Category: News

The National Law Review

https://natlawreview.com/press-releases/coafs-23rd-annual-holiday-gala-celebrate-armenian-heritage-and-honor

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said his country had no interest in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). He made the statement in response to a request to comment on the upcoming meeting of the organization’s Collective Security Council, which is set to consider stripping Armenia of its voting rights.

“I would like us to make it clear once and for all that our interest in the CSTO has run its course, and we have no interest in the CSTO,” he said.

The CSTO Collective Security Council is due to meet in Moscow on November 11. At Russia’s initiative, the agenda includes a proposal to strip Armenia of its voting rights and suspend the nomination of Armenian citizens to official positions, as Yerevan has frozen its participation in the organization and stopped paying membership fees. However, there is no question of expelling the country from the CSTO, as that decision falls within the country’s own jurisdiction.

Armenia froze its participation in the organization after Yerevan deemed the CSTO’s response to incidents involving Azerbaijan inadequate. For the third consecutive year, Armenian representatives have not taken part in the organization’s events.

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told Euronews that peace and convergence in the South Caucasus, based on a carefully balanced pro-EU political vector, create a major opportunity for the region, with “democracy as a strategy” for Armenia.

Armenia is now the only country in the South Caucasus still letting Iranian airlines fly in. New US sanctions on Iran’s civil aviation sector are testing how long that can last. “We are very transparent with all our partners. We will do our best to ensure that relations remain this way, especially with friendly countries. However, there is a line we cannot cross—that is the risk of Armenia itself becoming subject to sanctions,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a briefing on Oct. 1.

The unilateral US sanctions were announced on Sept. 8 and have been fully in force since Sept. 23, when a wind-down period ended. They threaten any entity providing services to Iranian carriers. Georgia and Azerbaijan have moved to comply with US demands to halt flights to and from Iran, and Armenia is now one of the few countries where Iranian airlines still operate.

Armenia relies heavily on its southern neighbor for transit, energy and trade, with bilateral trade reaching around 770M USD in 2025. Iran has long been an economic and strategic lifeline for Yerevan, particularly when Armenia was cut off from Azerbaijan and Turkiye during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Tehran’s importance grew after the 2020 war, as relations between Baku and Yerevan deteriorated and Iran positioned itself as a counterweight to what it saw as threats to the regional balance of power in the South Caucasus. Suspending Iranian flights would therefore mean more than a change in athe civil viation sector. It could signal that Yerevan is willing to accommodate US pressure at the expense of one of its most important regional partnerships.

A new gateway for Iran?

The new US restrictions could reshape Iran’s regional connectivity. If direct flights to neighboring countries keep shrinking, Armenia may become more important as an alternative gateway into the South Caucasus.

That matters most for Iranian travelers. The number of Iranian tourists visiting Armenia increased from 176,453 in 2024 to 182,364 in 2025, a rise of about 3.3%. Iranians made up around 8.1% of all foreign tourists in Armenia last year, the third-largest group after Russians and Georgians.

Yerevan could also become a transit point for passengers heading on to Georgia and beyond, now that Tbilisi has stopped direct Iranian flights. If air links from Iran shrink further, some travelers may fly to Armenia and continue overland, while others cross the Iran-Armenia border by road. That could lift demand for Armenia’s passenger transport, border infrastructure and logistics services.

The same could apply to trade. Restrictions on Iranian aviation do not remove demand for regional movement. Indeed, if anything, they could shift some traffic to land corridors. In that vein, Armenia could become a more important route for Iranian goods and passengers seeking access to the South Caucasus and the Black Sea, even though Turkiye remains Iran’s more established overland link to Europe.

Building the land route

The groundwork for expanded land connections is already being laid. Iranian firms are working on the Kajaran tunnel, a key section of the North-South highway in Armenia’s southern Syunik Province.

On Sept. 14, Eduard Hakobyan, chairman of Armenia’s State Revenue Committee, met Foroud Asgari, Iran’s deputy minister of economic affairs and finance and head of its customs administration. The two signed a protocol on exchanging advance information about goods and vehicles moving through both countries under the “Simplified Customs Corridor.” Under the agreement, cargo inspected on one side of the border will reportedly not undergo another thorough inspection on the other side, which may greatly facilitate trade.

At a visit to Tehran on Oct. 5, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan also discussed plans for a second bridge on the Armenia-Iran border and measures to ease freight transport with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi.

The TRIPP factor

The picture is further complicated by a new corridor brokered by US President Donald Trump—the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP). The initiative seeks to link mainland Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenian territory along the Iranian border. Armenian officials have presented the route as a chance for Iran to join an emerging regional network, rather than as a project aimed against Tehran.

On Oct. 28, Armenia’s parliament ratified the framework agreement with the US on TRIPP by 63 votes to 32, with only the ruling Civil Contract faction voting in favor. A joint development company will run the route, with the US holding a 74% stake and Armenia 26% for an initial 49 years. If the deal is extended by another 50 years, Armenia’s stake would rise to 49%. The company’s charter and shareholders’ agreement have yet to be agreed.

Foreign Minister Mirzoyan insisted that all infrastructure on Armenian territory would remain under Armenia’s sovereignty and jurisdiction. The opposition was not convinced. “The US gains a direct presence in the region, particularly along the border with Iran, in a strategically crucial area,” said Anna Grigoryan, head of the opposition Armenia faction.

The Islamic Republic opposes TRIPP, particularly over the presence of US personnel and the potential erosion of its strategic position along the border. In September, Iran reportedly warned Pashinyan that American personnel deployed along the route would be considered “legitimate targets” in the event of a conflict.

Armenian compliance with US sanctions could harden Iran’s position on TRIPP further. As such, for Yerevan, the question of whether to sidestep Washington’s aviation restrictions is not simply about whether to let Iranian airlines keep flying in. It is about managing ties with Tehran while seeking closer integration with the US and greater western involvement in its regional infrastructure.

Other countries trying not to antagonize the Trump administration while keeping some air links with Iran have opted for targeted arrangements rather than blanket bans. Turkiye has suspended Mahan Air flights but refrained from banning all Iranian commercial carriers. Iraq initially halted Iranian flights but later secured a US exemption allowing Iranian airlines, except Mahan Air, to fly to the holy city of Najaf.

Armenia could seek a similar middle ground if US pressure grows—for example, by restricting flights by specific carriers while letting other Iranian airlines keep serving Yerevan, or by seeking a US waiver for selected routes or services. That would reduce exposure to US secondary sanctions without severing an important channel to Tehran. But the broader dilemma would remain. The more Iran’s regional air links are disrupted, the more valuable Armenia becomes as an alternative gateway. Yet this puts greater pressure on Yerevan to choose between keeping that role and avoiding a confrontation with Washington

By PanARMENIAN

Key Takeaways:

• A Yerevan court postponed until 4 December the hearing involving Catholicos Karekin II and six bishops after prosecutors failed to appear, prompting defense lawyer Ara Zohrabyan to accuse them of deliberate delay.
• Zohrabyan argued the criminal case concerns internal church canon law beyond secular jurisdiction, that an earlier related civil suit has already been terminated, and that travel bans are disrupting pastoral duties while property disputes with the defrocked Saroyan continue.
• Separately, a government-linked report has called for a reform coordination group and the removal of the church’s “de facto head,” underscoring the broader institutional crisis surrounding the Armenian Apostolic Church.

A court hearing in the case involving Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and six bishops has been postponed until December 4 after prosecutors failed to attend, Radar.am reports.

The prosecutors had notified the court of their absence. Arman Saroyan, formerly Bishop Gevorg Saroyan, who was defrocked and is recognized as an injured party in the case, was also absent.

Ara Zohrabyan, the lawyer representing the senior clergy, accused the prosecution of deliberately delaying the proceedings, Factor.am reports.

According to Zohrabyan, one prosecutor was on a business trip, while another was attending a separate court hearing. He argued that the prosecution could have arranged for a replacement.

The lawyer maintained that the criminal proceedings concerned decisions made under church canon law rather than any attempt to obstruct the enforcement of a court ruling.

He referred to an earlier civil case brought by Saroyan, in which the court had imposed an interim measure preventing interference with his official duties. That case has since been terminated.

Zohrabyan argued that secular courts lack jurisdiction over matters governed exclusively by the church’s internal rules.

He also criticized restrictions preventing Karekin II and the bishops from leaving Armenia, saying they had disrupted pastoral visits to Armenian diaspora dioceses.

The lawyer alleged that prolonging the proceedings was intended to keep those restrictions in place. He further accused Saroyan of unlawfully occupying the Masyatsotn Diocese headquarters and warned that the church could pursue civil claims over property and financial management.

Separately, Armenia’s state-run Public Relations and Information Center has published a report addressing what it describes as a crisis within the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The report, which states that it was prepared on the prime minister’s instructions, proposes establishing a reform coordination group involving clergy and laypeople, followed by the removal of the church’s “de facto head.”

Countries are lagging in their efforts to halt and reverse the increasing loss of Earth’s biodiversity, with 1 million species at risk of extinction this century due to human activities.

That was a central topic of a United Nations summit in Armenia in late October that assessed countries’ national blueprints to take significant steps to preserve and restore nature this decade. Agreements reached at the summit, known as COP17, sought to enhance and accelerate those efforts, but like other international environmental pacts it faces the challenge of turning plans into action while there’s still time to do so.

“Frustration is real because we have the science, because we know what we need to do [and] the trajectory that we’re on,” said Amy Echeverria, international coordinator for justice, peace and integrity of creation for the Missionary Society of St. Columban who attended the two-week gathering.

COP17 took place Oct. 19-31 in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, a landlocked country between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea in western Asia.

It was the second biodiversity summit since nearly 200 nations in 2022 reached a landmark agreement on nature conservation in Montreal. Known as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, or GBF for short, that pact established four goals and 23 targets to halt biodiversity loss and restore natural ecosystems around the globe. A key target commits countries to designate at least 30% of lands and waters for conservation by 2030. Another called for reforming and redirecting $500 billion in subsidies for activities, like extracting fossil fuels, that are environmentally damaging.

“We know what needs to change. We cannot protect nature while continuing to finance its destruction,” Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity said in a statement. 

Among the 9,400 participants in Yerevan were more than 125 religious leaders and 50-plus faith-based organizations, including Catholics. Most engaged the proceedings through two coalitions, Faiths for Biodiversity and Faith for Oceans.

Their role at the U.N. summit, Echeverria said, was to inject moral considerations into scientific and technological debates and discussions.

“One of the valuable components of our work is really reminding parties and the whole process that this is more than just a scientific, technocratic issue for the world to care about,” she told EarthBeat.

That includes raising moral urgency about the erosion of ecosystems and increasing rate of species loss taking place today. Some scientists believe the present staggering loss of biodiversity amounts to the planet’s sixth mass extinction event, with the last one wiping out dinosaurs 65.5 million years ago. A 2019 U.N. report found that more than 1 million animal and plant species face the threat of extinction by the end of this century.

Bone tools discovered in a 6,000-year-old rock shelter in southern Armenia have provided new insights into how Chalcolithic humans utilized animal remains. Researchers analyzed 40 artifacts, including tube-shaped objects whose functions remain unexplained, to investigate the production techniques of ancient bone craftsmanship and the animal species used.

The study, published in the journal  Archaeological Research in Asia, focuses on finds from the Yeghegis-1 rock shelter. An international research team, including Marina Évora and Mariya Antonosyan, combined traditional  archaeological examinations with a protein analysis method called ZooMS to identify the animals used in the production of the artifacts.

Six-Thousand-Year-Old Bones Undergo Scientific Analysis

Located in the Yeghegis River valley in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor region, Yeghegis-1 sits approximately 1,500 meters above sea level. Radiocarbon dating indicates that humans occupied this rock shelter between 4100 and 3500 BCE.

Excavations conducted between 2021 and 2024 revealed 40 bone artifacts, offering researchers an opportunity to examine ancient production traditions in the region. However, most of these pieces had lost the distinct anatomical features that would allow for immediate identification of the animal they came from.

To resolve this, the research team utilized ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry). This technique identifies the taxonomic origin of animals by analyzing the characteristic signatures of collagen proteins preserved in the bone. Using a highly limited sampling method that caused no visible damage to the surfaces, researchers successfully identified 39 of the 40 pieces.

The results revealed that 16 artifacts were made from goat, 11 from sheep, six from rabbit, one from gazelle, and two from pig or wild boar bones. Three other samples were identified only at broader animal group levels. These findings demonstrate that sheep and goats were significant not only for nutrition but also as sources of raw materials for tool production.

What Was the Purpose of the Mysterious Bone Tubes?

Among the most striking finds of the research are 19 tube-shaped bone artifacts. Similar in their long and narrow forms, some of these objects are unfinished. Traces of sawing, twisting, and abrasion were found on their surfaces.

Researchers believe these tubes were prepared following a specific production technique. However, why these objects were produced and for what purposes they were used has not yet been clarified.

Previous research on similar bone tubes has suggested various functions, such as musical instruments, containers, amulets, or personal ornaments. However, the study on the Yeghegis-1 finds does not confirm any of these possibilities. The fact that the artifacts are unfinished makes determining their intended use even more difficult.

The similarity in the shapes of the tubes may point to specific production habits. While researchers consider that this could be related to a specialized activity, they leave open the possibilities of local use, exchange, or abandonment before completion.

Were the Bone Tools Produced Within the Settlement?

Among the 40 examined artifacts, there are 23 unfinished pieces, 10 finished tools, four production scraps, and three raw or minimally processed bone fragments. The coexistence of materials representing different stages of production suggests that at least some phases of bone craftsmanship were carried out within the rock shelter.

The finds include pointed tools, smoothers, and pieces that may have been used to work different surfaces. It is possible that the pointed tools were used for activities such as leatherworking, weaving, basketry, or pottery decoration. However, researchers note that these functions must be verified through experimental studies.

Another detail concerns the production techniques. Marks observed on the bone surfaces suggest that stone tools were used for shaping. No distinct traces characteristic of metal tool use were detected in the examined objects.

This provides a local example showing that stone tools maintained their place in bone craftsmanship during the Chalcolithic period, even as metalworking was developing.

The Connection Between Animal Husbandry and Craft Production

Previous archaeozoological and isotope analyses at Yeghegis-1 had indicated that sheep and goat herding were central to the settlement’s economic activities. This new research reveals that the bones of these same animals were processed into various forms for tool production.

The study provides new comparative data for understanding the raw material choices of South Caucasian communities during the Chalcolithic Age. However, researchers emphasize that a collection of only 40 artifacts is not sufficient to draw definitive conclusions about the scale of production or regional trade relations.

Future experimental studies and more comprehensive analyses may help explain how the unfinished tube-shaped objects were produced and for what purposes they were prepared.

Évora, M., et al. (2026). Integrated technological and ZooMS analysis of late Chalcolithic osseous industry from Yeghegis-1 (Armenia).  Archaeological Research in Asia, 48, 100754.
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