not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth.’’

The White House confirmed its intelligence after a vague warning Wednesday from the Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee, Ohio Rep. Mike Turner, who urged the Biden administration to declassify information about what he called a serious national security threat.

Kirby said that the process of reviewing and declassifying aspects of the Russian capability was underway when Turner “regrettably” released his statement.

“We have been very careful and deliberate about what we decide to declassify downgrade and share with the public,” he added.

Russia has downplayed the U.S. concern about the capability.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the claims about a new Russian military capability as a ruse intended to make the U.S. Congress support aid for Ukraine.

“It’s obvious that Washington is trying to force Congress to vote on the aid bill by hook or by crook,” Peskov said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies. “Let’s see what ruse the White House will use.”

Kirby said the capability is space based and would violate the international Outer Space Treaty, which more than 130 countries have signed onto, including Russia.

Igor Khovaev to visit Yerevan

Emma Jilavian

 19:40,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 14, ARMENPRESS.  The Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, the special representative for the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan Igor Khovaev is currently in Baku.

Meetings with Azerbaijani partners are planned in order  discuss issues related to the peace treaty. A visit to Yerevan is also scheduled.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said this at a press briefing Wednesday, speaking about the efforts made by Russia in the direction of the regulation of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

According to the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, considering the partnership relations, Khovaev will discuss with the parties all the details related to establishing peace and explore possibilities for their implementation in favor of resolving the issue.