2023 – Page 486 – Armenian Directory & News

Patient transfers halted from Nagorno-Karabakh as Azerbaijan ‘demands medical examinations’

July 22, 2023July 22, 2023 Antranik Varosian

ByAni Avetisyan

Authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have accused Azerbaijan of attempting to force patients being transferred to Armenia for treatment to be examined by their own doctors.

In an interview with Armenian Public TV on Thursday, the State Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, Gurgen Nersisyan, said transfers had been halted as a result. He said that Azerbaijan was demanding that Red Cross vehicles be stopped to examine patients at the Azerbaijani checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor.

Nersisyan warned the process could involve stripping patients, while expressing concerns that this may be filmed by the Azerbaijani side.

‘These are conditions that are directed against the dignity of our citizens, putting them in an uncomfortable situation. And how do you imagine our citizens undergoing a medical examination by the Azerbaijanis under these conditions?’.

Nersisyan argued that Azerbaijan’s actions aimed to make the Red Cross’s mission to transfer patients requiring urgent treatment and bringing in medical supplies ‘impossible’.

Since an Azerbaijani checkpoint was installed on the Lachin Corridor in April, and before that, as the corridor was blocked by Azerbaijani-government-backed protesters from December, only the Red Cross and Russian peacekeeping force have been able to enter the region from Armenia.

Access for the Red Cross has been halted twice since 15 June, being restored for the second time on 14 July.

The Russian peacekeeping mission, which had been bringing in crucial supplies including food and fuel to Nagorno-Karabakh since December, has also been barred by Azerbaijan from using the Lachin Corridor since 15 June.

According to the 2020 ceasefire agreement, the corridor, the only route connecting Nagrono-Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world, was meant to be controlled by the Russian peacekeeping mission.

During his interview, the State Minister said that problems with healthcare and medical and food shortages were becoming more critical every day due to the Corridor’s closure.

‘Over 90% of pregnant women have anemia’, he said, adding that the number of miscarriages had doubled since the blockade began.

Before December 2022, Nagorno-Karabakh received over 90% of its supplies from Armenia.

Nersisyan said that the Azerbaijani side was also hindering agricultural production with ceasefire violations.

Azerbaijan has denied that there is a humanitarian crisis in the region. However, the country has offered to supply Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijani-controlled Aghdam, an offer rejected by Nagorno-Karabakh.

[Read more: Backlash in Armenia as EU backs Nagorno-Karabakh aid via Azerbaijan]

Along with the ongoing energy and food crisis, the authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have also warned of an imminent sanitary crisis, as the lack of fuel has resulted in the suspension of waste collection.

Podcast | Blockade fatigue in Nagorno-Karabakh

July 22, 2023July 22, 2023 Arsine Chaltikian

ByOC Media

Protesters gathered in central Stepanakert. Photo: Marut Vanyan/OC Media.

The price of Russian migration

July 22, 2023July 22, 2023 Emil Lazarian

Last year, several hundred thousand people fled Russia due to war and mobilisation. This has become a major economic stimulus for Russia’s neighbouring visa-free countries, like Georgia and Armenia — so major that their GDP growth predictions had to be increased several times.

On the other hand, the arrival of Russian nationals led to inflation and rental prices rising. Novaya Gazeta Europe has attempted to estimate what impact the newcomers had on the economies of the countries hosting them.

In 2021, the global economy started to emerge from the recession caused by the pandemic, the World Bank experts reported. The same analysts speculated the South Caucasus GDP would increase by 4.2% by the end of the year, but in practice it grew by 7%.

The economists could not have predicted the mass migration from Russia following the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to different estimates, between several hundred thousand and a million people left Russia last year. Usually, Russians would depart for less wealthy countries or nations with lenient migration policies, economist and former president of Russia’s New Economic School Ruben Enikolopov says.

Russians had the biggest impact on Armenia’s economy. According to the World Bank forecast, by the end of 2022 Armenia’s GDP was supposed to increase by 4.8%, instead it grew by 12.6%, as per the data provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This is one of the highest results in the world.

In a conversation with Novaya-Europe, economist Suren Parsyan confirms that the growth is related to the arrival of Russians, in particular those who work in IT. In total, Russians transferred $1.75 billion to Armenia in 2022.

Georgia ranks second on the list of countries with the biggest difference between the forecast and the actual growth of GDP. According to the data published by the National Bank, the country received around $3.6 billion from Russians via money transfers, tourism, and export of goods — this number makes up 14.6% of all Georgian economy. As a result, Georgia’s GDP grew by 10.1%.

In Kyrgyzstan, real indicators of economic growth reached 7%. The country also documented a growing cash flow due to the arrival of Russians. By the end of 2022, the total sum of bank transfers from Russia amounted to $2.8 billion, as per the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan.

According to the University of California professor Oleg Itskhoki, the growth of GDP in all of these countries demonstrates that the Russians who came there had savings; they were, on average, wealthier than the local residents. The emigrants created demand in the market of goods and services which in turn impacted GDP.

Kazakhstan was the only country where the growth of GDP did not differ from the forecast. As the Renaissance Capital chief economist for Russia and CIS Sofia Donets told Russian media outlet RBC, this result has to do with the size and structure of the Kazakh economy. For example, GDP equals $6,600 per capita in Georgia, $6,500 in Armenia, but $11,400 in Kazakhstan. Furthermore, Kazakhstan’s authorities put their stake on the industries and not on the service sector.

Serbia was the only country popular among Russian emigrants that saw its GDP go below the World Bank forecast. The expected economic growth of Serbia was 4.5%, however, according to the IMF and the National Statistics Bureau, it ended up being 2.5%. Enikolopov and Itskhoki believe the decline happened in part due to energy prices rising eight- or ninefold. Another thing to consider is that fewer Russians moved to Serbia compared to Georgia and Armenia.

However, if it wasn’t for emigrants, the country’s GDP would’ve crashed, Itskhoki says. The local authorities also confirmed the impact of Russian nationals on the economy. Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić said that “qualified” software engineers who had previously worked in foreign companies moved to Serbia.

The difference between forecasts and the actual numbers was noticeable in other countries, too. For example, Turkey’s GDP was 5.6% — the estimates put it at 2%. The Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey calculated that Russians had registered over 1,300 companies in Turkey in 2022 (which is almost eight times as many as in 2021).

Still, it’s hard to determine what impacted the local economies more — the mass arrival of migrants or the increased trade with Russia. All of these countries became hubs for the re-export of various goods to Russia because of the sanctions introduced due to the war in Ukraine, Itskhoki says (for example, the export of goods from Turkey quadrupled). He estimates that the emigrants and parallel imports had about an equal impact on the growth of GDP.

Another consequence of the flow of Russians has been the rise in prices for goods and services. Among the countries that Russian citizens migrated to most often, Turkey has recorded the highest level of inflation. By the end of 2022, according to the World Bank data, the inflation rate amounted to 72.3%. But in Turkey’s case, Russian immigrants weren’t the reason why. The experts believe the inflation rate is connected to the weak Turkish lira and the low interest rate remaining unchanged by the Central Bank.

In Kyrgyzstan, the 2022 inflation rate was 14.7%. As per the National Bank, the figure was impacted by the announcement of an upcoming rise of utility prices.

When it comes to Georgia, Serbia, and Armenia, the situation is more ambiguous. Georgia’s National Office reported a 12% inflation rate. Economist and member of the Girchi political party Alexandre Rakviashvili says that this rate of inflation was a trend that started in 2019 and that Russians had no impact on it.

However, the migrants’ impact on inflation can be tracked down to the rise in prices on various goods and services that they consume, Enikolopov says. For example, alcohol, tobacco, and housing prices increased in Georgia, flat equipment and restaurant prices grew in Serbia, while food and clothes became more expensive in Armenia.

All the countries that Russians moved to saw an increase in rental prices, Itskhoki says. For example, rental prices increased by around 70% in Tbilisi in 2022 compared to 2021, according to analysts of the TBC Capital Bank. This data is confirmed by the Numbeo statistics, which demonstrate that, on average, renting a flat in Georgia now costs $779.1.

Rental prices increased by 57% in Armenia. The average price of renting in this country was the most expensive in our sample — $956.5.

By the end of 2022, the inflation rate in Armenia reached 8.6%. Economist Narek Karapetyan ties the reasons for inflation to the influx of Russians: this led to a rise in utilities, services, and real estate prices.

In both Serbia and Kazakhstan, the price of renting increased by 24%. It costs over $600 per month to rent a place in these countries now.

Somehow, rental prices increased the least in the country with the biggest inflation rate. Turkish landlords raised their prices only by 16.4% (on average, up to $369.7 per month).

Following 24 February 2022, the authorities of host nations had to face not only the short-term influx of money into their countries but also think about the future. As a rule, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and other Central Asia countries are thought of as “transit points” by Russians, which is confirmed by the statistics published by the local Ministries of Internal Affairs and statements by politicians. This means that if the Russian migrants leave, the local economies could shrink again.

The prices of rent and various services go down, but so will the general demand impacted by the migrants.

The government of Kyrgyzstan is trying to attract Russian IT employees through the Digital Nomad programme which offers tax benefits. The local Ministry of Economy and Commerce justified the initiative by saying it’s an opportunity for “investment prospects and creating new jobs”. However, only around a thousand of foreigners had received the nomad status by February 2023. The other countries housing Russians are basically not taking any concrete steps to keep the migrants there.

Ruben Enikolopov believes that mass departure of Russian migrants could be the biggest risk for the economies of the countries they had fled to. According to him, their potential return home will depend on what’s going to happen in Russia which is “impossible to predict”. The economist speculates that only highly qualified professionals will be able to leave these countries for others, seeing as no one is really waiting for them in Western Europe and the USA.

Still, the economic impact of last year’s migration is more of a positive one, the economists agree.

“It may seem that 2022 was the ‘boom year’ and that 2023 will be even worse. But if we take a look at people’s collective wealth, then this was a positive shock to these countries,” summarises Itskhoki.

Plans to Open International Robotics Center in Armenia

July 22, 2023July 22, 2023 Emil Lazarian

Fagen wasanni

ALL ABOUT XXI CENTURY TECHNOLOGIES

Chelsea Johnson

A proposal to establish an international robotics center in Armenia has gained significant support from Dr. Karen Eguiazarian, a professor of Signal Processing at Tampere University in Finland. Dr. Eguiazarian, who attended the annual conference of the Armenian Society of Fellows (ASOF) in Dilijan, believes that this initiative can address the pressing challenges faced by Armenia in the aftermath of the 2020 Karabakh war.

The ASOF, which consists of 253 scholars, scientists, artists, and entrepreneurs of Armenian descent from around the world, aims to elevate Armenia’s educational and research institutions to a global level. Recognizing the need for immediate action, the organization has made the decision to open an international robotics center in Armenia as early as this fall.

One of the key areas that Dr. Eguiazarian identifies for development is the research sector, especially in information technology (IT). He emphasizes the importance of pragmatism and the application of research to address Armenia’s existing problems and support its economy. Dr. Eguiazarian believes that the establishment of the robotics center will facilitate the integration of knowledge from ASOF members and Armenian universities, fostering collaboration and innovation.

The scientist envisions Armenia becoming a regional leader in robotics, building upon its historical contributions during the Soviet era. He highlights the need to reverse the brain drain that occurred after the collapse of the Soviet Union, calling for the return of Armenian scientists who have studied abroad, particularly in the field of robotics. Dr. Eguiazarian stressed the interdisciplinary nature of robotics, which can play a crucial role in the advancement of artificial intelligence.

Drawing inspiration from Finland, a country with similarities to Armenia in terms of population and lack of oil resources, Dr. Eguiazarian suggests that Armenia can follow Finland’s model of focusing on human resources development. The IT sector in Armenia has the potential to drive scientific and research advancements, aligning with Western standards. By establishing the robotics center and the planned Center for Economic Research, the ASOF aims to facilitate positive changes in Armenia’s scientific and economic landscape.

To achieve their goals, the ASOF members are encouraged to contribute their knowledge and expertise to the project by dedicating one or two months each year to work in Armenia. This collaboration between international experts and local talents is expected to stimulate the growth of the robotics sector and propel Armenia as a research and innovation hub.

In summary, the ASOF’s proposal to establish an international robotics center in Armenia has gained enthusiastic support from Dr. Karen Eguiazarian. He believes that this initiative can address Armenia’s challenges and elevate its research institutions to global standards. By focusing on the IT sector and leveraging the expertise of ASOF members, the center aims to position Armenia as a leader in robotics and foster economic development. Drawing inspiration from Finland, the ASOF seeks to emulate its success in human resources development. The establishment of the robotics center and the planned Center for Economic Research are crucial steps towards realizing this vision.

https://fagenwasanni.com/news/plans-to-open-international-robotics-center-in-armenia/68605/

Lavrov, Bayramov Discuss Normalization Of Relations Between Azerbaijan, Armenia – Moscow

July 22, 2023July 22, 2023 Mary Lazarian

UrduPoint

Mohammad Ali

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov, on Friday discussed stepping up work on Baku-Yerevan normalization based on the agreement between leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 21st July, 2023) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov, on Friday discussed stepping up work on Baku-Yerevan normalization based on the agreement between leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"On July 21, at the initiative of the Azerbaijani side, a phone conversation was held between the … Lavrov and … Bayramov. The ministers discussed ways to intensify joint work on the key issues of the Azerbaijani-Armenian normalization on the basis of agreements between the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia," the ministry said in a statement.

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/lavrov-bayramov-discuss-normalization-of-rel-1726951.html

“Armenian universities provide outdated knowledge” – education expert

July 22, 2023July 22, 2023 Toneyan Mark

JAMnews

Yerevan

Entrance exams to universities in Armenia

The Ministry of Education of Armenia summed up the results of the main stage of entrance examinations to universities. Of the 15,984 paid places allocated to universities this year, 7,242 applicants matriculated, that is, 45.3 percent. According to the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, the figure is very low, but “this is no longer new.” The 2023 result is comparable to the low performance of the previous two years.

According to Atom Mkhitaryan, an expert in the field of education, the decline in the number of applicants is due both to a reduction in the population and to a “decline in quality” in the field of education.

“Many applicants simply do not meet the requirements of universities, they cannot pass the entrance exams, they are not able to score even the minimum eight points,” he says.

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This was stated by the Minister of Education Zhanna Andreasyan. She said that more than 3,700 places were allocated to non-state universities, and the acceptance rate was about 3%.

According to the minister, the acceptance rate of 45.3% covers all universities, both state and non-state:

“The number of free places was 2,128, but 1,782 applicants entered these places, which is 83.7%.”

13, 314 applicants applied for admission to universities. 10,966 people passed the unified exams. The number of applicants after the main stage of admission to universities was 9,147 people.

The second round of admission to universities has already started, that is, an additional round for the remaining vacant places. All those applicants who did not pass the competition during the main stage, but scored positive points, can apply for participation in it.

The excitement, apparently, was caused by the statements of the Prime Minister of Armenia that “the time will come when there will be no teachers in schools who have not passed the certification”

“The government comes up with initiatives, tries to arouse interest and fill vacancies in those professions that are of paramount, strategic importance,” said Lusine Grigoryan, head of the department of higher and postgraduate vocational education.

In particular, along with the right to deferment from military service, places were allocated for mathematical and engineering specialties, as well as in the field of natural sciences. According to Grigoryan, replenishment in these areas is already on the face.

“In chemistry, there is only one vacant place left for free education, in all other specialties, namely: physics, physics of nuclear reactors, dual-use physics, nuclear energy, mechanical engineering, materials processing, flying machines and aviation technology – all places are already filled. Even for paid education, we have very few free places left,” Grigoryan told reporters.

Graduates will have the opportunity to take exams twice. Education experts say this practice exists in many countries around the world

According to education expert Atom Mkhitaryan, speaking about the reduction in the number of applicants, one should take into account that the number of graduates “is decreasing every year”, while the number of places allocated by the ministry for entering universities remains the same. He focuses on the fact that the quality of education is in decline.

At the same time, applicants mainly compete for places in state universities. The reason, he says, is that “the rating of private universities is practically zero”:

“As a result, private universities do not withstand competition at all. The number of their students will decrease and eventually they will close.”

The expert believes that the opportunities of private universities will narrow even more, as public universities will be interested in replenishing their vacancies with applicants who have received a low but positive grade.

He says that in the current situation, the universities that operate in Armenia on the basis of interstate agreements, for example, the American University, the French University, win out:

“They have more opportunities. Students spend part of their study or practice abroad and can even get two diplomas if they study well.”

According to Mkhitaryan, “the link in choosing a profession” in the field of education is very weak. Emphasizes that the state should make more efforts so that future applicants are determined with a profession at an earlier age, and not after graduation. At this stage, in his opinion, they already choose only those professions that have a high rating, for example, law, medicine, IT, etc.

According to the expert, it is necessary to create highly paid jobs in accordance with the requirements of the market and in areas that do not have a high rating.

“Knowledge and education that universities provide in industries that have become uncompetitive are, in fact, outdated. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage programs that meet the requirements of the times,” he said.

Russia Stresses Its ‘Red Lines’ as Armenia and Azerbaijan Continue Peace Negotiations

July 22, 2023July 22, 2023 Varazdat Torgomian

05:46 PM Age: 23 hours

Residents in Karabakh rally in front of the local offices of the International Red Cross (Source: Civilnet)

On July 15, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met for the sixth time in Brussels via the mediation of European Council President Charles Michel to discuss the normalization of their bilateral relationship. The meeting took place, as Michel pointed out in his post-summit remarks, against the backdrop of “a worrying increase in tensions on the ground” (Consilium.europa.eu, July 15).

The already strained situation in the region (see EDM, July 7) had worsened prior to the Brussels summit due to the temporary closure of the Lachin checkpoint by Baku after the Azerbaijani State Border Service alleged that Armenia was trying to smuggle various items in vehicles belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on July 11 (Trend.az, July 11). In its statement, the ICRC acknowledged the transportation of “unauthorized goods” across the Lachin road and declared the termination of contracts with those who engaged in this illegal activity (Icrc.org, July 11). In addition to this, the rally in the city of Khankendi in the Karabakh region a day before the Brussels summit, organized by the pro-Russian separatist leaders there and protesting the alleged “blockade” of the Lachin road, created an overall negative background for the talks (Civilnet.am, July 14).

The European Union, despite these tensions, succeeded in bringing Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to the negotiating table once again, though no major breakthrough or progress was announced afterward. According to Michel, the sides reaffirmed their previously reached agreements, including the recognition of one another’s territorial integrity and their readiness to accelerate the work on border delimitation and re-opening transportation links (Consilium.europa.eu, July 15).

Even so, two major novelties came from the recent summit. First, the EU declared its readiness to contribute financially to the construction of a “railway connection” between the two countries. This is critical as the questions about the source of funding for the construction of the Armenian section of the railway along the Zangezur Corridor have caused heated debates within the country. Now, it appears that the EU will play some financial role here (see EDM, April 21, 2021).

The second major development is related to the delivery of humanitarian cargo to the Armenian community in Karabakh. For his part, Michel “noted Azerbaijan’s willingness to provide humanitarian supplies via Aghdam” (Consilium.europa.eu, July 15). This option, along with the continuation of humanitarian supplies via the Lachin road, was welcomed by the EU official as central to ensuring that the needs of the population in the region are met. This is widely seen as another affirmation of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity by the EU and Armenia—to the dismay of some ultra-nationalist groups in Armenia and on the Russian side.

Particularly for Russia, the Western-mediated peace process and the agreements reached on this track, especially the recognition of the Karabakh region as part of Azerbaijan by the Armenian side, is a markedly worrying development. Moscow believes that the West seeks to push for a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan with the goal of minimizing Russian influence in the region by kicking out its peacekeeping mission and eventually the Russian military base in Armenia as well (see EDM, May 23).

Hence, it is not surprising that, on July 15, while the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders were in Brussels, the Russian Foreign Ministry shared a strongly worded statement expressing its vision and “red lines” for the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process (Mid.ru, July 15). Above all, the statement said the recognition of the Karabakh region as part of Azerbaijan by Armenia “radically changed the fundamental conditions under which the statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of November 9, 2020, was signed, as well as the position of the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed in the region.”

According to many observers, this statement, in the face of criticism for Russia’s inaction on Azerbaijan’s recent moves, shifted all the blame for the current situation in the Karabakh region to the Armenian leader Pashinyan, with a note that “responsibility for the fate of the Armenian population of Karabakh should not be shifted to third countries.” In its response, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs harshly criticized the mentioning of the issue of territorial integrity by the Russian side in this context (Mfa.gov.az, July 15).

Moreover, the statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry called for “reliable and clear guarantees of the rights and security of the Armenians of Karabakh,” without specifying its details (Mid.ru, July 15). The Russian authorities, however, emphasized that “the strict implementation of the entire set of trilateral agreements between Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia” should be “an integral part” of a peace agreement. As noted earlier, Russia sees these trilateral documents as an assurance for its presence in Karabakh as well as in key regional transportation projects, including the development of the Zangezur Corridor (see EDM, May 23).

Next, the statement expressed Moscow’s “intention to actively contribute to the efforts of the international community to restore the normal life of Nagorno-Karabakh” (Mid.ru, July 15). This appears at odds with Russia’s earlier objection to the West’s “hijacking” of the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process (see EDM, April 14, 2022; May 31, 2022). The change in rhetoric may be related to the fact that the statement presents the efforts of the West as “secondary” to the “real” peace process, which apparently takes place under the Kremlin’s auspices. Hence, the ministry’s statement expressed Russia’s readiness “to organize a trilateral meeting of foreign ministers in Moscow in the near future to discuss ways to implement the agreements at the highest level, including the issue of agreeing on a peace treaty.” It adds that the Kremlin expects to hold a trilateral summit of the three countries’ leaders in Moscow to sign a peace treaty.

That said, while disagreements between Baku and Yerevan persist on major issues (see EDM, July 7), they seem to have increased their political will to overcome these differences, as the latest Brussels summit demonstrated. Yet, as the two countries move closer to reaching a peace treaty, the geopolitical aspects of the process will become increasingly pronounced. Few doubt that Russia will easily leave the process to the hands of the two negotiating parties and their Western mediators. As the statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry manifested, Moscow is readying to assert its interests in the process and reset the negotiating table under its control.

Armenia’s Pashinyan says war with Azerbaijan ‘likely’ unless peace treaty signed – AFP

July 22, 2023July 22, 2023 George Mamian

Reuters

TBILISI, July 21 (Reuters) – Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview with the French AFP news agency published on Friday that a new war with Azerbaijan was "very likely" if the two countries were unable to agree a peace treaty.

"So long as a peace treaty has not been signed and such a treaty has not been ratified by the parliaments of the two countries, of course, a (new) war (with Azerbaijan) is very likely," Pashinyan was quoted as saying.

Pashinyan presided over an Armenian defeat in 2020 in a war over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, during which Armenian-backed separatists lost large amounts of territory in and around the enclave.

Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but inhabited primarily by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan's control during an extended conflict in the 1990s.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have engaged in a flurry of diplomacy aimed at a lasting peace deal in recent months, but there have also been sporadic border clashes, and the talks have not yet yielded a major breakthrough.

Both Armenia and separatist authorities in Karabakh have said that Azerbaijan has blockaded the territory since December, placing a border post on the only road connecting the region to Armenia and blocking most traffic.

Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Kevin Liffey

‘Love of people’: The legacy of this Armenian historian

July 22, 2023July 22, 2023 Elizabeth Jabejian

by: Stefani Booroojian

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE) – He was born in the Central Valley but left a legacy worldwide.

Richard Gable Hovannisian: A writer of books, a lecturer, and a documenter of the history of the Armenian people.

“He basically then from the ground up developed the study of Armenian history as we know it in the United States,” said Barlow Der Mugrdechian, the director of Fresno State’s Armenian Studies Program.

Born in Tulare in 1932, Hovannisian’s educational journey took him from Fresno State to Cal State Berkeley and eventually to UCLA where he received his doctorate and taught for 60 years. Der Mugrdechian was his student.

“I loved his classes; we all loved his classes. It was just entertaining in the sense of being able to draw you into history,” he said.

Mugrdechian says Hovannisian devoted his life to writing Armenia’s history when he discovered no such writings existed. He was instrumental in the creation of Armenian Studies programs at universities including Fresno State, and courageously spoke out at international conferences demanding the recognition of the 1915 Armenian Genocide where one and a half million Armenian lives were lost at the hands of Ottoman Turks.

“There, American scholars who were taking the Turkish side would be talking and saying this wasn’t a genocide and everything and he would be standing up and challenging them,” Der Mugrdechian said.

Nazik Messerlian of Fresno was Hovannisian’s sister-in-law. She and her sister, who later became his wife, first met him in college. She describes him as kind, loving, and passionate about the Armenian cause.

“His love of people was I think the foundation to all of this,” she said.

Hovannisian received honors from the Armenian Church and many organizations. A crowning achievement: recording close to a thousand oral histories from Armenian Genocide survivors– the collection is now housed at the Shoah Foundation at USC.

While retired from teaching, Hovannisian never stopped working. His most recent work was published just last year.

His legacy lives on in the generations impacted by Armenian studies in schools teaching a history documented extensively by the lifetime of work of Richard Hovannisian.

Hovannisian had family in Fresno, and they say he always loved his local ties. A national funeral will be held for him on Saturday, July 22 at Holy Trinity Apostolic Church in Fresno at 11:00 a.m.

Armenia: Canada to send two experts for EU mission seeking peace in Nagorno-Karabakh (+Links)

July 22, 2023July 22, 2023 Meline Chalian

Canada –

OTTAWA – Canada is sending two officials to support a European mission that is aiming to prevent another war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

By Dylan Robertson The Canadian Press

Jul 21, 2023

OTTAWA – Canada is sending two officials to support a European mission that is aiming to prevent another war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The unarmed European Union mission in Armenia is a project involving a hundred civilian monitors who keep tabs on the security situation at the border with Azerbaijan.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has announced that Canada will contribute to the mission and send two recruited experts.

The mission follows heightened tensions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, an area that is mostly populated by ethnic Armenians but is internationally recognized as being part of Azerbaijan.

Joly said in April that she was “deeply concerned” about Azerbaijan escalating the long-running dispute with Armenia over the province by blocking its main access road.

Canada has joined similar European Union missions in the past, with military and civilian projects deployed to places such as Afghanistan and the West Bank.

The move comes just months before Canada aims to open a full embassy in Armenia this fall.

It also follows unconfirmed reports that Canada may loosen its arms embargo against Turkey, which Ottawa barred from receiving weapons after Canadian sensors showed up in drones Azerbaijan used in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in a 2020 war.

https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/armenia-canada-to-send-two-experts-for-eu-mission-seeking-peace-in-nagorno-karabakh/article_98b68bc9-a1c3-51f1-9f4e-cf5d68f49658.html

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