August 9, 2026
Architect Davit Stepanyan with 168TVof “People” in the framework of the program, we talked about the Kiev bridge, traffic jams, the construction of residential buildings, which is going on with great momentum, and possible solutions.
– In recent months, the Kiev bridge has been in the center of everyone’s attention due to the major repair and traffic jams caused by it. But let’s start our conversation on a positive note․when was the bridge built and what is its uniqueness?
– 1955 The construction was completed in December. Kyivan architect Grigor Aghababyan also designed the Victory Bridge. The peculiarity of Kyivan is that Arabkir connects Ajapnyak. It was the biggest flight of that time. More than 350 meters. It was even considered the longest bridge in Europe.
From an aesthetic point of view, the Bridge of Victory is more profitable for me, taking into account the stone structure, scale, symmetry, painting. Nowadays, it has suffered a lot from the constructions of the environment, and Kievan has still retained its uniqueness to some extent. However, the scene is not the same. In the past, when we passed by, Mount Arai and Aragats were in front of our eyes, now they are largely closed due to high-rise buildings.
– Are there no ornaments?
– There are decorative motifs on the cast-iron railing, I regret that they should not be torn down suddenly and put something faceless. Kievan is a completely reinforced concrete structural structure.
– The Kiev bridge was built in two stages, why?
– Yes, in 1952 there was an accident, the big arch collapsed, 47 people died. 1949 The construction started in 1951. they were supposed to finish, but they noticed deficiencies in the amount of about 1 million rubles, and in 1955 when they finished, they tested it: they brought trucks, stopped it, the engineers calculated the bending and it already worked normally.
– Before the construction of the Kiev bridge, that part of Leningradyan was considered the end part and I think the road was intended only for pedestrians, not for cars. Is it possible that one day the Kievan will serve only the pedestrian?
– When I look at the developments, I see that nothing is for man. Everything is for traffic jams, stress. Where was such luck?
– Is it true that so many cars are parked on the bridge during traffic jams?
– In the case of bridges, the most dangerous thing is the same frequency that affects. For example, when soldiers cross the bridge, they give the command “Free” so that they don’t tap their feet in the same rhythm.
It is natural that the accumulations and wear and tear of the years will have left some traces.
– Architects often talk about building bridges and overpasses to reduce congestion․ will that solve the problem?
– In general, it will not solve the problem if irregular construction has taken place and continues at the same pace. From the point of view of traffic jams, adding infrastructure will not solve the problem if we continue to implement irregular construction. In one place, the congestion will be eased, in another place there will be accumulation. It is already late, we are at a dead end, and in fact, it should have been calculated from the beginning. Over the years, we have to correct the mistakes, some of them are irreversible.
– High-rise buildings are constantly being erected․ Is this normal for Yerevan?
– Of course it’s not normal. Every high-rise is an emptying village under the conditions of Armenia. And secondly, it is those high-rises that create the mentioned problem. Stress, consumerism, traffic jams, aesthetic disfigurement, because first of all the natural world is impoverished and destroyed, the scenery is also cut off from people’s emotions.
In addition, the parts of the city that have a certain historical layer are treated with disharmony. Once upon a time, when an architect educated a person, an Armenian person was formed, now it is a construction made for the crowd, it is not even architecture. They do not solve a social problem, it is beyond all norms: lighting, green, anti-seismic norms… they just create an environment that creates a consumer society.
– It is not that the buildings built during the USSR are ideal․․. the neighbor seems to be in the other neighbor’s house, because the buildings are very close to each other. It is the same now. Is there no solution to not have the buildings so close to each other, and secondly, we are in a seismic zone?․ Where will people flee in case of an earthquake?
– Yes, they will hit each other in a chain and even if a person stands in the middle of the street, they will pour out and cover the street. About 20 years ago, the Chinese calculated that if there was an earthquake in the middle of the day, there would be 300-400,000 victims. In recent years, the current mayor admitted that the amount of construction built during the previous ones was 5 times greater. In other words, the whole abnormality has increased 5 times. They only think about filling their pockets at that moment. Not even a business. it implies a long-term process. Residents do it, at that moment they put the money in their pocket, move on to the next one to get rich quickly.
– Architects say that new buildings are more earthquake resistant…
– Worse. They calculated, but how did they build it? The same Kiev bridge was calculated, but later it became clear what kind of frauds were involved.
– Will Ajapnyak metro save us from stress?
– It will help to some extent. But it won’t solve a big question. The tunnel has been dug, the bridge remains. At this rate, accumulation will be created elsewhere, and it will become a common thing.
– “Old Yerevan” is not becoming ordinary. About 20 years ago, they decided to restore the appearance of old Yerevan. How do you evaluate the idea of artificially creating an old Yerevan in the Center?
– The old Yerevan passing through Aram street is a mockery, it has nothing to do with old Yerevan at all. Armenia used to be called a museum in the open air, now it is a domestic architecture. You can see the old Yerevan with a photo, but in this case, it’s ruined, with some volumes on it, and you have to explain to people: this is the old, this is the new.
For me, Old Yerevan is Tamanyan Yerevan, because the noble Armenian architecture began in Tamanyan. Until then, they were structures of tsarist Russia and that style, as well as mixed with some eastern motifs, that did not represent identity. Yes, they are important as history, but we had a high architecture from the Tamanian school, which we quickly degraded again with the environment, colorful interventions on the buildings, annexes, cladding. Not to mention how the air conditioners and wires were laid.
If there was a plan to at least preserve and bring back the center of Yerevan like Tbilisi, it would be a certain positive step, but there is no such trend at all.
– Is it possible to bring it back?
– At least with small details, maybe it is possible, but there must be a plan. At one time, the cafe next to the Opera House was dismantled, then it went the same way. There was a blindfold.
Everyone decorates the building with wonderful tuff and ornaments in a different color according to their taste. The decorative problem had to be solved, then they moved on to the contours. A 50-100 year plan should be drawn up and implemented.
– In the cities of Greece, for example, antiquity is completely preserved, people have not touched it, but here they say: it is old, let’s demolish it.
– Europe has enormous antiquities, it preserves them sacredly, but I must say that we did not even have that kind of antiquity, what we have is from the last 100 years, and we were not able to preserve it either.
For example, in Italy it is forbidden to stick something on the surface of the stone, they put it in the opening along the line of the window.
– Therefore, architects and society in other countries respect their culture.
– Yes. In our country, if the same garbage thrower appears in Europe, such an act will not take place. The environment has an effect there. Scaffolding construction itself is a magnified garbage.
– What is your opinion about the Kond development project?
– The city of artisans was a good idea in general, it is worth keeping. Kond does not represent a higher national architecture, but it has value.
For us, first of all, the architecture that forms the identity is valuable, which we have disfigured.
– We are mainly talking about Yerevan, but is the Armenian architecture preserved in the marzes, or is the situation the same there?
– It is the same situation. It is terrible. In recent years, the law has been changed, an unlimited number of taxes have been given, high-rises have sprung up behind the Cathedral. When you enter the tower, high-rise buildings greet you. one in front of the Red Church. The same is true in Yeghvardi highway.
Abnormal “Singaporeization” is going on.
– As a young architect, do you have a project in mind, an idea that you would like to implement?
– I would like to eliminate all this by some miracle, our old city would be revived, everything that started in the marzes would be stopped. If a conscientious architect still creates, he creates a small island, which does not solve a question in the general sense. The state always stands at the head of the principles of general urban development. This is the profession that fluctuates with the decline and development of the state.
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After each such statement, we notice a culture in Artsakh
August 9, 2026
Yesterday on his Facebook page, Nikol Pashinyan referred to the initial signing of the “Peace Treaty” between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on August 8, 2025, in Washington with the mediation of Trump.
“Now we call the August 8 meeting the Peace Summit, and the joint declaration accepted by me and the President of Azerbaijan, which was also signed by the US President as a witness, the Declaration of Peace.
The page of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is closed, peace has been established, and it is right in front of your eyes, it is your life and everyday life. It is not easy to establish any peace, and it was not easy to establish our peace either. But it is extremely easy to collapse and nullify any peace, and it can be done very quickly, and the question is, in that case, will it be possible to establish peace again after 35 years?
Today, many, some intentionally and some unintentionally, act with the logic of destroying the peace, and these activities are sometimes disguised under a benevolent or “patriotic” smokescreen. I want to say without hesitation that in order to make peace irreversible, it is necessary to stop talking about the right of “the return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians” and “the return of Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan”, and in Azerbaijan about the right of “the return of West Azerbaijan and West Azeris,” he wrote on his Facebook page. wrote Nikol Pashinyan.
Artsakh cultural heritage ombudsman, Caucasus expert Hovik Avanesovi խոսքով՝ Placing a sign of equality between the Armenians of Artsakh and the Azerbaijanis who left Armenia does not have any logic, these two issues cannot be considered on the same level for one simple reason, because the Armenians of Artsakh want to return to their historical living space.
“Artsakh has always been Armenian and has been a part of Armenian statehood, even at the time when Armenian statehood did not exist or was partial in different parts, Artsakh was one of the unique parts where state institutions have always existed.
As for the artificially invented Azerbaijanis, they have nothing in common with the forcibly displaced Artsakh Armenians. First of all, those Azerbaijanis are not related to any settlement in Armenia or Artsakh, both from a historical and a legal point of view. Before 1918, there was no state unit or entity called Azerbaijan in the region.” 168.amHovik Avanesov said in a conversation with
According to him, in 1918, they created that organization artificially. In addition, the phrase “title-bearing Azerbaijani” is also artificially invented, before the adoption of the 1936 Constitution of the Soviet period, the concept of the Azerbaijani nation, which could be attributed to the current territory of Azerbaijan, did not exist.
“Even after it was artificially formulated in the 1936 Constitution, it was not applied. We find the first applications as such from the 1940s onwards. In this context, we should also note that the term “West Azerbaijan” is as artificial as the state formation of Azerbaijan itself today. Considering all this, it is unacceptable to consider the Armenians of Artsakh on the same level, whether at the level of the head of state or another person,” added Hovik Avanesov.
He also emphasized that connecting the return of Artsakh Armenians to Artsakh with the peace agenda is, to put it mildly, illiterate, regardless of who is the author of such formulations. There is also another important circumstance that today there is no peace agenda. Azerbaijan has never had such an agenda and will never have it. It is possible to talk about a real peace agenda, taking into account several circumstances.
“Here we are talking about the complete de-occupation of Artsakh, returning to the status quo of September 27, 2020. Withdrawal of all types of Azerbaijani presence from the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, that is, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces and border guards, who are illegally in the territory of Armenia, must withdraw. Eradication of Armenian hatred in Azerbaijan, starting with the state speech and ending with school educational programs.
To return the prisoners of war illegally held in Baku to their homeland, without exception and without any preconditions. If these provisions come true, then they can talk about real peace, but until all this is there, talking about real peace is at least naive. Regardless of who makes what statements, the issue of Artsakh is not closed. No person, regardless of his status, has the right to close this issue, the issue of Artsakh is not the issue of one person, it is the issue of all Armenians,” said Hovik Avanesov.
He is sure that Nikol Pashinyan is very well aware that putting the forcibly displaced Artsakh Armenians and Azerbaijanis on the same level is at least unacceptable. This is just a specially designed policy within the framework of the so-called unilateral peace agenda. Regardless of everything that Nikol Pashinyan gives, the issues are not closed for the Artsakh Armenians and they will never stop talking about the return and, within the framework of all this, talking about the problems of preserving Artsakh’s cultural heritage.
“I repeat, such statements cannot deter us from our demand, but these statements can and will have negative consequences. After each such announcement, we notice a significant increase in the destruction of Artsakh’s cultural heritage in the territory of Artsakh,” emphasized Hovik Avanesov.
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What profession do young people choose, in which faculties do they apply?
August 9, 2026
Like last year, this year also there are vacancies in universities in several specialties. Some professions do not interest young people at all.
Although the evaluation and testing center had announced an additional competition for applicants, none of the universities had applied for the vacant professions.
Education expert Serob Khachatryan he says, compared to last year, there is no particular change this year either.
“This year was also a big competition at the Yerevan State Medical University, Faculty of Law, international relations, IT field specialties. The competition has increased a lot in the architecture profession. the number of applicants in that line has increased significantly.
As in previous years, this year there are no applicants in most of the faculties of the Agrarian University. Agribusiness is mostly competitive, but the number of applicants in other faculties is small.
According to me, the university will soften that situation a little. I think they will be accepted remotely.” 168.amSerob Khachatryan said in a conversation with
According to the expert, today there is a problem in the profession of pedagogue, although 70-77 thousand students who have chosen the relevant profession are given scholarships in the field of science, but, for example, there are quite a few vacancies in the fields of “Chemistry”, “Biology”, “Geography”, “Natural Science”, “Crafts and Art”.
“It is possible that some of these vacant places have been filled, because the competition for vacant places was concluded on July 30, but there will certainly be places left.
The same situation exists in regional universities in terms of pedagogical specialties, there are also some vacancies in engineering specialties,” added Serob Khachatryan.
Speaking about the lack of interest shown by young people in vocational professions, Serob Khachatryan said that those professions that are profitable, so to speak, take most of the talent.
“If a child, for example, does well in chemistry and biology at school, he does not go to the chemistry department, but goes to the Medical University, and some apply to the Faculty of Biology at YSU.” This year, there were applicants at the Pedagogical University who applied for “Chemistry” and “Biology” subjects, but the vast majority of them were not satisfied.
In other words, most of the applicants did not meet the minimum requirements of that passing threshold. The same is the case with the “Informatics” subject, those who have a good command of it go for IT. If a child has good knowledge in a certain subject, he goes in the direction of a more profitable profession in that subject,” emphasized Serob Khachatryan.
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A salary of more than 25 million drams and a new Toyota. In the case of Vehapar, public me
August 9, 2026
One of the prosecutors indicting His Holiness and 6 high-ranking clerics in the “case” was Aram Aramyan, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia and First Class Counselor of Justice.
Aramyan started his career at the Arabkir Investigation Department of the Yerevan City Investigation Department of the RA Police and assumed the position of Deputy Prosecutor General from December 2024.
And, as you can see, in this position he is already entrusted with “highly responsible” tasks.
168․amtoday will convey several episodes of Aram Aramyan’s “achievements”, which are included in his 2025 declaration of property, income, expenses and interests submitted to the Corruption Prevention Commission in 2026.
Thus, in his declaration, the official informed about the apartment he bought in Arabkir administrative district of the capital in 2014 and jointly owned, and the 2019 Toyota car he bought from Yunex LLC in April 2025 for 5.4 million drams.
During the year, the balances of his bank accounts fluctuated between 700 thousand and 500 thousand drams, cash funds both at the end of the year and at the beginning of the year were in the amount of 6 million drams.
Aram Aramyan’s income of 40,645,824 drams for the reporting year was generated from a 15 million dram loan received from the closed joint stock company “AMIO BANK” and from the salary of 25,645,824 drams received from the RA Prosecutor’s Office and/or other payments equal to it.
For comparison, let’s note that Aramyan, for example, in 2021, when he was the deputy head of the department for monitoring the legality of pre-trial proceedings in the RA National Security Service of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the RA, declared an income of 9,130,630 drams for the reporting year, of which 8,820,630 drams was the salary received from the RA Prosecutor’s Office and/or other payments equivalent to it and 310,000 drams received from VTB Armenia Bank. loan.
Aram Aramyan also announced the principal amount of the loan at the end of the reporting year, 2025. about the balance of 13,327,620 drams and recorded that he allocated 11,658,317 drams to repay the loan in 2025.
Aramyan’s wife, Anna Astvatatryan, declared 3 immovable properties. two, a building of public importance in the Sevan community, which he bought in 2007 and manages alone, and one, a jointly owned apartment in the Arabkir community.
The official’s wife also declared 4 thousand dollars and 2.8 million drams in bank deposits and 3 million drams in cash, in the event that her income for the reporting year amounted to 305,581 drams and was generated from interest and other compensation received for loans or bank deposits given to two banks.
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I was upset with Iveta Mukuchyan… Now I only look at it with pride. Ruff H
August 9, 2026
Singer and actor Raff: Harutyunyan 168TVof “The Rendezvous” during the program, he reflected on the most painful pages of his life, talking about childhood, family, work, creative path and personal struggle.
He says that he started working at the age of 12-13 and took care of his family’s needs with the first money he earned.
“I used to finish my work late at night, I would call home and ask what should I bring?” When my mother said bread or cheese, it seemed to me that the world was mine. I felt like the man of the house,” said the singer.
Raff Harutyunyan admits that he did not get to fully enjoy either his childhood or his student years because of his work. However, he is sure that this path has hardened him.
Speaking about the music market, he expressed concern about the rapid pace of artificial intelligence, noting that thousands of songs a day are already created using AI.
“Today the market is flooded with robot songs. I think there will come a time when live sound will be the most expensive value again,” he says.
Ruff also touched on the history of his famous song “Map”, which was once a big fuss.
He emphasized that his dissatisfaction with Iveta Mukuchyan was not related to the performance of the song, but to not mentioning the fact of his co-authorship.
“I was upset only that I was a co-author, but my name was not mentioned. Then I realized that the performance of my song by an artist like Iveta Mukuchyan was a great appreciation,” said the singer.
Speaking about his personal life, Raff Harutyunyan admitted that now all his attention is focused on his career.
“At this moment, I have given my heart to my career. First, I want to solve my household issues, then think about my family,” he says.
Հարցազրույցի ամենահուզիչ հատվածում երգիչը խոստովանել է, որ վերջերս կրկին արտասվել է։
“The burden is too much. I want to do everything at once, but sometimes it seems that I am not where I should be yet,” said Raff Harutyunyan.
Details in the video
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Trump Hails Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace During Talks with Aliyev, Pashinyan
During his discussion with Trump, Pashinyan expressed appreciation for the US president’s role in organizing the Washington peace summit held on Aug. 8, 2025, as well as his participation as a witness in the signing of the joint declaration reached at the meeting.
Pashinyan highlighted what he described as the “decisive” contribution of Trump’s personal efforts to advancing peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“The interlocutors noted with satisfaction that the Washington Peace Summit has led to real peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which is seen and felt by the peoples of both countries,” the statement said.
The two leaders also reviewed the latest developments surrounding the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), a project intended to strengthen regional connectivity.
“Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Trump reaffirmed their determination to begin construction of TRIPP in the near future,” the statement said.
The conversation also covered additional bilateral matters and issues of international significance.
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EU Hails Armenia, Azerbaijan’s Progress One Year After Washington Summit
The European Union has welcomed what it described as positive and constructive steps by Armenia and Azerbaijan to advance the peace process, one year after the historic Washington summit involving the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and the United States.
Magdalena Grono, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, made the remarks in a post on X marking the anniversary of the summit.
“Today marks one year since the historic Washington summit of Armenia, Azerbaijan and the United States and the leaders’ meeting on 8 August 2025,” Grono said.
She added that the EU welcomed a series of“positive and constructive steps” taken by the parties over the past year to further institutionalise and advance the peace process.
The Washington summit, held on 8 August 2025, marked a significant milestone in efforts to establish lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Grono’s remarks come as the two countries continue efforts to consolidate the progress made in the peace process and move towards the institutionalisation of their peace agenda.
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https://menafn.com/1111518595/EU-Hails-Armenia-Azerbaijans-Progress-One-Year-After-Washington-Summit
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Malta-based firm selected as Armenia’s gambling regulator
Random Systems International won an open tender for the service, according to government
A Maltese company has been selected to oversee the gambling sector in Armenia.
According to the Armenian government, Random Systems International, a company registered in Żebbuġ, was chosen to operate as the country’s gambling regulator on Thursday.
The company will be tasked with monitoring gambling and iGaming activity across Armenia through a new digital tool. It already carries out similar activities in Georgia through a subsidiary company, Random Systems Georgia and is expected to operate in a similar manner in Armenia through a subsidiary called Gaming Analysis and Monitoring System.
According to the Armenian government, Random Systems International won an open tender for the service. Armenian government records show a call for proposals for the service being issued in April.
Random Systems International, first set up in 2018, was formerly owned by Mario Galea, a one-time head of the Malta Gaming Authority. However, Galea told Times of Malta he exited the company in 2023. The company is now run by Marc Galea who, according to public records, has operated in the industry for the past two decades.
Company records show its majority shareholder, Savoir Consulting Ltd, is based in Bulgaria, with Galea retaining a minority share through another company, Argentum Holding Ltd, which he owns.
According to reports, Random Systems International will have six months to launch a digital control system to monitor betting in Armenia, with the system set to kick off in January 2027.
In 2024, the Armenian authorities introduced new gambling legislation that made such a system mandatory. The system is expected to remain in place for a 15-year period.
According to the Armenian authorities, the new system “will contribute to the organisation of unified monitoring, control, data analysis, integration of gaming products and the implementation of the functions assigned to the operator by law in the gambling sector”.
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Azerbaijan’s Pres. Aliyev Marks One Year of Trump-Brokered Armenia Peace — Sa
“Through your determination and steadfast resolve, you succeeded in bringing to an end a conflict that had endured for three decades, laying the foundation for an era of reconciliation and mutually beneficial partnership between our peoples,” Aliyev wrote in a letter to Trump marking one year since the August 8, 2025, Washington Peace Summit.
Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan joined Trump at the White House last year for the landmark summit, where the two countries’ foreign ministers initialed the peace agreement and the three leaders signed a joint declaration intended to close the chapter on decades of conflict in the South Caucasus.
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Aliyev said Saturday that the agreement has already produced tangible results, pointing to the lifting of restrictions on cargo shipments to Armenia, the start of Azerbaijani petroleum exports to the country, and the movement of grain and other goods through Azerbaijan.
“We are already witnessing the tangible dividends of peace in the economic, trade, and other spheres,” Aliyev wrote. “We continue our efforts to consolidate these gains, translate peace into practical cooperation, and foster an atmosphere of mutual trust.”
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Trump and Aliyev also spoke by phone Saturday to commemorate the anniversary, with both leaders noting that peace has held over the past year without incidents undermining the agreement, according to a readout from the Azerbaijani presidency.
The two leaders discussed the growing trade between Azerbaijan and Armenia and progress on the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, or TRIPP, the major transportation corridor envisioned under the Washington agreement to connect mainland Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenia while opening a broader trade route across the South Caucasus.
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Azerbaijan’s transportation infrastructure for the project is nearing completion, according to the readout, while Trump and Aliyev expressed hope that construction on the Armenian portion will begin soon.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio marked the anniversary Saturday by declaring that “President Trump is the President of Peace” and announcing another major step toward transforming the agreement into a broader economic corridor connecting Central Asia and the South Caucasus with Western markets.
“One year ago today, he secured peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan during a monumental meeting at the White House,” Rubio wrote. “Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan and Azerbaijan President Aliyev signed a historic Joint Declaration that marked a historic breakthrough for both nations.”
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Rubio announced that the Trans-Caspian Enterprise Fund is now operational with $201 million in U.S. government funding aimed at attracting private-sector investment along the Trans-Caspian Trade Route, also known as the Middle Corridor.
The route would expand east-west trade and transportation links across Central Asia, the Caspian Sea and the South Caucasus, with TRIPP serving as a critical connection in that larger network.
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“TRIPP is more than an infrastructure project — it is a vital link in the Trans-Caspian Trade Route, a driver of commercial opportunities for the United States and others, and a model for how economic cooperation can cement peace following the resolution of long-standing disputes,” Rubio said.
The anniversary also underscored the dramatic expansion of Washington’s relationship with Baku since the White House summit.
Aliyev noted that Vice President JD Vance traveled to Azerbaijan six months after the agreement and signed a Strategic Partnership Charter spanning investment, trade, energy, transportation, artificial intelligence and security.
“We can proudly state that Azerbaijan–United States ties have now reached their highest point in the 34-year history of our diplomatic relations,” Aliyev wrote Saturday, thanking Trump for what he called an “invaluable contribution” to strengthening the partnership.
Aliyev also praised Trump’s extension of the waiver of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, a decades-old restriction on direct U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan that Baku has long sought to have permanently repealed, calling Trump’s move “an important step toward the restoration of historical justice.”
The growing relationship was also reflected in Trump’s invitation for Aliyev to attend the G20 summit in December at Trump National Doral Miami, which the Azerbaijani president described during Saturday’s call as a manifestation of Washington’s “friendly attitude” toward his country.
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Pashinyan separately called Aliyev Saturday, with the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders jointly crediting Trump and the United States with advancing the peace process while reviewing the economic ties that have developed between their countries since the Washington summit.
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The Armenian prime minister described the peace established over the past year as “visible and tangible,” while acknowledging that additional steps remain before the initialed peace agreement is formally signed and ratified.
Aliyev’s praise of Trump echoed remarks he made last month at the 4th Shusha Global Media Forum in response to a Breitbart News question about what distinguished Trump’s diplomacy from that of previous American administrations.
Aliyev described Trump as “a person who loves peace” and “sees peace as an opportunity,” arguing that previous administrations had spent decades managing and effectively freezing the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict rather than resolving it.
Trump and his team instead understood Azerbaijan’s concerns, helped persuade Armenia that peace was in both countries’ interests, and “created such a framework that peace became possible,” Aliyev told Breitbart News.
“For the first time in my experience, American officials kept their word so strictly,” Aliyev said, crediting Trump’s team, including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Aryeh Lightstone, with following through on the agreement.
Trump subsequently shared the Breitbart News report on Truth Social, prompting Aliyev to publicly thank the president for amplifying his remarks and reiterate his description of Trump as a “Man of Peace.”
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Witkoff returned to that theme Saturday while marking the anniversary.
“A year ago today, @POTUS brought Azerbaijan and Armenia together to sign a historic peace agreement that ended 35 years of brutal conflict,” Witkoff wrote. “Because of this President’s leadership, the South Caucasus is safer, more prosperous, and more stable, and the future is bright for these great countries.”
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Aliyev, meanwhile, framed the past year not merely as the end of a longstanding conflict but as the beginning of a fundamentally different relationship between Azerbaijan, Armenia and the United States.
“We remain determined to further expand and enrich with new substance the friendship, strategic partnership, and relations based on mutual trust, respect, and support between Azerbaijan and the United States,” he wrote. “We look forward to continuing our close cooperation with you in this direction.”
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/09/azerbaijans-pres-aliyev-marks-one-year-of-trump-brokered-armenia-peace-says-u-s-ties-at-highest-point-in-34-years/
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Lemkin family fights to stop Pa. charity from using name in anti-genocide camp
Raphael Lemkin, a long-dead Polish Jew who never set foot in Armenia, is nonetheless regarded there as a champion of justice who exposed the Ottoman-era genocide of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians during World War I.
In fact, it was Lemkin—a Holocaust survivor who lost 49 members of his family to the Nazis—who in 1944 coined the word “genocide” to describe what had happened to the Armenians, as well as to the Jews during World War II. Four years later, he succeeded in getting the United Nations to adopt the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Lemkin died penniless in 1959, and while there are no known monuments to Lemkin anywhere in Israel, Armenia has no shortage of them. There’s a bust of Lemkin at Yerevan State University’s “Alley of Gratitude, as well as a street in downtown Yerevan named in his honor.
And last year, on the 125th anniversary of his birth, soil from his grave in Queens, New York, was placed in a wall of remembrance at Yerevan’s Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex.
“Today, we not only honor the legal legacy of Raphael Lemkin, but also his moral conviction,” former museum director Edita Gzoyan said during the June 2025 ceremony at which a commemorative plaque was also unveiled.
“He believed that memory without accountability is empty, and that justice begins by naming the truth,” Gzoyan said. “Lemkin was not Armenian and never visited Armenia. Yet the Armenian genocide left a deep imprint on his soul and became the foundation of his legal thought. He was the one who defined this horrific crime and dedicated his life to ensuring that it would never again go unpunished.”
Raphael Lemkin’s grave at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Queens, New York. (Photo via Wikipedia)
But in an ironic twist, earlier this summer—just as Israel’s Knesset was debating whether to finally recognize that genocide—Lemkin’s U.S. descendants announced they would take legal action against a Pennsylvania nonprofit that’s been using the family name without authorization.
The Philadelphia-based Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security, founded in 2021 as a Section 501(c)3 charity, is known for its support of Armenian causes. Among other things, it has condemned Azerbaijan’s 2023 invasion of the ethnic Armenian enclave of Artsakh and criticized President Trump’s 2025 peace accord between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
It has also advocated for ethnic Rohingyas in Bangladesh, persecuted Yazidis in Iraq, Ukrainian victims of Russian aggression, Muslim Uyghurs in China, and transgender people worldwide.
Now, since Oct. 7, 2023, the Lemkin Institute has become an especially fierce critic of Israel.
Among other things, it has accused the Jewish state of “committing genocide across Palestine” and of “intentionally targeting children in Gaza as part of an overwhelming push on the part of Israeli authorities to oust Palestinians from their remaining ancestral lands.”
In a June 4 statement, for instance, the Lemkin Institute said it was “horrified by Israel’s unrelenting and systematic attacks against healthcare workers in Lebanon, which are occurring against the backdrop of Israel’s continued genocide in Gaza. We believe Israel is conducting a genocidal policy of absolute destruction in Lebanon, targeting the essential foundations of life of Lebanon’s Shia communities.”
From left: Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the European Jewish Association; Mark Walker, principal advisor for Global Religious Freedom at the State Department; Joseph Lemkin, a cousin of Raphael Lemkin; and Lemkin’s wife, Susan Wernick Lemkin, at a March 2026 meeting in Washington, DC. (Photo by Warren Cohn)
This infuriates Joseph Lemkin, a lifelong Zionist and supporter of Israel whose father was Raphael Lemkin’s first cousin.
“They distort his legacy and appropriate his name to advance a definition of genocide which is inconsistent with what we believe was his life’s work,” said Lemkin, 57. “To me, it tarnishes his memory by attaching to his name allegations that trivialize the whole concept of genocide.”
Lemkin, a bankruptcy lawyer in Princeton, N.J., said he first heard about the institute’s anti-Israel campaign when his college-age son saw a post on Instagram and brought it to his attention.
“What these people are doing on social media is causing antisemitism to rise throughout the world,” said Lemkin, who along with his wife Susan founded the Jewish Bar Association of New Jersey after Oct. 7. “They’re bastardizing our name to attack Israel—and it directly contradicts everything he believed in.”
The Brussels-based European Jewish Association agrees—and has come to the family’s defense.
“As an institution, they can publish whatever they want. But they cannot pretend to carry Raphael Lemkin’s name and at the same time misrepresent his heritage, which was completely against these beliefs,” said Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the EJA’s chairman and founder. “What they did is completely illegal and so we started a campaign with the authorities in Pennsylvania to shut them down or at least change their name.”
Street sign in Yerevan honors Raphael Lemkin. (Photo courtesy Armenian Genocide Museum Institute)
As such, Margolin’s hired attorneys have sent letters to various state officials asking them to investigate the Lemkin Institute’s tax-exempt status as a Section 501(c)3 charity. His group has also enlisted the help of Amichai Chikli, Israel’s hardline minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, who wrote to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro urging him to make this investigation a priority.
Asked why the EJA—which deals mainly with antisemitism in Europe—would get involved in a legal dispute with a nonprofit based in Philadelphia, Margolin suggested its location is irrelevant.
“We live in a world where accusations spread easily through social media,” the rabbi replied. “It’s not really important for us where they’re registered—whether in Pennsylvania or in Zambia. Their impact is all around the globe.”
The Lemkin Institute itself is a small outfit, operating from a row house in South Philadelphia, a block from the city’s famous 9th Street Italian market. Posters seen through the window allude to Armenia’s long-running hostilities with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Nobody answered the doorbell when a reporter recently visited, but Elisa von Joeden-Forgey, the Lemkin Institute’s director, did respond via email about an Oct. 29, 2025, letter from local attorneys hired by EJA asking the institute to cease using Raphael Lemkin’s name and likeness.
Headquarters of the Lemkin Institute in downtown Philadelphia. Posters alluding to Armenia’s long-running conflict with Azerbaijan can be seen through the window. (Photo by Harry Wall)
“We have received no communication from the state of Pennsylvania and have only heard about Joseph Lemkin’s complaint to the governor through the press,” she said. “We will wait for communications from the state of Pennsylvania before taking any steps.”
And while not addressing the issue of Israel specifically, Joeden-Forgey stood by the institute’s general approach to defining genocide. Without identifying anyone in particular, she said “there are several members of the Lemkin family who support our work and who understand how we use Raphael Lemkin’s studies and analyses in our own prevention mechanisms.”
According to a draft submitted by Margolin to Pennsylvania officials, “after the Lemkin family filed its formal complaint and public pressure mounted, the Lemkin Institute — which had operated for four years without any connection to the Lemkin family — suddenly announced that a person named Peter Raphael Lemkin had joined its board. This individual had no prior visible involvement with the organization.”
It continued: “This maneuver, executed after legal action was publicly announced, is evidence of consciousness of guilt, manufactured retroactive legitimacy and bad faith. It is not a defense. It is an admission.”
Efforts to reach Peter Raphael Lemkin, who lives in the Czech Republic, were unsuccessful, and neither Joseph Lemkin or his brother, Binyamin Lemkin, are in contact with him.
“Offended would be an understatement for how we feel about what this institute is doing with our family name,” said Binyamin Lemkin, an attorney living in Ramat Bet Shemesh. “Raphael Lemkin was a Zionist and a proud Jew. If anything, he saw Palestinian nationalism itself as a form of genocide against the Jewish people.”
Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin, who spent four years in Armenia and writes frequently about the Caucasus, says the Lemkin Institute’s policies are politically motivated. (Photo by Larry Luxner)
Alexander Lapshin, a Russian-Israeli blogger who spent four years in Armenia and writes often about the Caucasus, says the Lemkin Institute is a strong advocate for exposing the crimes of Ottoman Turks in the early 20th century—but lacks credibility when it comes to the Middle East.
“My sense is that it’s a fairly anti-Israel organization, giving voice to figures like Francesca Albanese, who criticize Israel for the genocide in Gaza while ignoring the crimes of Hamas,” he said. “I suspect it’s not without funding from the Turks and Qataris.
But in a November 2024 letter to supporters, Jordan-Forgey categorically denied that her charity receives money from any government.
“We rely on the generosity of ordinary people around the world, and our most common contribution is a one-time donation of $10,” she stated. “Implications or reports that we receive secret or grant funding are false. We intentionally do not seek funding from states, governments, political parties, large foundations and large NGOs because we value our independence and believe that independence is necessary to ensure we have a clear and honest voice.”
Lapshin, interviewed in Tel Aviv, said that civil-society organizations and public figures—both in the U.S. and Europe—that openly support Armenia tend to take active and sometimes aggressive positions against Israel.
“The Lemkin Institute’s policies and its legal disputes with the family could potentially have a negative impact on the institute’s support for recognizing the genocide and the crimes committed by Azerbaijan,” he said. “On the other hand, Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, is increasingly pushing the issue of genocide recognition into the background. In practice, this approach risks contributing to the gradual fading of the memory of the Armenian genocide.”
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