Author: Nahapetian Samvel

Armenia announced Tuesday it would withdraw its troops from Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region as the two countries are trying to normalize their ties following years of conflict.

Six weeks of fighting between the Caucasus neighbors in autumn 2020 claimed more than 6,500 lives and ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire.

Under the deal, Armenia ceded swathes of territory it had occupied for decades, and Russia deployed some 2,000 peacekeepers to oversee the fragile truce.

“The units of Armenian armed forces have been returning to Armenia after the cease-fire, the process is nearing completion and will end in September,” the secretary of Armenia’s security council, Armen Grigoryan, told state news agency Armenpress on Tuesday.

Grigoryan said Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh “guarantee” the security of the ethnic Armenian population there.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Friday complained that the Armenian withdrawal was too slow.

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in the Georgian capital Tbilisi this weekend for their first direct talks since the war.

The negotiations were expected to build on an agreement reached by Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in May under EU mediation.

Aliyev and Pashinyan held rare face-to-face talks in Brussels in April and May.

European Council President Charles Michel has said their next meeting is scheduled for July or August.

Following its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, an increasingly isolated Moscow lost its status as the primary mediator in the conflict.

The European Union has since led the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization process, which involves peace talks, border delimitation and the reopening of transport links.

End of the year program featured a fond farewell to Tufenkian Pre-School Director Arsine Aghazarian

Welcomes New Director Lorette Avanessian

The St. Mary’s Richard Tufenkian Preschool and Kindergarten’s end-of-the-year programs held on June 15 and 16 at the Glendale High School auditorium, highlighted the achievements of students with performances of songs and poems, bid farewell to the school’s current director, Arsine Aghazarian, and welcomed future director Lorette Avanessian.

School Board members presented their end-of-the-year message to the students, parents, the Parent Support Committee, teachers, school administration, and supporters of the school. Each speaker praised Aghazarian for her extraordinary contribution to the betterment of Tufenkian Preschool and Kindergarten for nearly 30 years.

Aghazarian was presented with commemorative gifts from the School Board, the Parent Support Committee, the teachers and students, and proclamations from elected officials U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff, California State Senator Anthony Portantino, California Assemblymember Laura Friedman, and Glendale Mayor Ardashes Kassakhian. The kindergarteners even sang a song for Aghazarian, written in her honor by the school’s music teacher Ani Hovagimyan. Additionally, it was announced that the front yard of the school will be dedicated as “Oriort Arsine’s Garden,” in honor of her commitment to the outdoor classroom philosophy.

Most notably, at the kindergarten graduation, Western Prelate Bishop Torkom Donoyan bestowed upon Aghazaryan the “Mesrob Mashdots” medal, on behalf of His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia. Donoyan praised Aghazarian “as a pedagogue for almost three decades in the educational field of the Armenian community.”

Aghazarian, who has a Masters of Science in Early Childhood Education, became the director of Tufenkian Preschool and Kindergarten in 1993. From the beginning, Aghazarian worked tirelessly to elevate the school by introducing cutting-edge staff training, structural improvements to match the advanced curriculum, and innovative teaching methodologies. She has been persistently dedicated to providing a research-based curriculum that embraces the whole child. Under Aghazaryan’s leadership, the school adopted the guidelines of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and received its first accreditation in 1999, which it has maintained to this day with exceptionally high scores. She has made Tufenkian Preschool and Kindergarten not only a shining star in the Prelacy system but also the early childhood education community of the greater Los Angeles area.

In order to lead the school in advanced teaching and curriculum, Aghazarian continuously improved her own training and education, receiving several certificates including, Outdoor Classroom Specialist Certificate, CLASS Classroom Observer Certificate, ECERS Classroom Assessment Certificate, MAEYC Developmentally Appropriate Practice Certificate, Reggio Emila Training, Instructor Credential, and Director Mentor Certification.

Thousands of children have had their first academic experience under the tutelage of Aghazarian, having not only been instilled with the foundations for academic success, but also with the Armenian language, history, culture, religion, and spirit. Aghazarian has been a trailblazer for Armenian early childhood education programs.

School Board chair Artin Shaverdian effectively captured the school community’s sentiments about Aghazarian’s tenure ending when he stated at the Kindergarten graduation, “She has earned us accreditation after accreditation and the highest scores on all state recognition platforms. But all that fails in comparison to the indescribable feeling she has created at Tufenkian—the feeling of home, of family. What a wonder to have your first educational experience to be at a place that feels like home. Or. Arsine has been a true gift to our school and her absence will be noted daily.”

As Tufenkian Preschool and Kindergarten bid farewell to Aghazarian, it also welcomed its new director, Lorette Avanessian. Prior to her appointment, Avanessian started her career with Tufenkian Preschool and Kindergarten as a member of the school administration staff, and rose through the ranks, serving as a Program Coordinator and Assistant Director. Avanessian received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UCLA and her Master of Education from USC. She also has a Child Development Program Director Permit, Pupil Personnel Services Credential, Outdoor Classroom Specialist Training Certificate, Reggio Emilia International Study Tour Certificate, and she has continuously attended the annual Early Childhood STEM Conference presented by Caltech Children’s Center since 2015.

Marina Manoukian, a long-standing member of the school’s board said, “Aghazarian will truly be missed. She has left an indelible mark on our school and its future. And, I am confident in Avanessian’s experience and education, as well as the mentorship and training she received from Aghazarian, and look forward to the future of our school.”

The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers held bilateral talks for the first time since the 2020 war between the archrivals over the Karabakh region.

Held in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, the talks are expected to build on an agreement the Caucasus countries’ leaders reached under EU mediation in May to “advance discussions” on a peace treaty.

“This is the first meeting between the ministers, and we hope that it will bring in a result,” Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said on Friday.

The atmosphere was tense ahead of the meeting between Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov as both countries’ defence ministries traded accusations of initiating a shootout at their shared border.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought two wars – in 2020 and in the 1990s – over Azerbaijan’s region of Karabakh, which was illegally occupied by Armenia. In December, the two countries appointed special envoys to help normalize relations, a year after Armenia lost to Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan.

Six weeks of fighting in autumn 2020 claimed more than 6,500 lives and ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire agreement.

Under the deal, Armenia ceded swathes of Azerbaijani territory it had illegally occupied for decades, and Russia deployed some 2,000 peacekeepers to oversee the fragile truce.

Following its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, increasingly isolated Moscow may be losing its status as a primary mediator in the conflict.

Turkey and the European Union have since led the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalisation process, which involves peace talks, border delimitation and the reopening of transport links.

Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met in Brussels in April and May and European Council President Charles Michel has said their next meeting is scheduled for July or August.

Relations between the two former Soviet countries have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions. The ensuing conflict claimed around 30,000 lives and the mass displacement of Azerbaijanis.

New clashes erupted in September 2020, and the 44-day conflict saw Azerbaijan liberate several cities and over 300 settlements and villages that were occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.

After the Nagorno-Karabakh region was liberated from the illegal Armenian occupation this past November, it entered a period of economic revival thanks to new transportation links.

According to the cease-fire deal, all transportation lines that were closed due to the Karabakh conflict will reopen. This brought the Zangezur corridor to the forefront.