Wednesday, November 3, 2021
Senior U.S. Official Visits Armenia
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian greets U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State Erika Olson at the start of their talks in Yerevan, November 3, 2021.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian met with a visiting senior official from the U.S.
State Department on Wednesday for talks that focused on the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.
Erika Olson, the newly appointed deputy assistant secretary of state for
Southern Europe and the Caucasus, arrived in Yerevan on Tuesday on the first leg
of her tour of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The State Department said she
will “promote regional cooperation and discuss bilateral issues.”
Olson was also due to participate in Yerevan in an annual meeting of the U.S.
ambassadors to the three South Caucasus states joined by Andrew Schofer, the
U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, and a senior official from the U.S.
Agency for International Development. The diplomats accompanied her during her
talks with Pashinian.
An Armenian government statement on the meeting said Pashinian discussed with
the U.S. officials “processes taking place in the South Caucasus,” prospects for
a Karabakh settlement and the Minsk Group’s peace efforts.
It said he also briefed them on Russian-led efforts to forge transport links
between Armenia and Azerbaijan and facilitate a demarcation of their volatile
border.
According to the statement, Olson reaffirmed Washington’s readiness to
contribute to a “comprehensive” solution of the Karabakh conflict and help to
resolve “humanitarian issues” such as the release of Armenian prisoners still
held by Azerbaijan.
The U.S. ambassador to Armenia, Lynne Tracy, has repeatedly said that the
conflict remains unresolved after last year’s Armenian-Azerbaijani war. “We do
not see the status of Nagorno-Karabakh as having been resolved,” Tracy insisted
on September 13.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry condemned those remarks. It echoed President
Ilham Aliyev’s claims that Azerbaijan’s victory in the six-week war put an end
to the conflict.
Olson met on Tuesday with Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Deputy Prime
Minister Mher Grigorian. The latter is a co-chairman of a
Russian-Armenian-Azerbaijani task force dealing with practical modalities of
opening the Armenian-Azerbaijani border to cargo shipments.
The government statement said that “democratic reforms” in Armenia were also on
the agenda of Pashinian’s talks with Olson. It said the prime minister praised
the United States for continuing to support those reforms.
Armenia Hopes For Iran Sanctions Relief
Iran - Foreignt Ministers Ararat Mirzoyan (left) of Armenia and Hossein
Amir-Abdolahian of Iran meet in Tehran, October 4, 2021
Armenia expressed hope on Wednesday that negotiations to revive Iran’s 2015
nuclear deal with world powers will resume soon and result in the lifting of
U.S. economic sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said that would give a major boost to economic
ties between the two neighboring states.
Armenian-Iranian relations are based on “mutual trust” and both Yerevan and
Tehran are committed to deepening them in “economic, political and other
spheres,” Mirzoyan said in an interview with the Paris-based magazine Nouvelles
d’Armenie publicized by the Armenian Foreign Ministry.
Former President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the landmark
agreement with Iran in 2018 and reimposed crippling punitive measures, despite
Tehran’s compliance with the deal that curbed its nuclear activities in exchange
for sanctions relief. In response, Tehran has gradually breached limits imposed
by the pact, including on uranium enrichment.
U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged to rejoin the deal if Iran returns to full
compliance. But six rounds of indirect negotiations in Vienna that began in
April failed to reach agreement and the talks were put on hold after Iran's
presidential election in June that brought anti-Western hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi
to power.
AUSTRIA -- European External Action Service (EEAS) Deputy Secretary General
Enrique Mora and Iranian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi wait
for the start of talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in Vienna, June
20, 2021.
Tehran is expected this week to give a precise date for the resumption of talks
with the world powers, scheduled for the end of this month, according to top
Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri. On October 30, the leaders of the United
States, Germany, France, and Britain called on Iran to return to nuclear talks
and resume compliance with the 2015 nuclear accord to prevent a "dangerous
escalation."
The U.S. sanctions have slowed or prevented the implementation of
Armenian-Iranian energy projects, notably the ongoing construction by an Iranian
firm of a third power transmission line connecting Armenia to Iran. They have
also have had a negative impact on broader commercial ties between the two
countries.
Meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in Tajikistan on September 17, Raisi
said an Armenian-Iranian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation
should become “more active.” The Iranian president proposed that Yerevan and
Tehran set up “specialized working groups” that would deal with obstacles to
their joint projects.
Body Of Late Armenian Politician Still Not Repatriated
• Artak Khulian
Armenia - Former Interior Minster Vano Siradeghian.
Nearly three weeks after his death, the body of Vano Siradeghian, a prominent
politician and former interior minister who fled Armenia over two decades ago,
has still not been repatriated and buried.
Siradeghian was one of the leaders of a popular movement for Armenia’s
unification with Nagorno-Karabakh who came to power in 1990. He became one of
the newly independent country’s most powerful men when serving as interior
minister in the administration of its first President Levon Ter-Petrosian from
1992-1996.
One year after Ter-Petrosian resigned in 1998, Siradeghian was charged with
ordering a string of contract killings. He strongly denied ordering those
killings, saying that the charges were fabricated as part of then President
Robert Kocharian’s efforts to neutralize his political foes.
Siradeghian fled Armenia in 2000 ahead of the Armenian parliament’s decision to
allow law-enforcement authorities to arrest him. Although the authorities had
Siradeghian placed on Interpol’s wanted list, his whereabouts always remained
unknown to the public.
The death of the 74-year-old Siradeghian was announced by his wife and son on
October 16. They did not specify its cause or reveal his last place of residence.
The Armenian government decided afterwards to form a commission that will
organize his funeral. The commission is headed by the chief of Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian’s staff, Arayik Harutiunian, and comprises senior government
officials, a deputy chief of the Armenian police as well as Siradeghian’s son
Khachatur.
The latter told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that his father’s body has still not
been brought back to the country. He did not give any reasons for the apparent
delay or possible dates for Siradeghian’s funeral.
Harutiunian declined to give any information when he spoke with journalists on
Wednesday.
Siradeghian lived abroad under a new and false name, according to Khachatur
Sukiasian, a wealthy businessman and pro-government parliamentarian who has long
been close to the ex-minister.
This is why, Sukiasian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service last month, repatriating
his body is now fraught with some “difficulties.” “There are technical and legal
issues,” he said.
Throughout his exile Siradeghian continued to enjoy the strong backing of
Ter-Petrosian and members of the ex-president’s entourage. Ter-Petrosian’s
Armenian National Congress (HAK) party has urged the Armenian authorities to
allow Siradeghian’s family to bury him at the National Pantheon in Yerevan.
Pashinian Ally Set To Join Armenian Company Board
• Marine Khachatrian
Armenia - Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian (left) and Defense Minister Davit
Tonoyan talk before a cabinet meeting in Yerevan, April 9, 2020.
The Armenian government said on Wednesday that it could appoint a political ally
of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to the governing board of Armenia’s largest
mining company in which it gained a minority stake last month.
The company, Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC), changed hands following
a government crackdown on its management and key shareholders who openly
challenged Pashinian’s administration.
Russia’s GeoProMining group announced on October 1 that it has acquired 60
percent of ZCMC and immediately “granted” a quarter of that stake to the
government. The latter therefore owns 15 percent of the mining giant located in
Kajaran, a small town in southeastern Syunik province.
GeoProMining gave no clear reason for the lavish donation. Later in October,
another Russian company, which holds a minority share in ZCMC, challenged the
legality of the takeover in an Armenian court.
Subsequent reports in the Armenian press said that Tigran Avinian, a senior
member of Pashinian’s Civil Contract party and a former deputy prime minister,
could soon become ZCMC’s new executive director.
Pashinian’s chief of staff, Arayik Harutiunian, effectively confirmed the
reporters when he spoke with journalists on Wednesday. He said Avinian deserves
the job “because he is a member of the political team and because we need people
who can best represent Armenia’s interests in that company.”
In a written “clarification” issued shortly afterwards, the government said,
however, that it is considering appointing Avinian as a member of ZCMC’s board
of directors, rather than its CEO.
Armenia - A view of ore-processing facilities of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum
Combine in Kajaran, August 12, 2019.
Avinian, 32, actively participated in the 2018 mass protests that brought
Pashinian to power. He was appointed as deputy prime minister shortly after the
“velvet revolution.”
Avinian resigned in August this year, saying that he objected to the ruling
party’s list of candidates for the snap parliamentary elections held in June. He
said he felt that it may be at odds with the “separation of business and
politics” championed by Pashinian’s political team. He appeared to refer to two
wealthy businessmen who were elected to the parliament on the Civil Contract
ticket.
Avinian reportedly coordinated Civil Contract’s campaign in local elections held
in several communities of Syunik on October 17.
Pashinian’s party was defeated in the most important of those communities
comprising the towns of Goris, Meghri and Agarak. Their mayors affiliated with
the main opposition Hayastan bloc were arrested in July on what they consider
politically motivated charges.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
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Category: 2021
CivilNet: Armenian prime minister’s office budget to be cut by 34% in 2022
CIVILNET.AM
03 Nov, 2021 10:11
- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with the President of Nagorno-Karabakh Arayik Harutyunyan in Yerevan.
- Armenia has acquired 400,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from China.
- The budget of the office of the prime minister will be reduced by 34% in 2022.
Turkish press: Azerbaijani envoy hails Baku-Ankara ties, investments to serve for centuries ahead
Handan Kazancı |03.11.2021
ISTANBUL
Azerbaijan’s envoy to Turkey on Tuesday praised the two countries’ cooperation and mutual investments that he said will serve both countries for centuries to come.
Ankara and Baku support each other with mutual investments, said Rashad Mammadov, Azerbaijan’s envoy to Turkey at an event organized by the Istanbul-based Azerbaijani Business Association (TAIB).
These are “strategic investments” to meet Turkey’s energy needs and build roads to connect Turkey to Central Asia, Mammadov added.
“These investments will serve the people of the two countries for centuries. The investments will also enable the two countries to transfer technology,” he said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received the credentials of Baku’s newly appointed Ambassador Mammadov on Oct. 14.
The Azerbaijani envoy also said his country has invested over $18 billion in Turkey.
Noting that the investments between the two countries were not only focused on “making money,” he said: “Today, Azerbaijan is building hundreds of kilometers of roads, tunnels, and smart villages and cities in the lands it liberated. Turkish companies do all this.”
He was referring to areas in the Karabakh region that Azerbaijan liberated from decades of Armenian occupation last year.
One of the two countries’ mutual investments, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, will contribute greatly to their economies, he said, adding that this line will carry 50 million tons of naphtha.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline delivers Azeri light crude — mainly from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field — through Georgia to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan for further export via tankers.
– Shusha Declaration
Mammadov also hailed the Shusha Declaration signed between Azerbaijan and Turkey on June 15 and said it made the two states “politically, militarily and economically whole.”
Under the declaration — signed in June in the city of Shusha, Nagorno-Karabakh — Ankara and Baku declared the expansion and deepening of Turkish-Azerbaijani relations in all aspects.
“With the Shusha Declaration, we drew up a roadmap of our relations for the new era,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said during the event .
For her part, TAIB president Neslihan Tombul said the organization aims to act “as a bridge between two brotherly countries,” and “strengthen our social, commercial, cultural and economic ties, to offer new commercial opportunities to our members and to deepen our network.”
“At the same time, we aim to make the economic contribution of Azerbaijan in Turkey better known,” Tombul added.
Among the visitors were Samil Ayrim, a Turkish lawmaker who chairs the Turkey-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Group, as well as Erdal Bahcivan, the head of Istanbul Chamber of Industry.
Liberation of Karabakh
Relations between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
When new clashes erupted on Sept. 27 last year, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces, violating several humanitarian cease-fire agreements after the clashes erupted.
During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages.
On Nov. 10, 2020, the two countries signed a Russia-brokered agreement to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.
The cease-fire is seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia, whose armed forces withdrew in line with the agreement.
Asbarez: ICAN, JWW, ANCA-WR Inaugurate the Armenian Jewish Advisory Council
Armenian Jewish Advisory Council launched
AJAC Aims to Institutionalize Relations Between Jewish and Armenian Communities in the United States
The Israeli American Civic Action Network (ICAN), Jewish World Watch (JWW), and the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region on Monday inaugurated the Armenian Jewish Advisory Council – AJAC (pronounced “a-jack”) as a means to institutionalize relations between the Armenian and Jewish communities throughout the U.S., united by shared values, historical experiences, and a vision for a more robust inter-communal collaboration.
“The Armenian and Jewish people’s shared history of persecution reflects our will to thrive. One of the essential lessons learned from our scarred histories is the value of allyship in the face of injustice. At a time in history when genocide continues in many nations and distortion and denialism are pervasive, this alliance sends a clear message: Together, we intend to ensure that ‘Never Again’ is a call to action,” shared Serena Oberstein, Executive Director of Jewish World Watch.
AJAC will serve as a platform for regular communications and consultations on a multitude of issues of concern to participant organizations on the local, state, and federal levels.
“Israelis and Armenians in America are friends, neighbors, coworkers, and even family,” said Dillon Hosier, CEO at ICAN. “Our two communities face the same challenges and share the same concerns for our future, so we’re excited about this new alliance and the opportunity to work together and create shared solutions.”
Organizations serving the Jewish and/or Armenian communities that share AJAC’s mission and goals are welcome to apply for membership by filling out an online form. The Council – made up of one appointed representative per member organization – will be admitting new organizations on a rolling basis by consensus.
“The Armenian and Jewish people share many parallels in history, traditions, and values. We’ve been proud to partner with ICAN, JWW, and other community organizations serving the Jewish community in America on a wide range of issues, such as Holocaust and Genocide education, combatting genocide denial, safeguarding our communities against hate speech and hate crimes, and so much more,” remarked the ANCA-WR Executive Director Armen Sahakyan. “AJAC — which has been in the works for months — aims to take this relationship to the next level to better coordinate and expand our community partnership moving forward.”
The Council will serve as the main body and will operate exclusively on the basis of general agreement. For the first year — between November 1, 2021 until October 31, 2022 — the Council will be co-chaired by inaugural members ICAN, JWW, and ANCA-WR. The Council will then devise an internal rotation system of co-chairmanship with one organization representing each community.The Council may also appoint prominent individuals to the Board of Advisors to serve on a renewable one-year basis.
Additionally, the Council may create permanent and/or ad-hoc working groups and committees to work on specific issues and report back to the Council on their findings and recommendations. This may include Holocaust and Genocide education; combatting dangerous speech and hate crimes; organizing delegation visits; fundraising; and more.
Given AJAC’s advisory nature, the Council’s decisions will not be binding on any of its member organizations.
The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian-American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.
Jewish World Watch is an _expression_ of Judaism in action, bringing help and healing to survivors of mass atrocities around the globe and seeking to inspire people of all faiths and cultures to join the ongoing fight against genocide.
The Israeli-American Civic Action Network is dedicated to empowering Israeli immigrants and American allies to create change for a better America, a more secure Israel, and a stronger U.S. – Israel alliance through advocacy education and civic action. Learn more at IsraelUSA.org.
ARS Jordan: The Epitome of Armenian Solidarity
BY MADELEINE MEZAGOPIAN
In the early years of the 20th century, Khachatur Malumian, an Armenian intellectual and martyr of the Armenian Genocide, was impressed with the ongoing endeavors of the women in Armenia, who attended to the needs of the most vulnerable members of society under the umbrella of the Red Cross.
Motivated by this great contribution, Malumian initiated a project in the United States to enrich the lives of Diasporan Armenian women by actively working to enhance education, health, and social services, while preserving the Armenian identity. Thus, the Armenian Relief Society, very much interconnected with the original concept of the Armenian Red Cross, was born – spreading first throughout the U.S. and Canada and subsequently wherever Armenian Diasporas were born, including Jordan where the ARS opened a chapter in 1946.
Today, Armenians in both the Homeland and the Diaspora are still facing many challenges. As a result of the socioeconomic and political challenges being faced, the ARS have doubled their efforts – organizing programs and activities, and using diverse social media tools, which have increased community engagement.
Members of the ARS in Jordan stand next to a banner that reads ‘ARS: With the People, For the People’
In October, Armenian scholars and intellectuals met in Yerevan to discuss how to best promote the interests of Armenia and the region at large. Simultaneously, members of the ARS in Jordan had their annual meeting in Amman to reelect their board and reflect on current activities. During their meeting they discussed youth outreach programs, emphasizing the importance of finding ways for Armenian youth to use their skills for the betterment of the Homeland and Diaspora.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the accompanying restrictions did not hinder the work of the ARS in Jordan. Members of the chapter continued to organize, providing aid to the most vulnerable members of the local Armenian community while building solidarity between their own community, the Armenian Diaspora, and the Homeland.
During this last year, the ARS in Jordan provided aid to Armenians in Lebanon and Artsakh. They initiated programs to alleviate the suffering of Lebanese Armenians who, until today, have been struggling with the financial crisis and accompanying devastations in Lebanon, as well as for individuals and families who were wounded, killed, or displaced as a result of the 2020 Artsakh War.
The ARS in Jordan firmly believes that interacting with the Armenian youth and providing opportunities for them to serve their communities in the Diaspora and in the Homeland is of utmost importance. They are determined to recruit Armenian youth, so that each can contribute their own skills to the organization’s efforts in promoting the Armenian identity and serving the needs of the most vulnerable members of our communities – an approach that should be considered by all ARS branches worldwide.
The past and the current activities of the ARS in Jordan well represent a much-needed Armenian solidarity, which was and will remain the best path to preserving and strengthening the Armenian identity, the Homeland, and the legacy of Khachatur Malmulian.
Madeleine M. Mezagopian is a scholar and an academician based in Amman, Jordan.
U.S. Again Presses for Comprehensive Settlement of Karabakh Conflict
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan (right) met with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Erika Olson
The United States on Tuesday, once again, reiterated the need for a comprehensive settlement of the Karabakh conflict through the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.
This message was delivered by Assistant Secretary of State Erika Olson during a meeting in Yerevan with Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
During the meeting, the parties exchanged views on regional security and stability and underscored the need for a comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the scope of the mandate of the Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group, referencing Mirzoyan’s meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov, mediated by the co-chairs in New York this past September.
The parties also discussed the humanitarian situation created as a result of Azerbaijan’s aggression against Artsakh. In this context, Mirzoyan stressed the need for the unconditional repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and other persons being held, as well as the importance of preservation of the Armenian religious, historical and cultural heritage of Artsakh in the territories that are currently under Azerbaijani control.
Mirzoyan and Olson discussed a broad range of issues related to Armenia-US relations, attached importance to the effective cooperation in the sectors of democratic development, strengthening of rule of law, human rights protection and anti-corruption and touched upon the joint steps to be taken within the scope of the U.S.-Armenia Strategic Dialogue and the programs that the USAID is implementing in Armenia.
President Sarkissian Says Azerbaijan’s Use of Illegal Arms Caused ‘Environmental Disaster’
President Armen Sarkissian (right) had discussions with President Joe Biden and other world leaders during a climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland
President meets Biden, other world leaders
In an address to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow, Scotland, President Armen Sarkissian warned that Azerbaijan’s use of illegal weapons during its aggressive attack on Artsakh last year caused an environmental disaster.
“Exactly one year ago during its war against Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijan used internationally banned weapons to target not only civilians but also beautiful forests of the large area, causing massive forest fires and creating environmental disasters. We call on international community to step up its efforts to prevent such irresponsible, inhumane behavior,” said President Sarkissian.
“The environmental challenges do not recognize borders and conflict lines, and we should bring all states of the world into comprehensive cooperation,” the president added.
He went on to say that Armenia is committed to becoming a “smart state” and is dedicated to fighting climate change and preserving the environment.
“If we change our mentality and form our ambition and strategy, then we can effectively use the finances and the wealth that the world has created during this phenomenal development and use the technology to handle the problems that we are facing. But not only to resolve the problems but also to create the basis of development to the brighter future years to come,” advised President Sarkissian.
“Armenia is committed to becoming a really Smart State, devoted to our Nature, Planet and Humanity. And I’m optimistic that we can overcome these difficulties and build a brighter future for all of us,” added Sarkissian.
According to the World Bank analysis, Armenia is the fourth most vulnerable country to climate change in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. Armenia has registered a 1.3-degree Celsius increase in temperature, and a nine percent decrease in precipitation.
Sarkissian told the conference that Armenia’s long-term objective is to achieve climate neutrality in the second half of this century. “Transition to climate neutrality is at the core of the country’s energy independence, energy security and green growth policies,” said Sarkissian, who highlighted the imperative for creative approaches to tackling climate change.
He told the conference about Armenia’s “Debt-for-Climate Swap” initiative, which he said “presents a new climate finance instrument. And it will help developing countries to adapt more efficiently to climate change finance, provides new economic opportunities.”
On the margins of the conference, Sarkissian met with President Joseph Biden and other world leaders, among them President Emanuel Macron of France and German Chancellor Angela Merkel among others.
Sarkissian arrived in Glascow on Monday and was welcomed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Other world leaders with whom President Sarkissian had discussions include: Prince Albert II of Monaco, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, President of Egypt Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, Argentine President Alberto Fernández, Montenegro President Milo Đukanović, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg, President of the European Council Charles Michel, according to the president’s press office.
Russians in Armenia: The story of one disapora
Russkiy Mir, Russia
Oct 25 2021
Irina Mkrtchyan
There are about two million Armenians living in Russia today. But when it comes to Russians living in Armenia, there are about 15,000 people only. But both of them continuously split time between two homes and strengthen the ties between our countries – economic, cultural, and spiritual. And these ties go deep into the past, many centuries ago. We will tell you in this article how the first Russians settled in Armenia and how their descendants live in Armenia today imbued with the local culture while preserving the national traditions.
Ryabinushka Ensemble
Photo credit: Mir 24
Life in the provincial town of Stepanavan is no different from hundreds of others. The daily routine is simple: work, home, leisure time in front of the TV, and in the morning again – work, family, and a simple leisure time. 11 years ago retired teacher Lyubov Bondareva met like-minded people among other Russian women and founded the Ryabinushka amateur performance group in Stepanavan. A long time ago, songs used to be sung in their houses for both celebrations and sorrowful occasions. But modern life is very different, it is not slow-paced anymore; the continuous rush has displaced the Russian song. The singers of the Ryabinushka refused to put up with the situation. So they began to rehearse several times a week and prepared their repertoire of Russian folk and pop songs.
The Ryabinushka have no money to rent a hall for rehearsals yet, so they rehearse in their own houses. People in Yerevan also found out about the unusual ensemble and the Public Radio of Armenia decided to give a present to the Ryabinushka and to record their entire repertoire in a professional studio to keep the Russian songs in the golden fund of the country forever.
“We gave our first concert in the Year of the Teacher. After we sang, everyone liked it very much, and we decided to develop further. We sewed costumes. We were invited to a festival at the House of Moscow in Yerevan and won the grand prize there, and after that, we sang better and better. The team is very good, the people are intelligent, interesting, humorous, so it is a real pleasure to work with them,” the head of the Ryabinushka amateur ensemble Lubov Bondareva says.
Evdokiya Aleksyutina-Homonenko is the oldest in the team. She had a difficult fate: as a child in her native Bryanschina, she hardly escaped from the reprisals by the Nazis. The family hid for several months in the woods. Then she worked in various places, including the mine, and the post offices. Evdokiya Alexandrovna is 81, but she prefers to rearrange the numbers and says that singing Russian songs rejuvenates her. So the number 18 is more to her liking.
“I must tell you when I moved to Voronezh, I participated in an amateur art group until I got married and moved to Germany. There I also sang in amateur groups. It’s been like this since my youth: I’m happy, I come, I sing, it seems to me that my life goes on as if I am not an old woman but a young one,” confesses Evdokiya Aleksyutina-Gomonenko, a member of the Ryabinushka ensemble.
At the Ryabinushka concerts, there is always a lot of spectators and not only representatives of the Russian diaspora. Many Armenians come to listen to Russian songs.
How did the Russians come to Armenia?
Stepanavan, Kirovakan, and now Vanadzor, are the cities in the Lori Province that have always had numerous Russian population. The first Russian settlements in Armenia were established in 1804. They were Cossacks sent to guard the border between the Russian and Ottoman Empires. Wherever a Russian came to live, he, first of all, built a church. There was once a wooden church in place of a stone church in Vanadzor.
“It was made of wood. During the Russo-Persian War, the Persians burned the wooden church, and then in 1893 they built a stone church, and it was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. And in 1993, on September 21, the day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it was consecrated and named in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” says Albina Goryan, a parishioner of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Photo credit: Mir 24
In 1827 the fortress of Erivan was recaptured from the Persians as a result of the Russian campaign; such large regions of Eastern Armenia as the Erivan Khanate and Nakhichevan Khanate were annexed to Russia. The lands that were annexed to Russia had to be populated by Russians so that they would defend the border with arms. Even entire villages populated by Russians – Saratovka, Privolnoye, Pushkino, Novoseltsevo – were formed in the Lori region at that time.
Molokans in Armenia
Around 1830, the first Molokans, who had migrated from Tambov Province, also arrived in Armenia. In Russia, Molokans were persecuted as dissenters and apostates from the Orthodox faith. They do not venerate saints, do not worship the cross and icons, and do not make the sign of the cross. They celebrate Easter, but not Christmas. They drink milk during Lent, which is why they are called Molokans (milk is “moloko” in Russian). The Molokans do not baptize children, but they bring them to the chapel, read a chapter from the Gospel in the presence of the child, and publicly announce his/her name. The same ceremony also consecrates the marriage union.
In Soviet times there were about 30 Molokan villages in Armenia, but now there are two – Lermontovo and Fioletovo near the city of Dilijan. The Molokan Old Believers are considered to be sectarians. Catherine the Great disliked them and deported them from Russia. However, they are known in Armenia as very diligent and hardworking people. They do not like taking pictures and videos as it is considered to be a sin. Over two centuries the Armenian Molokans have not mingled with the local population (marriages are concluded only within their ethnic group), therefore they have preserved their Slavic type with blond hair and blue eyes. The Molokans condemn smoking and drinking and have a negative attitude toward divorce. Thanks to their diligence, the Molokan families live in prosperity, picking cabbage in accordance with a special recipe and selling it in the local markets. The Molokans also provide fresh milk to all the neighboring towns and villages. Milk is a sacred beverage for them, so they never dilute it with water and sell only high-quality products.
The Molokans have lived in Armenia for almost two centuries. They call this land their motherland, but they keep their traditions, language, and customs as sacred. The Armenian Molokans remain an invaluable source of knowledge about Russian culture in the early 19th century.
Photo credit: Mir24
Russian House in Yerevan
The Russian Center of Science and Culture, now simply Russian House in Yerevan, brings together all Russian people and Russian compatriots who live in Armenia. Here children and adults learn the Russian language absolutely free of charge. The applicants are trained to enter Russian universities. Every year the Russian government allocates about 200 quota places for Armenian boys and girls to study in the best Russian universities for free. And this project is also carried out by the staff of the Russian House.
There are ten organizations of compatriots in Armenia. These people are Armenians by nationality. However, they were educated in Russia and raised in Russian culture. They are regulars at the Russian House. They enjoy celebrating holidays according to the Russian calendar together. They go to concerts, exhibitions, and theatrical performances of Russian artists who come to Armenia on tour.
Vadim Fefilov is a former military correspondent for leading Russian TV channels and the head of the Russian House in Yerevan. He has been living in Armenia for six months only. He admits that at first, he had low expectations, but he has been won over by Yerevan, and most of all by its people who are easy and interesting to communicate with. As a true Russian, he promotes a rich Russian culture in Armenia.
Photo credit: Mir24
“I dream to have the Russian center of science and culture in Yerevan that would host performances of the level of Moscow theaters, that people would come to the performances by Tabakerka Theater, our modernist theaters, that our famous poets would come, welcome top people who are interesting to Russians,” shares Vadim Fefilov, head of the Russian House (Rossotrudnichestvo) in Yerevan.
There is a small Russian diaspora of about 15,000 people in Armenia today. But there are about two million Armenians living in Russia. These people all the time split their life between two countries and strengthen the ties between Armenia and Russia.
Russia is Armenia’s number one partner in economic terms. Fifteen hundred companies with Russian capital operate in Armenia. One of them is a subsidiary of Russian Railways, the South Caucasus Railway. Alexei Melnikov was appointed the head of Armenian Railways relatively recently. A native of Rostov-on-Don, he used to think that the Northern Caucasus was not much different from the Southern Caucasus. But the experience has shown that he was wrong.
“I arrived in February, and as I toured the entire road – from Ayrum, from the border with Georgia to Zod – I was amazed at how different Armenia can be – from places where there is still snow to places where flowers are in full bloom. I really like domesticity in Armenia; family in Armenia is not just a word, it is actually a cult, and I like it a lot,” says Alexei Melnikov, General Director of the South Caucasus Railway.
Photo credit: Mir24
Armenia quickly becomes a second home for Russians, where they feel comfortable. They pray in Orthodox churches; there are two Russian churches in Yerevan alone. They work under favorable economic conditions. Therefore, the number of joint Armenian-Russian companies is constantly growing. And more and more Russians are not in a hurry to leave the warm and sunny land of Armenia.
Azerbaijan picks a surprise fight with Iran
Asia Times
Nov 2 2021
Bilateral tensions spike on a host of issues that signal a wider shift in regional alliances and power dynamics
Azerbaijani army members hold the national Azerbaijani flag during its reconstruction at the dominant height near the village of Talysh, Azerbaijan, October 22, 2020. Photo: Alexey Kudenko/Sputnik
Iran and Azerbaijan have stepped back from the brink after a series of rhetorical barbs, territorial complaints and military provocations, a spike in tensions that reflects fast-shifting alliances and intensifying power games in the region.
The dust-up ensued after Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev gave an interview to the Turkish Anadolu Agency on September 28 wherein he accused Iranian truck drivers and fuel transporters of violating his country’s territorial integrity by moving goods to Armenia through the Goris-Kapan road in Armenia’s southeastern Syunik Province, which Azerbaijan claims as its own.
President Aliyev said the road that previously facilitated Iran-Armenia border trade was captured and is now owned by Azerbaijan after the 44-day Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020. He said in the same interview that about 60 Iranian trucks attempted to enter the contested Nagorno-Karabakh enclave between August 11 and September 11, in breach of Azerbaijan’s rules.
Two Iranian drivers were detained while the Baku government levied taxes of $130 on Iranian vehicle owners doing business with Armenia, effectively steamrolling many of them into abandoning their routes due to newly introduced steep customs duties that have made trade uneconomic.
Aliyev’s public upbraiding of Tehran over a seemingly trivial dispute appeared to some observers to be political grandstanding for domestic audiences and aimed at driving home the decisiveness of Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia in last year’s war.
But there was likely more behind Aliyev’s demand that Iran must respect Azerbaijan’s new territorial gains. To some pundits, it signaled Azerbaijan’s piecemeal steps to shift alliances and carve out a new foreign policy built on a more restrained engagement with Iran and more explicit ties with many of Tehran’s rivals.
In mid-September, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Pakistan staged large-scale joint military drills lasting two weeks dubbed “Three Brothers – 2021,” which was reportedly the first such exercise between the three countries’ armies and known to be perceived as a hostile act in Tehran.
Faced with nationalistic popular pressure calling for a proportionate response, the Iranian army kicked off massive military drills near the border with Azerbaijan on October 1 codenamed “Fatehan Kheybar,” which drew the ire of Baku authorities.
Shortly after Iran’s military drills were launched, Azerbaijani authorities shuttered a mosque and office operated by the representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Baku.
Azerbaijan’s Interior Ministry insinuated that the closure had to do with a surge in coronavirus infections, which it claimed the Husseiniyya Mosque was spreading. The Iranian embassy in Baku said it hadn’t received any advance notice of the closure.
At all marks a certain diplomatic reversal. Throughout the Nagorno-Karabakh War last year, Iran’s Supreme Leader unconditionally backed Azerbaijan, in effect demarcating Iran’s official standing in the short, sharp war.
In remarks in November 2020 at the height of Baku-Yerevan skirmishes, which were widely lauded by Iran’s populous Azeri minority, Ayatollah Khamenei had said “this military conflict should come to an end as soon as possible; of course, all the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan that are taken over by Armenia should be liberated and returned to Azerbaijan.”
His comments had historical weight. In July 1993, in the middle of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, then-Ayatollah Khamenei had taken a similar and even more outspoken stance: “the Armenian government and the Armenians of Karabakh oppress the Muslims of the region and we condemn the recent actions of the Armenians of Karabakh, backed by the government of Armenia.”
The Iranian government’s track record of unsparingly pandering to Azerbaijan’s territorial ambitions vis-à-vis Armenia over the past decades, however, doesn’t seem to have won hearts and minds among the dignitaries of Baku.
President Aliyev, addressing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Heads of State Council, on October 15, intoned, “for about 30 years, Armenia, in collusion with Iran, used the occupied territories of Azerbaijan to carry out drug trafficking to Europe.” This was his most recent verbal attack targeting Tehran.
Iran’s reaction to the accusations, apart from the tit-for-tat military exercise, has been mostly passive. Indeed, even as Aliyev has pushed on with Iran-bashing rhetoric, his counterpart Ebrahim Raisi hasn’t yet made an official comment in response. Iranian foreign ministry officials, meanwhile, have stuck to diplomatic platitudes on resolving differences based on mutual respect and the principle of good neighborliness.
Some analysts have suggested Iran’s muted response to Azerbaijan’s provocations underscore the country’s political vulnerabilities and international isolation.
One counter-accusation trickling out of Tehran, mostly rehashed by newspapers, state-aligned commentators and military figures, is that Azerbaijan has been incited by Israel to tread an anti-Iranian line, as Tel Aviv sought to build up its military and economic footprint in Azerbaijan with an eye towards creeping up on Iran’s northern borders.
Azerbaijan and Israel’s diplomatic dalliance, of course, is no novelty. To be sure, Azerbaijan is now finding trade, military and cultural partnerships with Israel increasingly beneficial to its national interest. Azerbaijan purchased a staggering $8.3 billion worth of arms from Israel in 2020, reportedly accounting for 69% of Azerbaijan’s arms imports.
But while Iran views burgeoning Azerbaijan-Israel relations suspiciously, experts in Azerbaijan say the accusations of playing Israel’s stooge are undue and that Baku is not beefing up connections with Tel Aviv at the expense of its relations with an indispensable neighbor in Iran.
“The possibility of Israel influencing Azerbaijan on such issues is just a fantasy. Azerbaijan makes its own decisions… Joint military exercises with Turkey have been going on for many years,” said Ahmad Shahidov, the head of Azerbaijan Institute for Democracy and Human Rights. “Azerbaijan and Turkey are brotherly countries, we have a common military industry and army. Every year, joint Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises are held. What does this have to do with Israel?”
“Israel and Turkey are hostile countries. In this case, how can the joint Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises be a provocation of Israel? It’s a ridiculous idea. There is no basis,” he told Asia Times.
Another notion advanced by some observers is that despite Iran’s public advocacy of Azerbaijan’s position in the conflict with Armenia, Baku may believe that Tehran has taken tacit sides with Armenia for largely economic reasons, as seen with the recent contested trade route.
“Azerbaijan’s rhetoric is a response to what Baku believes to be Iran’s undisclosed support for the Armenian side in the conflict… Researchers like myself have long detailed Tehran’s indirect support for Armenia,” said Svante Cornell, an expert on Eurasian security and political affairs and the director of the Stockholm-based Institute for Security and Development Policy.
“Baku blames Tehran for having allowed the transit of Russian weapons to Armenia during the war, and of continuing to supply the unrecognized Armenian entity in Nagorno-Karabakh even after the war. This, as well as other Iranian moves, led Azerbaijan’s leadership to make statements indicating its displeasure with these events,” he added.
While Iran’s leadership hasn’t openly spoken to its anxieties about Azerbaijan and Turkey possibly playing the ethnic card by conspiring to stir up Iran’s massive 20-million strong Azeri minority against the establishment by appealing to their Azeri nationalistic sentiments, it is clearly a latent concern, particularly in any conflict scenario.
Emil Avdaliani, director of Middle East studies at the Tbilisi-headquartered think tank Geocase, for one, rules out the possibility: “I generally believe the secessionist element is a bit exaggerated. Iran has successfully managed to integrate the Azerbaijani population in the north of the country through accepting many into the corridors of power and uniting the ordinary population around the idea of Iran.”
“Surely this does not guarantee total security, but threats are way lower in intensity than in the turbulent 1990s,” he told Asia Times.
For now, tensions appear to have been contained. Following instructions by the foreign ministry, the Transit and International Transportation Affairs Bureau of Iran Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization has prohibited the entry of trucks and fuel trailers into Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin region, known to Armenians as Berdzor.
The Azerbaijan government, for its part, recently released the previously detained two Iranian drivers.
“Relations between Iran and Azerbaijan have still not reached a point of no return and there is still a lot of room to de-escalate the tensions and improve the relationship, because both sides have shown signs of unwillingness to escalate beyond a certain extent,” said Hamidreza Azizi, an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin.
“Basically, I still see room for improvement in the current situation. I don’t think the relationship will turn from a combination of rivalry and friendly engagement, as has been the case so far, into overtly and completely hostile relations,” he told Asia Times.
On October 7, President Aliyev gave an interview to the Italian daily La Repubblica in which he spoke about relations with Iran and what some perceive as his regret in having lost a seasoned interlocuter in Tehran in former president Hassan Rouhani.
“We, with Iran and during the previous Iranian government with which we worked for eight years, managed to elevate our relations to actually highest possible level. I had more than ten meetings with my counterpart Mr Hassan Rouhani,” he said in the interview.
“All of them were productive. We signed many agreements and we implemented them on energy, on transportation, on cultural development, security. Our relations were actually the symbol of friendship and good neighborhood,” he said.
In the same interview, Aliyev did not allude to his new Iranian counterpart, an enigmatic hardliner with little to no foreign policy experience.