News – Page 227 – Armenian Directory & News

Chess Academy of Armenia announces Tsaghkadzor Open 2026

October 12, 2026October 12, 2026 Jalatian Sonya

Chessbase, India – Oct 12, 2026

Devansh SinghOctober 12, 2026

The Chess Academy of Armenia has announced the Tsaghkadzor Open International Chess Tournament 2026, scheduled from October 24 to October 30, 2026. The tournament will take place at the Eighty Eight Hotel and Spa in the resort town of Tsaghkadzor, Armenia. With a total prize fund of 7,000,000 AMD across two rating categories, alongside product sponsorships from ChessMood and Chessify, the 9-round Swiss tournament offers strong competitive exposure in the South Caucasus circuit.

Tournament Categories & Eligibility

The event is split into two sections played under standard FIDE Swiss System rules:

Group A: Open to players rated 2001 and above. (A limited number of Armenian juniors rated below 1900 may be admitted by the organizing committee).
Group B: Open to players rated below 2000, as well as a limited quota of unrated players.

Both groups will be contested over 9 rounds.

Time Control: 90 minutes for the entire game with a 30-second increment per move starting from move one.
Default Time: 30 minutes from the start of the round.

Venue: Eighty Eight Hotel and Spa

Prize Fund & Structure

The overall cash prize fund stands at 7,000,000 AMD. Prizes are not shared and will be distributed based on tie-breaks.

Place	Prize (AMD)
1st	1,500,000
2nd	1,200,000
3rd	900,000
4th	600,000
5th	400,000
6th	250,000
7th	150,000
8th–10th	100,000 each

Click here for full details

Starting Rank

No.		Name	FideID	FED	RtgI	RtgN
1	GM	Ohanyan Emin	13312022	ARM	2520	2542
2	GM	Gharibyan Mamikon	13308300	ARM	2481	2509
3		Sviridov Valery	4120680	RUS	2436	0
4	GM	Hayrapetyan Hovik	13302639	ARM	2416	2427
5	FM	Hayrapetyan Edgar	13313568	ARM	2416	2386
6	IM	Hakobyan Erik	13313940	ARM	2413	2428
7	IM	Kornienko Konstantin	34400419	RUS	2395	0
8	IM	Agasarov Benik	13314823	ARM	2391	2415
9	IM	Sahakyan Aleks	13316338	ARM	2373	2351
10	FM	Ebrahimi Herab Hamidreza	22512888	IRI	2361	0

Details

Organizing Committee Contacts

Tournament Director: Varduhi Sargsyan
Office Address: 34 Shevchenko, 0050, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia
Website: tsaghkadzoropen.chessacademy.am
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +374 10 44 84 73
Mobile / WhatsApp: +374 43 44 84 73 / +374 91 19 25 14

For more details, check out the website and the prospectus

—

Armenia’s payment to James Cameron raises eyebrows about financial priorities

October 12, 2026October 12, 2026 Emil Lazarian

OC Media

Oct 12, 2026

by Ani Ghulinyan

12 October 2026

Filmmaker James Cameron, known for directing The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), Titanic (1997), and Avatar (2009), will visit Armenia in October to meet with representatives of the film industry and movie fans in Yerevan. His visit is sponsored by Yerevan Municipality.

Authorities have not released how much they have paid for the director’s attendance, but ticket prices for the event vary from ֏5,000 ($14) to ֏150,000 ($415). The event, titled ‘In Conversation with James Cameron: A Cinema Legend, Live in Yerevan’, is organised by Mezzo Production but is initiated by Yerevan Municipality.

In recent years, Armenia’s municipal authorities and government have played a significant role in organising various events, concerts, meetings and festivals.

‘This is a unique opportunity to meet one of the most influential filmmakers of our time, hear his stories from the world of cinema, and discover the creative thinking behind some of the most notable projects in world cinema’, City Hall said, regarding the event.

The Armenian government is still trying to recover part of the roughly $6 million it spent on Jennifer Lopez’s August 2025 concert in Yerevan. The show was organised with public money but produced by a private firm, Doping Space, which sold tickets ranging from $69 to $493 each. An RFE/RLinvestigation found that the company left more than ֏500 million ($1.4 million) of the funding unspent, and the Education Ministry has been unable to retrieve it.

The same company, Doping Space, was paid $6 million from the state budget to organise a Snoop Dogg concert in Yerevan. Although the concert never took place, the company has not yet returned the money. The government blamed the company for failing to reschedule the show following Azerbaijan’s attack on Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023 and demanded a refund.

Armenian social media users have criticised the choice to pay for Cameron’s visit, with some complaining that the Yerevan municipality has turned into an event-planning company, while major infrastructural issues such as road quality, air quality, and traffic control remain unresolved.

‘Spending state money on this scale, and this often, as if we were a carefree nation, just partying like this. I’m not against celebrating or marking national holidays, but it should be done sensibly. After all, it’s our money being spent, and I don’t want the taxes I pay to go up in smoke like this. I want the money to go toward solving institutional problems and changing the sectors that actually deliver results’, wrote blogger Hayk Mkrtchayn in a Facebook post.

Yerevan’s recent 2,808th birthday celebrations featured themed live music stages spread across central Yerevan, alongside the ‘Discover Armenia from the Sky’ International Balloon Festival. Residents and visitors gathered at the Cascade for jazz, Diana Abgar Park for rock, Freedom Square for classical music, and Northern Avenue for traditional tunes and wine tasting, while Republic Square hosted electronic beats.

And that was just one of many recent events held across Armenia.

In August, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan organised a two-day event called Varchafest — a state-sponsored music festival for emerging young artists. It cost nearly ֏179 million ($500,000) of the Armenian budget and took place in Sevan.

Pashinyan has also organised the Festivar series of state-funded cultural events, which have been held since he came to power in 2018. Critics argue that the concerts allow Pashinyan to shift focus from pressing security concerns. In the past, some have also raised questions about the transparency of the selection process for those contracted to organise the events.

—

Nikol Pashinyan says Armenia’s relations with Russia ‘can no longer be the sa

October 12, 2026October 12, 2026 Markos Nalchajian

RFI, France

Oct 12, 2026

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has told RFI that his country intends to continue drawing closer to the European Union while maintaining ties with Russia, as Yerevan pursues what he describes as a more balanced and independent foreign policy.

Issued on: 12/10/2026 – 14:22

5 min

Armenia’s relationship with Russia “can no longer be the same as it was before”, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told RFI in an exclusive interview in Yerevan, as his government seeks closer ties with the European Union without abandoning its longstanding partnership with Moscow.

Pashinyan said Armenia was pursuing a policy designed to give the country more political and economic options rather than replacing dependence on one power with dependence on another.

His comments come amid a profound reshaping of Armenia’s foreign relations following years of upheaval that have included the 2018 revolution, repeated conflict with neighbouring Azerbaijan and the exodus of the Armenian population from Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023.

EU membership

At the centre of that shift is Armenia’s steadily deepening relationship with the EU.

Pashinyan pointed to the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed with Brussels in 2017 and said cooperation had intensified further since 2020.

In 2025, Armenia’s parliament passed legislation formally launching a process towards possible EU accession following a citizens’ initiative.

“Yes, one of the options is for the Republic of Armenia to become a member of the European Union,” Pashinyan said.

But he stressed that membership remained only one possible path and would ultimately depend both on the EU’s own enlargement policy and on the Armenian people.

“Our aim in creating alternatives is to enable the Armenian people to decide whether Armenia should remain a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, become a member of the European Union, or join neither,” he said.

Whatever the outcome, Pashinyan said Armenia intended to continue reforms aimed at bringing the country closer to EU standards.

Even if Armenia ultimately did not join the bloc, he argued, the reforms themselves would strengthen the country.

“If, once objectively ready, Armenia does not become a member of the European Union, our country will still come out ahead, as we will then have a state that is fully compliant with European Union standards.”

France positions itself at the heart of Armenia’s pivot to Europe

‘We do not want to be dependent on anyone’

The pivot towards Europe has inevitably raised questions over Armenia’s relationship with Russia, which for decades was its principal security partner and remains an important economic partner.

But Pashinyan rejected the idea that his government was seeking simply to “free” Armenia from Moscow.

“We do not want to be dependent on anyone,” he said. “We do not want to stop depending on A only to depend on B.”

Instead, he described his government’s approach as one of diversification.

“I once used an _expression_ which initially gave rise to some misunderstandings in Armenia,” he said. “I said that independence consists of replacing dependence on a few with dependence on many.”

That principle, he argued, applied not only to diplomacy but also to the Armenian economy.

“We want our people to have alternatives. We want our population to have a choice. We also want our tomato growers to have alternatives. We want our drinks producers to have alternatives too.”

Pashinyan cited fuel imports as an example, saying Armenia had reduced the concentration of petroleum imports among a small number of companies and suppliers.

That diversification, he said, had helped shield the country from recent disruptions affecting energy markets.

Armenia election: what the vote could mean for Russia, the West and Azerbaijan

Brussels and Moscow

Armenia’s efforts to move closer to Brussels have nevertheless prompted warnings from Moscow that Yerevan may eventually have to choose between closer integration with the EU and continued membership of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.

Pashinyan acknowledged the difficulty of balancing the two relationships, saying that “the role of governments and political leaders is to solve unsolvable equations”.

But he ruled out an imminent referendum on EU membership, saying Armenia would first need to submit a formal application – something it has yet to do – and complete further reforms.

“Submitting an application simply for the sake of it does not make much sense,” he said, although when asked whether Armenia ultimately intended to apply, he replied: “Yes, amongst other things.”

Pashinyan also insisted that worsening ties with Moscow was not Yerevan’s objective.

“On the contrary, we wish to develop our relations with Russia,” he said. “One thing must simply be acknowledged: whatever the circumstances and whoever the political leaders may be, our relations with Russia can no longer be the same as they were before.”

He also dismissed warnings from Russian political figures that Armenia could become a “second Ukraine”, saying he was convinced such a scenario would not unfold.

Azerbaijan lifts Armenia border restrictions, but hurdles to peace remain

Peace with Azerbaijan

Pashinyan struck an equally confident tone on Azerbaijan, arguing that peace between the two neighbours was already taking shape despite the absence of a formally signed treaty.

A peace agreement was initialled and the two countries adopted a peace declaration in Washington on 8 August 2025. Pashinyan also pointed to the absence of deaths or injuries from exchanges of fire along the border for more than two years.

In 2024, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed and ratified their first legally binding bilateral agreement, establishing the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration as the basis for border demarcation.

“Between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in practice, peace has, to a certain extent, also been established – de jure, peace has been established,” he said.

Asked about Armenian prisoners still held in Azerbaijan, missing persons and sporadic border incidents, Pashinyan said such issues did not undermine the wider process.

“From 1991 to 2025, we had deaths and injuries every single year,” he said. “Now, for the past two years, we have had no deaths or injuries. Isn’t that a reason to be optimistic?”

He also played down a recent incident in which an Azerbaijani soldier crossed into Armenia’s Syunik region and injured an Armenian civilian, saying accidental crossings had occurred repeatedly over the past three decades.

“This incident has nothing to do with peace and cannot in any way call peace into question,” he said.

For Pashinyan, the broader strategy is one of widening Armenia’s room for manoeuvre – strengthening ties with Europe, maintaining relations with Russia and trying to consolidate peace with its neighbours.

—

FM, Armenian counterpart probe bilateral ties, regional developments

October 12, 2026October 12, 2026 Aram Torosian

The Egyptian Gazette

Oct 12, 2026

by Gazette Staff

October 12, 2026

in Egypt

—

Egypt & Armenia Discuss Strengthening Bilateral Relations & Expanding Trade Co

October 12, 2026October 12, 2026 Bedik Zaminian

Sada El-Balad, Egypt

Oct 12, 2026

Rana Atef

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held a phone call with his Armenian counterpart, Ararat Mirzoyan, on Monday to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relations and expand cooperation across various sectors.

The call focused on advancing cooperation in line with the two countries’ shared commitment to promoting mutual interests, according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

During the call, both ministers highlighted the historic ties between Egypt and Armenia and stressed the importance of intensifying communication and consultations to advance bilateral cooperation.

Abdelatty welcomed the sixth session of the Egyptian-Armenian Joint Economic Committee, which was held in Cairo last December, and expressed Egypt’s interest in hosting the next session in Armenia.

He also called for coordination to organize a business forum on the sidelines of the upcoming session to help capitalize on investment and commercial opportunities in both countries.

The proposed forum is expected to support efforts to increase trade and expand cooperation in the industrial and tourism sectors, while creating further partnership opportunities between Egyptian and Armenian business communities.

The two foreign ministers also exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues of mutual interest.

They underscored the importance of continued consultation and coordination on regional and global developments, as well as supporting efforts to promote security and stability and resolve conflicts through peaceful means.

Both sides also emphasized the need to strengthen coordination within multilateral organizations and international forums, reflecting their converging views on issues of common concern.

—

Controversial Amulsar gold mine opens in Armenia after long delay

October 12, 2026October 12, 2026 Alex Nanijanian

OC Media

Oct 12, 2026

by Ani Ghulinyan

12 October 2026

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has opened the Amulsar gold mine — a long-stalled project that has been in the pipeline since 2016 amidst continued environmental protests. Pashinyan said the opening of the controversial mine without protests was a ‘success story’.

The Amulsar gold mine is located in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor province, near the resort town of Jermuk, and is operated by Lydian Armenia company, a subsidiary of Lydian International, registered in the British tax haven of Jersey.

Construction of the gold mine began in 2016 but has been halted since June 2018 due to local protesters blocking access to the project. The blockade ended during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020. Environmental activists have expressed concerns that the mining process and the use of cyanide to extract gold could affect the Arpa and Vorotan rivers, and consequently Lake Sevan — Armenia’s largest freshwater reserve.

However, Lydian Armenia argues that it was introducing the best international practices in health and safety, environmental management, and social responsibility. They cite the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) that they conducted in accordance with international standards back in 2016.

Following the 2018 Velvet Revolution in Armenia, the issue gained prominence again, as some of the leading activists against the mine, including Lena Nazaryan, a current member of the ruling Civil Contract party, were elected to parliament.

While there was a lack of public trust in the assessment ordered by Lydian Armenia, Pashinyan’s government ordered a $450,000 assessment of the mine from Earth Link & Advanced Resources Development (ELARD).

In the results published in 2019, the company identified several omissions and issues in the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and said that the assessment presented by Lydian was incomplete. However, the report also concluded that the mine would not damage the local ecology, particularly the groundwater, contrary to the fears of locals and environmental activists. Following the new assessment, Pashinyan announced in 2021 that ‘there is a possibility that the mine will open’. He argued that, in a country facing the risk of conflict, when tensions rise, tourism will decline, but the mine will still boost the economy. In 2024, the government greenlit the mine.

The grand opening

On Saturday morning, Pashinyan published a video of himself arriving at the site of the main opening event by helicopter, accompanied by government officials and party members. In his speech, he described the event as a ‘success story’, describing the process leading to it as practice the government should adopt in other investment projects.

‘We have to talk about why we can organise this event in such a ceremonial environment without protest or similar actions nearby’, Pashinyan said.

He said that the government tried to address public concerns in the past years by raising awareness and showing Armenians that the project was theirs and not something from outside.

Lydian Armenia holds a 75.5% share in the mine, while the Armenian government holds 12.5%.

‘Let us finally state that the mineral resources that turned into gold before our eyes today belong to Armenia and are the property of the people of Armenia. And it has been of utmost importance to us to demonstrate that this wealth will serve the development and prosperity of Armenia’, Pashinyan said.

During the opening, Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan said that the Amulsar gold mine is expected to generate an annual $130 million in taxes, duties, and royalties for Armenia’s state budget, and could boost the country’s GDP by around 1.5%. However, Papoyan believes that the significance of the Amulsar gold mine project goes beyond investment and tax revenues.

‘This is not just a story about major investments, job creation, and substantial tax revenues. It is also a story about standards — mining standards’, he said

The government’s representative on Lydian Armenia’s board of directors, Gnel Sanosyan, said three communities near the Amulsar gold mine — Jermuk, Vayk, and Sisian — will receive $7–9 million annually. Sanosyan said that Lydian Armenia has also committed to allocating $5 million toward the establishment of the Jermuk National Park.

Territorial Administration Minister Davit Khudatyan said mining and tourism can coexist without harming nature. The minister also addressed the opportunities that the mine’s operation would create for communities in Vayots Dzor and Syunik provinces. Among those benefits, he said, were thousands of well-paid jobs and stable contributions to communities, anticipated changes to schools, nurseries, roads, other major infrastructure projects and social programmes funded by tax revenues.

An opening ahead of COP17

The opening of the mine came ahead of the COP17 biological diversity convention scheduled to take place from 19–30 October in Yerevan. There, governments will gather to evaluate their collective progress towards achieving 23 ambitious biodiversity targets by 2030. The conference, symbolised by the endemic Yerevan Blue Butterfly, will emphasise closing implementation gaps, scaling up international nature finance, and finalising equitable mechanisms for sharing the financial benefits of digital genetic resources.

Back in 2020, Armenian civil society organisations and the CEE Bankwatch Network — the largest network of grassroots environmental and human rights groups in Central and Eastern Europe — applied to the Bern Convention, blaming the Armenian government for breaking international agreements on biodiversity by funding the Amulsar mine and risking the protected areas around it. The convention recommended that the government halt the process.

Over the following years, various groups submitted different complaints, raising concerns about corruption, the exclusion of affected communities from decision-making processes, and the undermining of social licences.

After Pashinyan’s remark about the mine opening without new protests, some long-standing anti-Amulsar environmental activists took to social media to explain why they were no longer protesting the mine.

Tehmine Yenokyan, from the Green Armenia NGO, was involved in court proceedings for 10 years when, back in 2015, eleven residents of the village of Gndevaz and two non-governmental organisations filed a lawsuit seeking to have a number of legal acts that gave the green light to the Amulsar project declared unlawful. Their requests were partially met in 2024.

‘If one day you decide to ask where Amulsar’s guardians, the environmentalists, are, remember that no one took the winning Administrative Court verdict seriously. The opinions of the community’s residents counted for nothing, and no official public hearings on the Amulsar issue were held in Jermuk. Even the violation of the Bern Convention, and the Committee’s demand to halt construction and carry out a new EIA wasn’t worth a penny’, she wrote on social media following Pashinyan’s Saturday remarks.

Another former Amulsar activist, Arman Gharibyan, wrote:

‘Preempting some people’s hysterical comments along the lines of “you used to fight for Amulsar, so why are you silent now?”, let me say that after seven years I am older, I have less energy, less free time, and weaker health. I have lived through a war and the deaths of loved ones, dealt with cancer, and run into very great injustices and disappointments…’

At the same time, Lydian Armenia has previously sued MPs, activists, lawyers, and even a government ministry for speaking out against the mine.

On 10 October, Armenian civil society representatives condemned the launch of the Amulsar gold mine, calling it a threat to the country’s environmental security and international obligations. They stated that the development of the mine ahead of COP17 is in contradiction to Armenia’s declared environmental goals and demanded an immediate halt to the mine’s operations, a new environmental impact assessment and a review of state support for the project.

—

Will the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Be the Latest to Come Undone?

October 12, 2026October 12, 2026 Lilit Nahapetian

Oct 11, 2026

Aliyev’s Rhetoric of Armenia as ‘West Azerbaijan’ Suggests Peace Is Not His Goal and He Is Playing Trump for a Fool

October 11, 2026

Michael Rubin

President Donald Trump believes he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. He has engaged in Gaza, Iran, and claimed to have ended a “thousand-year-old dispute” between India and Pakistan, never mind that the partition of India is less than 80 years old. He also claimed peace between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Gaza, however, Hamas continues to refuse to disarm. So, too, does Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Iran Memorandum of Understanding did not last ten days and Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi appears more interested in selling his sovereignty to China, in exchange for an unconstitutional third, than abiding by his commitments to Trump and to rein in the terror groups that sent stability in the region into a free fall.

“Armenia and Azerbaijan are committing to stop all fighting forever, open up commerce, travel and diplomatic relations, and respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

President Donald Trump

Now, it appears the crown jewel of Trump peace-making—the agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia—is on the verge of collapse. On August 8, 2025, Trump hosted Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House. The leaders signed a joint declaration that purported to end decades of fighting. “We’ve finally succeeded in making peace,” Trump said. “Armenia and Azerbaijan are committing to stop all fighting forever, open up commerce, travel and diplomatic relations, and respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Following the ceasefire, Trump co-opted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “corridor” proposal, recasting it as the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), a U.S.-administered transportation corridor to link Turkey and the Azerbaijani exclave Nakhichevan to Azerbaijan proper through Armenia.

The Trump administration’s conception of the corridor was always flawed for two reasons. First, if Turkey and Azerbaijan would lift their blockade of Armenia, there would be no need for a corridor. Second, Azerbaijan partners with Iran by choice, rather than necessity; in 2022, it launched a corridor across Iranian territory.

Khor Virap Monastery, with Mount Ararat in the background, in Lusarat, Armenia.

Shutterstock

While Pashinyan doubles down on the peace agreement with Azerbaijan, arguing that Armenia has no other choice given Azerbaijan’s victory in the Nagorno-Karabakh war, his critics have always raised concerns about Aliyev’s sincerity. Azerbaijani demands increase in proportion to Armenian concessions. Increasingly, these stray into the realm of ridiculousness. Mount Ararat has been the symbol of Armenia since before the Armenian genocide and, on a clear day, it forms the backdrop to Yerevan, yet Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan demand and Pashinyan agrees to erase Ararat in Armenian symbolism since it now lies in Turkey.

Aliyev signals that, Pashinyan’s compromises notwithstanding, reconciliation is not on Azerbaijan’s agenda. Speaking on October 2, 2026, at the congress of his political party, Aliyev declared, “It is true that the former leaders of Armenia are war criminals and should bear their punishment, but it was the current Armenian authorities that made territorial demands on us, insulted the dignity of the Azerbaijani people with inappropriate and uncivilized statements. In short, we must never forget about it.”

The greatest impediment to successful peacemaking across administrations is a failure of the White House and the State Department to understand the importance of ideology. Diplomats take comfort in the idea that ordinary grievances lie at the heart of all conflicts. To make peace in such circumstances requires finding the right magic formula of concessions and trade-offs. When ideology governs decision-making, though, economic betterment no longer serves as a motive for agreement. When the ideology involves religion, the State Department is especially blind. Because the United States separates church and state, too many diplomats treat religion as a third rail. Others recognize the importance of faith but internalize a sanitized understanding due to studies at universities like Georgetown University that allow Qatari donations to shape curriculum.

Ignorance of history also matters. When diplomats rotate in and out of files every two or three years, they eventually lose sight of the origins of disputes or past promises. Nine different U.S. ambassadors served in Baku since Aliyev came to power, without even counting the various charges d’affaires, some of whom served as long as formal ambassadors.

Aliyev will use negotiations to extract concessions but then simply walk away from the table to resume his goal of eradicating an entity whose existence he can never accept.

As a result, those managing the South Caucasus file under both the Biden and Trump administrations fail to understand the root causes of conflict and fail also to differentiate between real atrocities—the pogrom in Baku, for example—and largely fake atrocities, such as the so-called Khojaly genocide. They also misunderstand the constitutional issues at the heart of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.

What Aliyev’s statements illustrate, however, is that peace is not his goal. Like the late Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat, Aliyev will use negotiations to extract concessions but then simply walk away from the table to resume his goal of eradicating an entity whose existence he can never accept. Indeed, while Trump points to peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia as an example of the art of the deal, Aliyev’s doubling down on the rhetoric of Armenia as West Azerbaijan suggests Aliyev sees Trump not as an ally, but as a fool over whom Aliyev can run roughshod.

If Trump refuses to recognize that his peace is in jeopardy and if Pashinyan continues to govern like a gambler who believes just one more bet can absolve his diplomatic losing streak, then the true legacy of both leaders will be to preside over the end of Christianity in Armenia.

—

The Voice of Armenia marks 100 years of public broadcasting

October 12, 2026October 12, 2026 Babken Chilingarian

Oct 11, 2026

11 October 2026 · News

100 years ago, on 1 September 1926, the Armenian Radio addressed its listeners over the airwaves for the first time. The historic words were: “Listen! Listen! This is the Yerevan Radio Broadcasting Station speaking.”

Regular broadcasts eventually began on 15 June 1927.

From 1929 onwards, programmes were presented for the first time by professional radio announcers.

On 1 May 1934, the editorial team responsible for social and political programmes organised the first-ever live radio report from Yerevan’s Lenin Square, today’s Republic Square. It was presented by radio announcer Yegishe Hovhannisyan.

The first live sports broadcast took place on 15 September 1937 at Yerevan’s Republican Stadium, during a football match between Spartak Yerevan and Dynamo Moscow.

When the tragic fate of the Armenian people scattered them across the world, Armenian Radio decided to produce and broadcast programmes for compatriots living abroad as well.

In 1947, the Armenian Radio began preparing programmes for the diaspora. The first such programme was broadcast on 10 September 1947 at 7 p.m. And the first words were: “This is Yerevan, this is Yerevan…”

Alongside all this, Armenian public broadcasting has another fundamental mission: preserving their audio heritage. Whether it is called an archive, a phonotheque, or a golden collection, the essence remains the same: safeguarding Armenia’s national cultural treasures and passing them on to future generations.

Today, the Amernian Radio phonotheque contains 102,422 audio tapes with a total duration of 12,324 hours. These recordings, which have been digitised, include music recordings, radio dramas, speeches by prominent figures, addresses and broadcasts.

Another distinctive feature of the broadcaster is that it has four resident musical ensembles. The oldest of them, the Aram Merangulian Honoured Ensemble of Folk Instruments, is also celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. They are joined by the Estrada Symphony Orchestra, the Sayat-Nova Ashugh Ensemble and the Arevik Children’s Music Ensemble.

Armenian radio today is a multimedia platform comprising seven radio programmes, dozens of large and small recording studios, a website and video productions. The website of Radio Armenia is available in twelve languages and features both the languages of Armenia’s national minorities and those of the countries in the region.

https://radioinfo.asia/news/the-voice-of-armenia-marks100-years-of-public-broadcasting/

—

Azerbaijani Press: Is Russia losing Armenia? Pashinyan may take the case to co

October 12, 2026October 12, 2026 Emma Jilavian

Today Press, Azerbaijan

Oct 12, 2026

Geopolitical fault lines in the South Caucasus are shifting once again, and this time the focus of tensions is the region’s strategic transport arteries.

With growing diplomatic and economic support from the West, Yerevan has recently brought its efforts to end Moscow’s long-standing management of Armenian Railways, operated by the Russian company South Caucasus Railway, into the open. Scenarios involving the termination of the concession agreement or the transfer of control to a third party are being considered, but the Kremlin has no intention of relinquishing this strategic lever.

This confrontation is not merely a legal or economic dispute. It represents another phase in Armenia’s attempt to move out from under Russia’s security and economic umbrella. Could the deepening dispute over railway control become the final breaking point in Russian-Armenian relations? What options does Moscow have to respond to Yerevan’s moves, and which economic, political and security levers could the Kremlin use?

Commenting on the issue to TodayPress TV, political analyst Yusif Bagirzade said that the disagreement over the management of Armenia’s railways reveals the geopolitical dimension of relations between Moscow and Yerevan, in addition to their economic aspects.

“As is known, since 2008, Armenia’s railway network has been operated by Russia’s South Caucasus Railway company under a 30-year concession agreement. The agreement is due to expire in 2038. In October 2026, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that legal grounds existed for terminating the agreement, while emphasising that he preferred to resolve the issue amicably. He proposed transferring management rights to a third country acceptable to both sides.

“The essence of the issue lies in Armenia’s efforts to end its dependence on Russia in certain sectors. Armenia wants to strengthen its transport sovereignty and derive economic benefits from new regional routes. One of Yerevan’s concerns is that international transport projects may be implemented while bypassing Armenian territory. At the same time, Russian management creates difficulties related to sanctions. Particularly in the context of planned transport links between Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan, Armenia is interested in integrating its railway infrastructure into the regional transit system. Under these circumstances, transferring management to an alternative partner such as Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates or Qatar could expand Yerevan’s economic and political room for manoeuvre.”

According to the analyst, Moscow does not view the initiative merely as a change to a commercial agreement. The Russian side says it has fulfilled its obligations under the concession and made substantial investments in railway infrastructure. Russian officials have therefore opposed transferring management rights to another country and warned that any infringement of Russian companies’ interests would not go unanswered. This position demonstrates that the railway issue is directly linked to Russia’s economic standing in Armenia and its influence over the South Caucasus transport architecture.

“As for the possibility that this issue could become a breaking point in relations between Russia and Armenia, such a scenario cannot be ruled out. However, it would be wrong to regard it as inevitable at the current stage. Despite tensions in their relations, neither Armenia nor Russia is interested in a complete rupture of ties. Armenia has not yet developed an alternative capable of replacing its economic and security dependence on Russia. Moscow, meanwhile, is compelled to act cautiously, recognising that a complete breakdown in relations could accelerate Armenia’s integration with the West,” Bagirzade noted.

He also believes that an initial step could be to invoke the legal terms of the agreement, seek compensation and take the dispute to arbitration.

“Russia could take such action on the grounds that it has fulfilled its obligations under the concession. Armenia, in turn, could also approach an arbitration tribunal, arguing that Russia has failed to meet its obligations. Armenia’s position is that the situation is not as Russia portrays it. Official Yerevan says Russia has not made the investments in railway infrastructure that it claims and is currently failing to implement the planned measures to diversify the railway network. In July this year, Pashinyan himself said that, for these reasons, they would apply to an international arbitration tribunal and demand $2 billion in compensation from Russia for each year,” he said.

The analyst highlighted economic pressure as a second potential avenue.

“Russia is one of Armenia’s main trading partners, and the two countries are interdependent in areas such as energy, exports and labour migration. Moscow could consider ways to exert pressure on Yerevan through trade restrictions, tighter technical and customs procedures, and the terms of energy cooperation. Nevertheless, I reiterate that, despite the circumstances outlined, it is impossible to claim in advance that specific measures will be taken.

“Another instrument is the ability to influence political and security relations. Moscow could raise other issues within the framework of bilateral dialogue and adopt a tougher diplomatic stance against Armenia’s rapprochement with the West. However, there is no basis for claiming that the railway dispute would automatically lead to the suspension of military cooperation or the severing of all bilateral ties.

“Overall, the railway dispute demonstrates a further weakening of strategic trust in Russian-Armenian relations. Yerevan is seeking to expand its transport independence and access to Western markets, while Moscow is trying to protect its contractual rights and regional position.”

Bagirzade also noted that the head of Russian Railways is expected to visit Armenia in the coming days, with the issue likely to be discussed extensively during the meetings. In other words, the parties are still keeping communication channels open in an effort to manage the confrontation through negotiations. Their next steps will depend on the outcome of those talks.

Giymat Mahir

—

Armenia’s Unbroken Courage

October 12, 2026October 12, 2026 Nahapetian Zhanna

First Things

Oct 12, 2026

Gerald McDermott October 12, 2026

In mid-September, I joined a lunch with the leaders of a village in Syunik, southern Armenia. The president of neighboring Azerbaijan has been threatening for several years to “return” this region to its “ancient” mother. (Azerbaijan was founded in 1918.) In practice, this would mean doing what Azerbaijan has already done to multiple regions of historic Armenia: expelling their Christian residents, bulldozing their churches and cemeteries, and filling them with Muslims and mosques. During the lunch, I asked the wiry sixty-year-old village leader of Svarants what he and his fellow Armenians would do if the Azeris attacked. Without hesitation, he smiled and said, “We will fight.”

Before my trip, I had no idea that for 96 percent of Armenians in the land today, Christianity is integral to their personal and national identity. They are proud that their country was the first Christian nation (a.d. 301), and that, for 1,700 years, they have shed their blood for that Christian identity against Sasanian Persians, Byzantine Romans, Abbasid Arabs, and Seljuk and Ottoman Muslims. As I heard from this southern Armenian village leader, most are willing to die for their country and Christian faith, which they consider inextricably connected.

In Turkey, mention of the Armenian Genocide—the massacres of 1.5 million Armenians by Turks from 1915 through 1923—can land one in jail or worse. This is one of several reasons why Turkey is among the world’s worst jailers of journalists. But the reality is that this ethnic cleansing is ongoing. Islamic Azerbaijan has been seizing piece after piece of Armenian territory, killing over ten thousand Armenians in several wars and attacks and erasing Christian culture.

Armenia was once ten times larger. Five hundred years before Christ, Persian emperors Darius and Xerxes wrote of “Armina.” Under King Tigranes II in the time of Pompey and Caesar, the Armenian Empire stretched from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean.

According to Eusebius’s fourth-century Church History, the apostle Jude Thaddeus brought the gospel to Edessa on the border of Armenia. More than two centuries later, St. Gregory the Illuminator, after suffering years in a dark pit, healed King Tiridates of Armenia of mental illness. This inspired the king to Christianize his kingdom.

Before the Turkish slaughters of Armenians began in the 1890s, Turkey was among the most Christianized countries in the Middle East. Records reveal that Armenian Christians numbered 2.4 million. Thousands of churches dotted the land, with Christians making up half the population of some provinces. But toward the end of the nineteenth century, as the Ottoman Empire was becoming the “sick man of Europe,” Sultan Abdul Hamid II used Kurdish soldiers to massacre up to 200,000 Christians, mostly Armenians. According to contemporary accounts, Muslim Turkish men and women cheered as they burned churches full of Christians, taunting them with the cry, “Where is your Jesus now? Why does he not save you?” Armenian and other Christians were called “dogs,” “pigs,” and “gâvurlar”—infidels.

This pattern continued after the beginning of the more systematic genocide in 1915. In Armenia: A Very Brief History, British historian Christopher J. Walker reports that Germany secretly agreed with Turkish leaders that if they joined the Central Powers in World War I, Germany “would facilitate ease of passage for the Turks eastwards into Russian Transcaucasia on the grounds of ethnicity. In other words, they would help the Turks impose Turkism on the Russian province, and suppress or annihilate the Armenians.”

The Armenian Genocide was overwhelmingly successful. By the 1920s, Turkey’s once-vast population of Christians had dwindled to about 2 percent. Patrick Johnstone’s Operation World designated Turkey as the largest unevangelized nation in the world before the 1980s.

Since the 2023 ethnic cleansing of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) that killed four hundred and drove 120,000 Armenians from their historic homes, Azerbaijani leaders with Turkish support have kept calling ancient Armenian lands “historical Azerbaijani lands.” They have seized pockets of land within internationally recognized Armenian borders, violating ceasefire agreements with deadly results.

But if ethnic cleansing is unending, so is the advance of God’s kingdom. Armenians continue to identify as Christians and show their willingness to die to defend that identity. And under the radar, Jacob Pursley reports, Turkish Christian leaders are meeting with Armenian Christian leaders, and miracles of repentance and forgiveness are unfolding.

In one such meeting, a Turkish pastor worried that his confession of his forefathers’ “savagery and genocide” would be met with anger by Armenian pastors. He imagined that if he were an Armenian, he might not be able to forgive a Turk. Yet when he approached what looked like a “very proud” Armenian leader and started reciting a memorized introduction, the Armenian man immediately hugged him. The Turkish pastor wept. He saw that his Armenian “brother was already prepared to forgive.”

Armenia is willing to die for its faith. It also demonstrates what Solzhenitsyn and Kierkegaard both considered the rarest virtue in modernity—courage.

—