Category: News

Additional funds allocated for increased salaries of Armenia PM’s staff, other

Kanayan Tamar
News.am, Armenia
Oct 22, 2026

Additional funds of 41.8 million drams (about $116,000) will be earmarked as a result of increasing the average monthly salary of Armenian government employees. The corresponding decision was made at the Cabinet meeting of the government on Thursday.

The money will be allocated to the prime minister’s staff.

According to the decision, another 62.1 million drams (about $172,000) are earmarked for expenses expected until the end of the year, of which 40.5 million drams (about $112,000) will be allocated for foreign business trips and some other purposes.

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Premier calls Armenia’s relations with EAEU a “challenge”

Kalantarian Kevo
News.am, Armenia
Oct 22, 2026

We have challenges, including in terms of our relations with the EAEU, which we will work towards. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at the Armenian government’s Cabinet meeting on Thursday.

“The main goal of our policy will be to ensure economic activity, as well as to strengthen sovereignty, independence, and statehood. These are interconnected and stem from each other,” the premier said.

“We have tangible results in the direction of diversifying economic ties. The existing indicators inspire hope that these ties will deepen even further, and we should focus on that direction,” Pashinyan added.

According to the Armenian premier, inflationary trends are a consequence of global processes.

“However, we should not deviate from the ‘well-being through work’ strategy. There will be difficulties, of course, but we must manage them, as we have done before,” Pashinyan concluded.

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Matenadaran – Armenia museum of ancient manuscripts – to acquire 5 manuscript

Tambiyan Samvel
News.am, Armenia
Oct 22, 2026

A total of 148.5 million drams (about $411,700) have been allocated for the acquisition of two manuscripts of interest to the Matenadaran, the Armenian institute and museum of ancient manuscripts. The relevant decision was made at the Cabinet meeting of the Armenian government on Thursday.

Earlier, an Armenian delegation, led by the director of the Matenadaran, had met in Vienna with Hugo Wetscherek, the founder and managing director of Antiquariat INLIBRIS Gilhofer Nfg. GmbH, and discussed the terms of purchasing five valuable manuscripts.

Considering the exceptional historical, cultural, and academic value of the two manuscripts included in the collection, it was considered expedient to acquire them with Armenian state funding. The latter will guarantee the return of these exceptional values and their registration as the property of Armenia.

The earliest of the two manuscripts is the collection of Sargis Pitsak in Drazark monastery in 1353 (estimated value: 250,000 euros), which includes sermons and biographies. The manuscript also contains fragments from the Gospel of Luke.

The second manuscript is the lavishly decorated Gospel copied by Azaria in Isfahan in 1695 (estimated value: 95,000 euros).

In addition, the Matenadaran plans to acquire another manuscript dating back to 1586, the 17th century, and the 17th–18th centuries.

As part of the Manuscript Return initiative, the Matenadaran is preparing to launch a pan-Armenian fundraising to purchase the entire collection.

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Azerbaijani citizen detained after crossing into Armenia

Emil Lazarian
OC Media
Oct 22, 2026
by Arshaluys Barseghyan and Rafig Shahbazov

22 October 2026•3 min read

Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) has confirmed that Yashar Ali Oglu Kasimov, an Azerbaijani citizen, was found in Tavush Province and that ‘appropriate measures are being taken to return’ him to Azerbaijan.

Kasimov, born in 1968 and a resident of the village of Chatakh in Azerbaijan’s Tovuz District, was found in Armenian territory on Monday afternoon, according to the NSS.

‘As a result of the verification measures carried out, it was established that the Azerbaijani citizen had entered the territory of the Republic of Armenia after getting lost’, the NSS said.

On Thursday afternoon, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan confirmed in his weekly press briefing that Armenia will return the person to Azerbaijan.

He stated that the Armenian security found him when he crossed over.

‘They saw him walking toward them, detained him, and handed him over to the NSS’, Pashinyan said.

Although Kasimov was detained on Monday, Armenian authorities did not publicly disclose the incident until Wednesday, after information surfaced in the media.

5TV, an opposition-affiliated outlet, first reported that ‘an Azerbaijani shepherd has crossed into Armenia’. Citing its sources, the outlet said Kasimov had been found and taken to the military police in the town of Berd, Tavush Province.

The NSS initially told 5TV it had no information about the incident and would look into it, before asking the outlet to submit a written inquiry.

An unnamed head of a community in the Tavush Province told 5TV that the shepherd had crossed through ‘the forests of our area’, while another community head suggested the weather had been foggy and rainy, but added that rumours were circulating that the ‘shepherd had crossed the border voluntarily to seek political asylum’.

On the same day, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan addressed the incident in parliament but did not confirm whether Kasimov had sought political asylum.

‘Such things happen: a shepherd can get lost on their side, and one can get lost on our side. And such incidents happen both before and after the establishment of peace’, Mirzoyan said, adding that people are returned in such situations.

On Wednesday, Azerbaijan’s State Border Service responded to the initial reports published in Armenian media, claiming that no incident involving a shepherd crossing from its area of responsibility into Armenia had occurred.

Baku has not commented on Armenia’s confirmation that they have detained a man.

The incident marks the second reported case of an Azerbaijani crossing into Armenia since October.

Pashinyan rejects possibility of exchanging detained Azerbaijani soldier for Armenian prisoners

The first involved Azerbaijani soldier Nasimi Musayev, who was detained after abandoning his post and entering a house in Shaki, a village in southern Syunik Province, where he shot Armenian resident Ani Avetisyan on 1 October.

Avetisyan sustained multiple injuries and underwent surgery. Before the shooting, her children had returned from school to find the lock to their home broken and Musayev inside. The soldier reportedly tried to take the children hostage, with the children also sustaining injuries.

Avetisyan was reportedly injured after returning home to try to protect her children from Musayev’s gunfire and eventually stabbed him in the chest after he ran out of ammunition. Musayev was subsequently arrested and remains in detention in Armenia.

The shooting was the first incident of its kind in over a year as Armenia and Azerbaijan maintain that peace has been established after decades of conflict. It raised questions about how Musayev had crossed the border and whether local residents had been warned enough about the missing Azerbaijani soldier.

Pashinyan told Infocom on 6 October that before the discovery of the soldier there was no evidence or any confidence that he had crossed into the territory of Armenia, and without facts, a public statement would have been ‘false information’.

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Review | Five Armenian shorts at the 2026 Kutaisi International Short Film Fes

Badalian Vardan
OC Media
Oct 22, 2026

The films were all directed by women as part of a programme dedicated to examining women’s representation in regional cinema.

by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning

22 October 2026•4 min read

During the sixth Kutaisi International Short Film Festival, held from 16–22 October, five Armenian shorts were screened as part of a curated programme dedicated to women’s representation in regional cinema.

The films screened cover a wide range of topics, including parental conflict, children’s rights, and unorthodox relationships. Read on for more details on each short film, and what OC Media thought of them.

Dalila (2026)

Still from film.

★★★★☆

The newest film in the programme, Dalila, focuses on a young sculptor from Yerevan, Victor (played by musician Nerses Avetisyan), who travels to a rural village to install his latest piece.

The guiding essence of the film is doublethink, first coined in George Orwell’s 1984, a line of which precedes the opening scene. There are multiple layers of this theme that writer and director Ines Karapetyan examines in the 16-minute short, exploring trust and culpability within Victor’s host family and in the village as a whole. One of the strongest throughlines is the distrust the host family feels towards Victor, despite their continuous hospitality, debating whether, as an artist and city resident, he might be ‘one of “them” ’ — in other words, someone queer — while at the same time ignoring the sexual assault of their daughter at the hands of their dear friend and neighbour.

Beyond its content, the film is beautiful, the first half in particular featuring almost ethereal lighting, capturing in a sense the innocence the characters begin with before the film’s darker undertones are introduced.

For a graduation film, it is a serious achievement, and it will be interesting to see what Karapetyan works on next.

Resonance

Still from film.

★★★★☆

Set largely over the course of one day, Resonance follows a piano teacher (Marjan Avetisyan) as she discovers her daughter is not following the path she so clearly set out for her.

Rather than focusing on the daughter breaking free of parental control and striking out on her own, the film examines the emotions from the mother’s point of view, as a woman who has convinced herself that she is in the right — ‘I know everything, and I know what’s the right path for you’. Yet, as she soon learns after confronting her daughter, her beliefs are not inviolable, and perhaps the changing dynamics between mother and daughter might help both embark on new journeys and paths to happiness.

At 15 minutes, Lucy Vartanian’s short manages to be at once humorous, vexatious, and relatable.

Seagulls (2023)

Still from film.

★★★☆☆

Lilit Movisyan’s film begins ostensibly as a story about a sex worker and a john who bond while exploring the industrial ruins of rural Armenia. In this context, the film could be seen as a commentary on the country’s post-Soviet economic decline and the opportunities left for young people remaining amidst the structural decay.

Yet the film’s eventual twist negates this focus, instead leaving the 20-minute film to be read as a meandering examination of modern relationships, one unaided by the male character’s rather wooden acting.

It Takes A Village… (2022)

Still from film.

4.5/5★

This beautifully-shot film examines a rural Armenian village inhabited only by women — the mothers, wives, and daughters of migrant workers in Russia. As the title suggests, it takes everyone working together to ensure the functioning of the village, and to help everyone’s emotional health.

Ophelia Harutyunyan doesn’t shy away from portraying the multitude of attitudes this lifestyle engenders within the community, including stoic perseverance, as exemplified by the main character Mariam, who just focuses on the next day when her husband calls to say he cannot return home as planned; bitterness, as illustrated by Lilik, whose husband brought home a ‘Russian bastard’; and naïveté, which the young, and pregnant, Anush, originally from the city, displays in her attempts to delay giving birth in the hope her husband will appear.

Some of the scenes of female bonding can come across as trite, but overall, the film is an excellent examination of what it means to be the wife of a migrant worker in today’s Armenia.

Handstand (2021)

Still from film.

3.5/5★

Ovsanna Shekoyan’s 15-minute film follows the aftermath of a medical emergency at a rural school, in particular, the subsequent police investigation into the gym teacher who was present at the scene.

There are no clear-cut answers, whether in terms of why the accident occurred, or who, if anyone, should be blamed. This is instead what the films asks the viewer to mull over: should we judge the ambulance who claimed the heavy snow meant they could not come in time, forcing the teachers to call the boy’s father, wasting crucial time; is the gym teacher to blame for having the kids in his care do handstands in the wintery weather; is it the parents for not notifying the school of any potential medical problems that their child may have had?

The cinematic wintery blues and grays place emphasise the bleakness of the situation, where there is no clear good or bad, and no easy way to escape the guilt of what occurred.

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Pashinyan claims ‘circles in Russia, Armenia’ seek to ‘eliminate’ Armenia’s i

Kalashian Nyrie
OC Media
Oct 22, 2026
by Arshaluys Barseghyan

22 October 2026•4 min read

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has accused ‘certain circles’ in Russia and Armenia of seeking to destabilise the country, claiming their ultimate goal is to ‘eliminate’ Armenia’s de facto independence.

The remarks came on Thursday, when Pashinyan claimed that Russian restrictions on Armenian products in recent months had failed to produce the economic and political consequences sought by these groups.

Russia began imposing restrictions on Armenian products in April, ahead of the June parliamentary elections. The measures intensified during the pre-election campaign: prompting many to view them as an attempt by Moscow to influence the election’s outcome.

Is the Armenian election really about the West vs Russia?

‘There are circles in and out of Armenia that are and will be trying to exploit this working situation not only to incite instability in Armenia, but there is also a very specific reason behind instability — the elimination of Armenia’s de facto independence’, Pashinyan said.

He described the alleged efforts as the third attempt in three years to provoke domestic instability in Armenia.

According to him, the first attempt came in September 2023, after Azerbaijan launched its final offensive to take control of Nagorno-Karabakh, prompting more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia within a week.

‘The aim was to direct the flow of people toward Armenia, while calls were simultaneously being made to change the political authorities’, Pashinyan said.

Later, asked why he had not named those allegedly seeking to destabilise Armenia directly, given that his accusations appeared to be directed at Russia, Pashinyan said he had explicitly referred to certain circles in Russia.

‘I had said very specifically that certain circles in Russia — yes, is this news to you? Didn’t I say it? I had said certain circles in Russia, I just referred to it. Who was posting on Facebook in 2023, calling on the people of Armenia to take to the streets and remove the anti-national government? Who was doing that?’, Pashinyan said.

During the crisis, pro-Kremlin figures and propagandists urged Armenians to join anti-government protests in the streets of Yerevan, warning that were they not to do so, they would become ‘participants’ in the ‘genocide’ of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians.

Kremlin propaganda turns up the heat on Armenia

Pashinyan identified the second attempt as the June parliamentary election without elaborating, saying that a third attempt was now being planned in the context of Russian restrictions.

‘There is no economic component here; we are dealing with a political component. The goal is to provoke domestic political instability in Armenia and, de facto, and subsequently de jure, deprive Armenia of its independence’, Pashinyan said, expressing confidence that the Armenian state was ‘sufficiently resilient and will overcome this situation as well’.

‘Our history in 2020, in 2021, or in 2023 will be erased’

In another part of the briefing, Pashinyan addressed his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin after being asked about their recent interaction on the sidelines of a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit in Turkmenistan. At the summit, Putin — despite bilateral tensions — tapped him on the shoulder and the two had an informal conversation.

‘Personal relations have always been and will remain positive, but it doesn’t mean that our history in 2020, in 2021, or in 2023 will be erased. It does not mean that. It does not mean that not receiving the armaments we paid for is disappearing from our history’, Pashinyan said.

‘It does not mean that what happened in September 2022 is being erased from our history’, he added, referring to a series of events that have strained Armenia’s relations with Russia and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).

During the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, Azerbaijan used weapons supplied by Russia and Belarus, both members of the CSTO, alongside arms supplied by other countries.

In 2021 and 2022, Azerbaijan launched further attacks on Armenian territory, prompting Yerevan to seek CSTO assistance, but as Pashinyan reiterated on Thursday, the bloc ‘failed to fulfil its treaty obligations’. And in September 2023, Azerbaijan took control of Nagorno-Karabakh despite the presence of Russian peacekeepers deployed under the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement.

Armenia also paid Russia for weapons under contracts signed in 2021, but received only a small portion of the agreed supplies. The remaining amount was later offset against Armenia’s state debt to Russia.

‘The fact is that when we are dependent on one country for weapons, gas, apricot, this poses a threat to our state, and we must manage that threat ourselves’, Pashinyan concluded, in reference to Armenia’s dependence on Russia as a primary supplier or market.

For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.


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Another Azerbaijani citizen found in Armenia after illegally crossing the bord

Badalian Vardan
JAM News
Oct 22, 2026
  • JAMnews
  • Baku

A new incident has occurred on the Armenia–Azerbaijan border after an Azerbaijani citizen entered Armenian territory illegally. Armenia’s National Security Service confirmed the incident on 22 October.

Yashar Ali Gasimov, born in 1968, reportedly lost his way on 19 October. “Appropriate steps are being taken to return the Azerbaijani citizen,” the National Security Service said.

Armenian media had been reporting since 19 October that an Azerbaijani shepherd had crossed the border illegally and been taken to military police. Some reports claimed he was carrying a white flag.

On 21 October, Azerbaijan’s State Border Service responded to a query from Azerbaijani media, saying that “no such incidents have occurred in the territory under its control”.

The incident has caused concern in both countries following another recent border incident. On 1 October, Azerbaijani serviceman Nasimi Musayev was detained in Armenia. According to Armenian investigators, he illegally crossed the border, entered a house in the village of Shaki in Syunik province, opened fire and wounded a woman.

Criminal proceedings have been launched against Musayev. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he would stand trial in Armenia. He also said Azerbaijan had not requested his transfer and stressed that Yerevan and Baku had agreed to handle cases involving servicemen separately from other matters.

  • Pashinyan on extradition of Azerbaijani soldier, meeting Aliyev and Medvedev’s statement
  • Now ruling party leader indefinitely: Ilham Aliyev makes new tough foreign policy statements
  • What Azerbaijan needs to do to benefit from Middle Corridor: World Bank recommendations
  • Armenia-Azerbaijan relations in crisis: domestic and external factors

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, responding to a question about the incident, said shepherds can get lost and accidentally cross the border in either direction. He stressed the importance of resolving such situations constructively.

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COP 17 in Armenia

Emil Lazarian
Commonspace.eu
Oct 22, 2026
22 October 2026

Armenia is currently hosting the COP17 conference of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which began earlier this week (19 October) and will run until 30 October, bringing around 15,000 participants from 196 different countries to Yerevan. At a leaders’ summit held as part of COP17, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed realistic ambitions: “We are halfway towards achieving these goals (Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework), and we must honestly acknowledge that we are not yet moving in the right direction. Our task now is not to make new promises, but to fulfil the commitments we have already made.” Pashinyan pointed towards Armenia’s own records, noting that the whitefish stock in Lake Sevan has increased substantially in the last ten years. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze also addressed the summit, with Turkiye sending its agriculture minister. However, there were no reports of Azerbaijani representatives attending. The conference has given Yerevan a valuable international platform, yet the absence of Azerbaijan is likely to be read as a sign that the peace process in the South Caucasus has not yet been translated into wider regional cooperation.

The leaders’ summit was opened by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who stressed that hosting the conference was a great honour for Armenia. He expressed hope that it would ‘be productive and contribute to protecting our planet’s biodiversity’. ‘We – the citizens of Armenia, the government, state authorities and local governments – owe a debt to our nature,’ the prime minister said. He noted that the international community had already developed the concept of ‘living in harmony with nature’ and adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022, setting out goals and specific targets to be achieved by 2030. ‘We are halfway towards achieving these goals, and we must honestly acknowledge that we are not yet moving in the right direction. Our task now is not to make new promises, but to fulfil the commitments we have already made,’ Nikol Pashinyan said. The COP17 conference is expected to adopt a declaration at leaders’ level. More than 30 documents are scheduled for discussion. If approved, the commitments set out in them will become legally binding on countries that are parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.”

source: Caucasus and Central Asia Concise Issue 6


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‘Another attempt is being prepared to deprive Armenia of its independence’ — P

Lilit Nahapetian
JAM News
Oct 23, 2026
  • JAMnews
  • Yerevan

“For the first time in our history, the ‘metropolis’ is not drawing us towards it. Instead, it seems to be saying, ‘We will push you away’,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said, commenting on a report on the possibility of suspending Armenia’s participation in the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

Speaking at his weekly briefing, he stressed that the documents governing the EAEU do not give member states the authority to expel another member. The report makes the same point.

However, he drew a parallel with another organisation operating under Russia’s auspices: the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).

“The CSTO allows for such a possibility. Since the EAEU and CSTO have essentially the same member states, the question arises: why don’t they expel Armenia from the CSTO?” Pashinyan asked.

According to the prime minister, the restrictions Russia has imposed on Armenia in recent months have failed to achieve the results that certain circles, both inside and outside the country, had hoped for. The measures include a ban on exporting most Armenian food products and other goods to Russia. Pashinyan said the move had failed to achieve either its economic or political objectives.

The prime minister sees Russia’s economic pressure as an attempt to trigger domestic political instability and deprive Armenia of its independence.

Journalists asked him to clarify whether Russia itself was destabilising Armenia.

“I said very specifically: certain circles in the Russian Federation — yes. Is that news to you?” he replied.

Nevertheless, Pashinyan said he was confident that Armenia was “resilient enough and would overcome this situation too”.

  • Russia seeks to retain Armenian railway concession as Yerevan avoids confrontation
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“Time will tell”: on the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council’s report

Armenian journalists asked Pashinyan what he thought about the risk of a catastrophic economic downturn if Armenia left the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), as experts from the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council have forecast.

“Time will tell. Our main priority is Armenia’s continued development and the protection of our independence and sovereignty, as well as diversifying our relations. We will follow this path,” the prime minister replied.

In his view, forces both inside and outside Armenia are trying to exploit the current situation and problems in Armenia-Russia relations. Their aim, he said, is not only to trigger political instability in the country but also to effectively abolish Armenia’s independence.

The prime minister did not specify which forces he meant. However, he noted that several such attempts had taken place over the past three years. First, he recalled the events in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023, particularly the exodus of the entire Armenian population from their homeland while Russian peacekeepers were present.

“The aim was to channel the flow of people into Armenia, while calls for a change of political power were coming from well-known quarters,” he said.

Pashinyan considers the situation surrounding the 2026 parliamentary elections to be a second attempt. He appears to be referring to hybrid attacks on Armenia and an alleged attempt to bring Armenians living in Russia to the polls to vote for pro-Russian forces.

“A third attempt is now being prepared. It is part of a certain ‘secret plan’ that is currently the subject of widespread discussion,” he concluded.

Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the pro-Russian opposition party Strong Armenia, has recently spoken openly about a “secret plan” to change the government. He has invoked the plan when asked what steps the opposition intends to take to overthrow the authorities after losing the election.

The prime minister believes the struggle is political rather than economic:

“The aim is to provoke domestic political instability in Armenia. As a consequence, they intend to take control of the Armenian state. In other words, they want to deprive Armenia of its independence — first de facto, and then de jure.”

He added that events over the past several decades had also been directed towards achieving this goal.

Russian-led EAEU bloc warns Armenia of possible ‘serious blows’ to its economy

A report by the EAEU’s intergovernmental council discusses the possible suspension of Armenia’s membership and the consequences, even though the bloc’s founding treaty makes no provision for such a move.

“There will be no apocalypse”: on a possible rise in Russian gas prices

Pashinyan stressed that there was no guarantee that gas prices would remain unchanged. He also said that prices had risen at least twice over the past eight years.

“Gas prices have gone up before. You simply didn’t know about it. They rose in 2019 and then — I can’t remember exactly whether it was in 2022 or 2023. The point is that, thanks to citizens who work in Armenia, create added value and pay the taxes required by law, the Armenian government managed to ensure that the public did not notice these increases.”

The prime minister is convinced that even if gas prices rise by 69%, as the EAEU has warned, the Armenian economy will not face an “apocalypse”.

“Those who talk about an apocalypse simply don’t understand economics. I say that quite plainly.”

As the prime minister noted, people also predicted an “apocalypse” in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Yet Armenia’s economy grew throughout those years, Pashinyan said.

“You cannot erase history”: on relations with Russia

Speaking about his communications with Putin and Armenian-Russian relations, Pashinyan stressed that the relationship had always been positive and would remain so. However, he said this did not mean Armenia could simply erase the events of 2020, 2021 and 2023 from its history.

“That does not mean our history will no longer record the weapons we paid for but never received. Nor will it erase September 2022. That month, when Azerbaijani forces invaded Armenia’s sovereign territory, the CSTO failed to fulfil its treaty obligations to Armenia. This had extremely serious consequences.”

The prime minister’s conclusion was clear: dependence on a single country for weapons, gas and even apricots poses a threat to the state.

“We must address this threat. We are increasing Armenia’s level of independence. Are we doing so deliberately? Let’s put it this way — yes. We are consciously, you could even say relentlessly, strengthening the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia.”

Pashinyan concluded the discussion by saying that “the current situation is much more serious than many people think”. He said Armenia’s independence and statehood were at stake.

“We must learn the lessons of history,” he added.

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Şahan Arzruni, Armenian Classical Pianist Behind ‘Komitas: Complete Works for

George Mamian
Oct 22, 2026

Straight-faced at the second piano while Victor Borge clowned his way through Liszt, a gifted young Armenian pianist became a beloved fixture of one of the world’s most famous comedy acts, all while pursuing a far more serious mission of his own. Şahan Arzruni, the classical pianist, producer, scholar and writer who devoted his life to preserving and sharing Armenian music, died in Manhattan on October 21, 2026. He was 83.

Arzruni was born on June 8, 1943, in Istanbul, the son of Stepan Jirayr Arzruni and Maryam Kalpak, into a family whose name traces back to ancient Armenian nobility. His aunt, composer Sirvart Kalpakyan Karamanuk, encouraged him to begin piano at four, and he made his first public appearance at five. He attended the Esayan and Getronagan Armenian Lyceums and graduated from the Istanbul Municipal Conservatory, studying piano with Ferdi Statzer and harmony with Raşit Abed.

In 1964, a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation brought him to New York and the Juilliard School, where he studied with Sascha Gorodnitzki, Felix Galimir, Joseph Bloch and Hall Overton, earning his bachelor’s degree in 1967 and his master’s in 1968 before pursuing doctoral studies at New York University.

Beginning in the late 1960s, Arzruni performed as Victor Borge’s straight man in concert, and in 1980 the two appeared at the Royal Variety Performance with Borge’s comic duet arrangement of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. He became a familiar face on television, appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Mike Douglas Show and PBS specials, recorded for the BBC and other European broadcasters, and gave command performances at the White House and for the British, Danish, Swedish and Icelandic royal courts. As a Steinway Artist, he was invited to perform on an 1869 Steinway at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to open the centennial of its historic instrument collection.

Inspired by the ethnic pride he discovered in the United States, Arzruni immersed himself in the roots of Armenian music. He recorded a three-LP ‘Anthology of Armenian Piano Music’ in 1979, co-produced the eight-LP ‘A Survey of Armenian Music’ in 1987 and presented papers and symposia at Harvard, Columbia and the University of Michigan. He contributed to The New Grove Dictionary and the Dictionary of the Middle Ages, and in 2001 delivered a lecture on Armenian liturgical chant at the Library of Congress.

His discography included Haydn’s complete sonatas for piano and violin, works by Khachaturian, Kabalevsky and Bartók, Alan Hovhaness’s ‘Visionary Landscapes’, ‘Midnight Chopin’, ‘Childhood Memories’, ‘Komitas: Complete Works for Piano’ in 2011, ‘Hommage: Piano Works by Early Armenian Composers’ in 2014, ‘Alan Hovhaness: Selected Piano Compositions’ in 2019 and ‘By Women: Piano Works by Armenian Women Composers’ in 2024. As a producer, he championed the music of his aunt, Sirvart Kalpakyan Karamanuk, alongside recordings of Makar Yekmalian’s ‘Divine Liturgy’ and ‘Armenian Composers in Asia Minor’.

In 2008, the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory named him an honorary professor, and in 2015 he received the Movses Khorenatsi Medal, Armenia’s highest cultural honour. Between 2017 and 2024, he travelled throughout Armenia and Artsakh coaching young musicians, giving recitals and photographing ancient monasteries for a series of articles in the Istanbul monthly Paros. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he curated the online concert series “Together for Armenia” to raise funds for the country. His many other honours included the Order of St. Sahak and St. Mesrop and the Knights of Vartan Award.

Şahan Arzruni leaves behind a legacy of music, scholarship and generosity that carried the sounds of Armenia to concert halls, royal courts and recording studios around the world. The pianist who once kept a straight face beside Victor Borge spent a lifetime taking his heritage seriously, and the composers he championed will be heard for generations because of his devotion.

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