Project Save Hosting “My Armenia” Photographic Exhibit in Expanded Gallery in

George Mamian
Watertown News
Apr 1 2026

The following announcement was provided by Project Save:

A new documentary photography exhibition by Arlington-based photographer Winslow Martin, “My Armenia (1999–2008),” traces a deeply personal journey through post-Soviet Armenia and the historic moments he witnessed along the way. Opening April 16 through May 30, the exhibition inaugurates Project Save Photograph Archive’s newly expanded gallery space in Watertown.

Project Save is the world’s largest photo archive dedicated to preserving the regional, national and global Armenian experience. Its expansion doubles the group’s space and creates a venue dedicated to exhibitions, public programs, and community engagement opportunities.

ABOUT “MY ARMENIA” EXHIBITION

Curated by fellow photo documentarian Nubar Alexanian, the exhibition traces Martin’s unexpectedly life-changing journeys to Armenia that began when he accompanied St. James Armenian Church pastor Fr. Dajad Davidian on a trip from Watertown to his ancestral homeland. A former high school history teacher who later turned to photography to document Boston’s music scene as well as community news stories, Martin jumped at the opportunity to cover Fr. Davidian’s visit. He has since made dozens of trips to the region on his own over 27 years, exploring the landlocked country’s rich history and stunning natural beauty. [Davidian died in 2018.]

Martin’s 30 photos in “My Armenia” cover the period from 1999-2008, when he returned to capture powerful images of culture, history and daily life during a pivotal period. “The people were overwhelmingly welcoming to me, and I had full access because of my connections there,” Martin says. “I witnessed life as it unfolded, and captured major historical events from the inside, like the election of a new head of the Armenian church, and the funerals of victims from the Armenian National Assembly shooting and hostage crisis in 1999.” [The assassination and its aftermath is remembered in Armenia as “October 27.”]

W says Martin’s exhibition, which includes 30 photographs, stands apart for its commitment to documentary photography rooted in lived experience, sustained presence and trust, rather than observation from a distance.

“Winslow captures a dimension of Armenia rarely seen from the outside,” he says. “The photographs are intimate, unfiltered and deeply human. And here, they mark a new chapter for Project Save, as we create a space where historical ephemera and contemporary photography like this meet and inform each other.”

“My Armenia” is sponsored by Mass Cultural Council, Watertown Savings Bank, Watertown Cultural Council, and Herman and Laura Bilazarian Purutyan.

ABOUT PROJECT SAVE’S NEW GALLERY

Since becoming Executive Director in 2021, Vaun has led a period of significant growth for Project Save, including its 2024 acquisition of its first permanent, public-facing home in Watertown and this spring’s expansion of its headquarters to include a dedicated gallery for contemporary photography. The expansion doubles the organization’s space and creates a dedicated venue for exhibitions, public programs, and community engagement.

It also reflects Project Save’s evolving role as a steward of photographic history and a place where history can exist in conversation with the present day. “At a moment defined by global displacement and instability,” Vaun says, “the stories photographs carry are more vital than ever. Our new space creates a rare space where historical memory and contemporary photography meet—inviting deeper reflection and connection.”

Founded in 1975, Project Save began as a grassroots effort to document the lives of Armenian immigrants through photography. Over five decades, the organization has grown into the world’s largest Armenian photographic archive, with more than 150,000 original images and ephemera from communities around the globe. Project Save continues to expand its mission through exhibitions, public programming, and initiatives that bring historical archives into dialogue with contemporary photographic practice.

GALLERY LOCATION AND HOURS

  • “My Armenia (1999–2008)” on view April 16 to May 30, 2026 at Project Save Photograph Archive, 600 Pleasant Street in Watertown, Mass.
  • Gallery hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2-5:30 p.m., Saturdays from 12-4 p.m., and by appointment. Directions and more details at projectsave.org or 617-923-4542.
  • Opening reception Thursday, April 16, 6:30-9 p.m. RSVP here.
https://www.watertownmanews.com/2026/04/01/project-save-hosting-my-armenia-photographic-exhibit-in-expanded-gallery-in-watertown/

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Turkish press: Putin warns Armenia against dual alignment with EU and Eurasian

Adrine Hakobian
Daily Sabah, Turkey
April 1 2026

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Armenia it cannot simultaneously pursue membership in both the European Union and the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union, underscoring growing tensions as Yerevan pivots toward the West.

The warning came as Armenia accelerates its foreign policy shift away from Russia, a move fueled in part by Moscow’s inaction during Azerbaijan’s 2023 operation to liberate Karabakh from Armenian occupation.

The former Soviet republic froze its membership of the Russian-led CSTO security alliance in 2024, and in the same year expressed an interest in joining the European Union, further deepening its rift with Moscow.

“We see that Armenia is discussing developing relations with the European Union, and we are completely calm about this,” Putin said.

“But it should be obvious… Being in a customs union with the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union is impossible. It’s simply impossible by definition,” he added.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he was aware that being in the two unions was incompatible, but that pursuing both paths was possible “for now.”

“When the processes develop to the point where a decision needs to be made, I’m confident that we, I mean the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, will make that decision, of course,” he said.

Moscow and Yerevan are formally allies, but their ties have become increasingly strained under Pashinyan.

Armenia’s foreign intelligence service warned earlier this year that “external actors” were trying to meddle in Armenian politics, in what analysts believe was a reference to Russia.

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Turkish press: Putin and Pashinyan clash over CSTO failures as Armenia eyes EU

Kajoyan Gevork
Turkey Today
Apr 1 2026

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met at the Kremlin on Wednesday to discuss bilateral relations, regional connectivity and Armenia’s growing ties with the European Union, in a wide-ranging exchange that also surfaced unresolved tensions over Armenia’s relationship with the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization.

The meeting addressed strategic partnership, Eurasian integration, the development of economic transport links in the South Caucasus, and a series of regional questions, with both leaders speaking candidly about the limits and the future of their countries’ alignment.

Trade figures underscore economic depth despite political strains

Putin opened by pointing to the scale of economic ties between the two countries. Bilateral trade reached 11 billion dollars the previous year, he said, before easing to 6.4 billion dollars in 2025, and he noted that Armenia’s exports to the Eurasian Economic Union had grown tenfold in recent years. He contrasted the Russia-Armenia trade figure with the 4.9 billion dollars recorded between Russia and neighboring Azerbaijan, calling the comparison instructive.

Putin said Moscow viewed Armenia’s deepening engagement with the EU with equanimity, but drew a clear structural line. “The issue here is not political, it is economic,” he said, adding that simultaneous membership in both the EU and the EEU’s Customs Union was not possible given incompatible phytosanitary standards and a range of other regulatory divergences. He expressed hope that the two blocs would eventually resolve those differences, while acknowledging that earlier Russian attempts to coordinate with Europe had produced no results. “Europeans take a tough stance on everything,” he said.

Armenia’s EU path leaves a sovereign decision to citizens, Pashinyan says

Pashinyan acknowledged the structural incompatibility directly but declined to treat it as an immediate dilemma. “What we are doing and our agenda are compatible with each other for now,” he said, adding that when the process reaches a point requiring a definitive choice, “I am confident that the citizens of Armenia will make that decision.” He said Armenia continued to cooperate with Russia in the energy sector and that discussions on constructing a nuclear power plant were ongoing with Moscow and with other partners, as Yerevan sought the most advantageous option.

The Armenian prime minister also confirmed that peace had been established between Armenia and Azerbaijan and acknowledged Trump’s contribution to that process, a point Putin echoed. Pashinyan noted that Armenia had recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, but specified that the move came after Russia’s senior leadership had raised the issue publicly on two separate occasions.

CSTO dispute and upcoming elections add friction to the summit

The most pointed exchanges concerned the CSTO, the Russian-led security alliance Armenia has effectively suspended participation in. Putin pushed back against Armenian criticism that the organization had failed to intervene during the Karabakh conflict, arguing that Armenia itself had recognized Karabakh as Azerbaijani territory at talks in Prague in 2022, making CSTO intervention categorically inappropriate. He called for the matter to be closed, particularly as Armenia prepares for parliamentary elections, and said it would be undesirable for the CSTO dispute to become a fixture of the domestic campaign.

Putin also raised the situation of pro-Russian politicians in Armenia, noting that more than two million Armenian nationals live in Russia and that some Russian-passport-holding politicians in Armenia are currently imprisoned. He said Moscow was not interfering in those decisions but wanted all political forces to participate in the electoral process, and expressed hope that whatever the outcome, the two countries’ shared commitment to building and strengthening ties would endure.

Pashinyan was direct in response. He said Armenia had never concealed its difficulties with the CSTO, and that in 2022 the organization’s mechanisms had simply failed to function. “We still could not explain to our people why, despite CSTO obligations, there was no response,” he said, describing this failure as the reason for Armenia’s current posture toward the alliance. He pushed back on Putin’s remarks about imprisoned politicians, saying Armenia is a democracy with no banned social media platforms and relatively few jailed political figures, and pointing out that under the Armenian constitution, holders of Russian passports are ineligible to stand as parliamentary or prime ministerial candidates.

Both leaders closed by affirming that bilateral relations would continue to develop regardless of electoral outcomes.

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Pashinyan teases Putin about ‘excess’ of democracy in Armenia

Dabaghian Diana
RBC Ukraine
Apr 1 2026
Wed, April 01, 2026 – 23:15
2 min
The Armenian prime minister praised the achievements of Armenian democracy during a meeting with the head of the Kremlin

Kateryna Shkarlat Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, noted that his country has no political prisoners and that social media are free, according to News.am.

Read also: Russia panics over war setbacks, Kremlin launches internal crackdown — ISW

He noted that municipal elections are effectively held twice a year in Armenia. At the same time, some residents even complain about this level of political activity.

“We have quite a lot of our citizens — not a very large number, but there are citizens who think that there is too much democracy in Armenia, but this is a matter of principle for us,” the head of the Armenian government added.

He also stressed that social media in Armenia is “100% free” with no restrictions. At the same time, there are no “participants in the political process” in prisons.

Pashinyan separately pointed out that parliamentary elections will soon take place in the country, and only citizens with exclusively Armenian passports can participate.

“With all due respect, people with Russian passports, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, cannot be candidates for members of parliament or candidates for prime minister,” the Armenian prime minister said.

Dictatorship in Russia

Pashinyan made this statement just weeks after Telegram was blocked in Russia.

Instead, Russians have effectively been forced to use a single alternative in the form of the Max messenger, where the Kremlin actively spreads its propaganda.

Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service recently reported that the Kremlin leader’s approval rating has been rapidly declining lately.




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Putin warns Armenia it can’t be both a member of EU and Russia-led economic bl

Maral Chavushian
The Hour
Apr 1 2026
ByAssociated PressApril 1, 2026
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday warned Armenia, which aspires to join the European Union, that it won’t be able to be part of both the EU and a Moscow-led economic alliance.
Armenia, which signed a U.S.-brokered agreement last year ending decades of hostilities with Azerbaijan, has increasingly sought to forge closer ties with the U.S. and the EU. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has declared an intention to join the EU and his government has suspended the country’s participation in a Moscow-dominated security pact, the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
Speaking at the start of talks with Pashinyan in Moscow, Putin said Russia is “absolutely calm” about Armenia’s efforts to forge closer ties with the EU, but he noted that for Armenia ”it’s impossible to be in a customs union with the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union.”

The Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, created in 2015 and also including Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, is a single market allowing the free movement of goods, capitals and labor.

Putin’s statement appeared to send a warning signal as prospects for Armenia’s EU membership look distant and no prospective tariff-free deal between Armenia and the EU has been discussed yet.

The Russian leader noted that the two blocs have widely different market regulations regarding various groups of goods and that reaching common ground is unlikely any time soon. He said that it’s up to Armenia to set its course, but he emphasized that the country is currently getting Russian natural gas at a much lower price compared to the European prices.

Pashinyan, in turn, said that he realizes that Armenia can’t simultaneously be a member of both blocs, but for now it can combine its membership in the Eurasian Economic Union with developing cooperation with the EU. “Ties with Russia are very deep and important for us,” he added.

Armenia’s relations with its longtime sponsor and ally Russia have grown increasingly strained after Azerbaijan fully reclaimed the Karabakh region in 2023, ending decades of ethnic Armenian separatists’ rule there.

Armenian authorities accused Russian peacekeepers who were deployed to the region of failing to stop Azerbaijan’s onslaught. Moscow, busy with the conflict in Ukraine, has rejected the accusations, arguing that its troops didn’t have a mandate to intervene.

Putin argued Wednesday that Pashinyan’s decision in 2022 to recognize that Karabakh was part of Azerbaijan made it impossible for Moscow to intervene. He noted that a U.S.-mediated peace deal signed last year between Armenia and Azerbaijan and a prospective transport corridor promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump opened up new prospects for regional cooperatiion.

Putin also voiced hope that pro-Russia forces will be allowed to freely compete in Armenia’s parliamentary elections set for June, noting that some of their representatives have been put in custody – an apparent reference to Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, a critic of Pashinyan who was arrested last year after calling for the ouster of the government.

Pashinyan, who has been in office since 2018, responded thatArmenian law bans holders of Russian passports from taking part in elections.


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Armenia hopes peace established between the two states will eliminate hate spe

Emil Lazarian
Aysor, Armenia
April 1 2026

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a statement on March 31, making false accusations that “Armenian groups committed genocide against Azerbaijanis in 1918.” In an interview with Armenpress, Ani Badalyan, the spokesperson for the Armenian Foreign Ministry, responded to the statement.

– How would you comment on the March 31, 2026 statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan?

– During the decades-long conflict, a number of hostile and unfounded narratives had taken shape which, unfortunately, continue to be used in Azerbaijan, even at the state level. We hope that the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan will not only contribute to stable, peaceful coexistence and the development of good-neighborly relations between the two states and societies, but will also put an end to fabricated claims and rule out hate speech. 

We recall that the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan reached an agreement on this in Washington, where the declaration signed on August 8, 2025, clearly states in its fifth point the intention to close the chapter of hostility between the two peoples and to embark on building good-neighborly relations following a conflict that caused immense human suffering.

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The Armenian and Georgian alphabets closely resemble the ancient Ethiopian wri

Tatoyan Vazgen
labrujulaverde.com
Mar 31 2026
by Guillermo Carvajal

Researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at San Diego State University have published a study in which, using artificial intelligence as the primary analytical tool, they demonstrate significant structural similarities between ancient writing systems originating in the Horn of Africa and the Caucasus region of Eurasia.

The results, published in the journal Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, indicate that the Armenian alphabet shows a morphological relationship with the ancient Ethiopian system, known as Ge’ez, that is much closer than the linguistic and historical community had previously considered based on direct visual observations.

The research, led by Sam Kassegne, professor of mechanical engineering, began from the observation that for years various specialists had noted superficial similarities between certain characters of the Armenian, Georgian, and Caucasian Albanian alphabets and those of Ge’ez, a writing system developed in eastern Africa more than 1,600 years ago.

From left, characters in the Ethiopic (portions only), Armenian, Georgian and Caucasian Albanian alphabets. Credit: D. Zemene et al. 2026

The obstacle to validating these observations lay in their subjective nature, as they were based exclusively on the visual inspection of glyphs by scholars. To overcome this limitation, the SDSU team designed a quantitative and reproducible methodology using a computer program trained with more than 28,000 images of Ethiopian characters.

The process involved teaching the algorithm to recognize the fundamental geometric elements of Ethiopian writing, such as curves, straight lines, angles, and the overall structure of each letter. The researchers emphasize that the model lacked any contextual data related to the history, religion, geography, or culture of the analyzed systems; its analysis was strictly limited to form.

Once the learning phase was completed, the program proceeded to compare the morphological characteristics of Ethiopian characters with those of the Armenian, Georgian, and Caucasian Albanian alphabets, calculating through explicit mathematical criteria the degree of similarity among them. As a control, the researchers included the Latin alphabet, the one used in the English language, in order to establish a comparative reference.

The results obtained showed a defined hierarchy in the similarities. Among the three alphabets analyzed, the Armenian alphabet exhibited the highest level of structural correspondence with Ethiopian characters. The Caucasian Albanian alphabet showed a moderate degree of similarity, while Georgian displayed some correspondences, although less consistently.

Historical timeline for the Ethiopic, Armenian, Georgian, Caucasian Albanian, and Odessian (Edessian) scripts and their possible origins. It has to be noted that the exact origins and progressions of particularly the Ethiopic script is not unanimously agreed by scholars in the field and while the depictions are based on the best available sources now, it is not necessarily as linear as shown here. Credit: D. Zemene et al. 2026

The Latin alphabet, used as an external comparison, yielded a substantially lower level of similarity. One of the findings that researchers describe as most surprising is that the correspondence between the Armenian alphabet and Ge’ez turned out to be almost as high as that which exists between the Ethiopian system itself and its preceding versions, suggesting that the observed resemblance responds to a significant structural pattern rather than to a chance coincidence.

Our objective was to go beyond visual impressions that are difficult to prove or replicate, explained Kassegne in the university statement. By making our criteria explicit and mathematical, we introduced an objective computational approach that is easily reproducible. We believe that this reproducibility is the key contribution of our method.

Daniel Zemene, a graduate student and researcher in artificial intelligence and machine learning at the NanoFAB laboratory at SDSU, as well as the study’s first author, emphasized the convergence between the computational results and historical hypotheses. The model had no access to historical records; however, it learned solely from visual and structural data and identified Armenian as the closest structural match to Ethiopian within the same time period that historians have debated for a long time. That convergence between computation and history is powerful, Zemene noted.

The historical context framing these results refers to the origin of the Armenian alphabet, created around the year 405 of the Common Era, a period in which the Ethiopian writing system was expanding and gaining widespread use. The researchers point in their study to the existence of historical records documenting the mobility of populations originating from Ethiopia toward regions such as Jerusalem, Egypt, and Syria during that period.

Likewise, the creator of the Armenian alphabet, Mesrob Mashtots, made documented journeys through different areas of the Middle East. The published work does not establish a direct copying relationship between one system and another, but it proposes that the quantified structural correspondence, together with the historical evidence of cultural contacts in the region during that span, makes the hypothesis of reciprocal influences or exchanges between these cultures in the creation of writing systems more plausible.

The authors of the study emphasize that structural similarity does not automatically imply direct borrowing, but they stress that the use of artificial intelligence applied to the analysis of ancient writing forms makes it possible to address historical questions with an unprecedented level of precision. By stripping the analysis of the subjectivity inherent in human observation and replacing it with explicit and reproducible mathematical criteria, the methodology employed opens a pathway to reevaluate other possible relationships between graphic systems from different civilizations.

The research, beyond its specific implications regarding the links between the Armenian alphabet and Ge’ez, exemplifies how technological tools developed for fields such as autonomous driving or medical imaging can be applied to the study of literary and cultural heritage, providing numerical evidence that complements and refines traditional interpretations based on direct observation.

SOURCES

San Diego State University

Daniel Zemene, Esatu Zemene, et al., Machine learning techniques for exploring influence, commonalities, and shared origin of scripts: cases of Ethiopic, Armenian, Georgian, and Caucasian Albanian scripts, Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, 2026;, fqag029, doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqag029

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Armenpress: Israel’s parliament approves death penalty for Palestinians convi

Elizabeth Jabejian
World09:42, 31 March 2026
Read the article in: EspañolՀայերենRussian

Israel’s parliament on Monday passed a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis, the Associated Press reported.

According to AP, the measure that has been harshly condemned by the international community and rights groups as discriminatory and inhumane.

The passage of the bill marked the culmination of a yearslong drive by the far-right to escalate punishment for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offenses against Israelis, AP reported. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the Knesset to vote for the bill in person.

The law makes the death penalty — by hanging — the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted of nationalistic killings. It also gives Israeli courts the option of imposing the death penalty on Israeli citizens convicted on similar charges — language that legal experts say effectively confines those who can be sentenced to death to Palestinian citizens of Israel and excludes Jewish citizens.

It will not apply retroactively to any prisoners Israel currently holds, including the Hamas-led militants who attacked the country on Oct. 7, 2023, triggering the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. After the final 62-48 vote in favor, lawmakers erupted into cheers and stood up in jubilation. Netanyahu, who remained in his seat, did not immediately react or speak.

Read the article in: EspañolՀայերենRussian

Published by Armenpress, original at 
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Shipping through Strait of Hormuz plunges over 95% since start of Iran war

Babken Chilingarian
Read the article in: ArmenianRussian:

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has dropped by more than 95% since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, according to a report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

“Shipping through Hormuz has collapsed, with transits down by over 95%, disrupting energy and fertilizer flows,” UNCTAD said.

“The Strait of Hormuz is a critical artery for global energy and fertilizer trade, carrying around a quarter of seaborne oil as well as significant volumes of liquefied natural gas and fertilizers. Since the escalation of the conflict, shipping activity through the Strait has fallen dramatically. Daily transits dropped from an average of 103 vessels in the last week of February to single digits within weeks, effectively bringing flows close to a standstill,” the report added, emphasizing that energy prices have surged, with oil and gas rising sharply across regions.

Published by Armenpress, original at 
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Iran’s foreign minister calls on Saudis to ‘eject’ U.S. forces

Hovik Karapetian
Read the article in: SpanishFrançaisՀայերենРусский

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday called on the Saudi Arabian government to “eject” U.S. troops from its territory. His comments come days after the Iranian military attacked a U.S. air base in Saudi Arabia.

“Iran respects the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and considers it a brotherly nation. Our operations are aimed at enemy aggressors who have no respect for Arabs or Iranians, nor can provide any security. Just look at what we did to their aerial command. High time to eject U.S. forces,” Araghchi said on X, posting a photo of a damaged U.S. Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft following an Iranian strike at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

Last week, an Iranian missile attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia, injured 12 U.S. service members, according to The Wall Street Journal. The paper reported that two service members suffered significant injuries, while 10 were concussed. 

The attack also damaged multiple U.S. refueling aircraft, and several unmanned aerial vehicles were hit. The destruction of the Boeing-made E-3 Sentry, which costs roughly $300 million, marks the first time such an aircraft has been destroyed in combat. The BBC published verified pictures showing the US command and control aircraft destroyed.

The U.S. and Israel launched what they described as a pre-emptive strike against Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran was developing a nuclear weapon and posed a threat—an allegation Iran has denied. In response, Iran launched counterattacks, firing missiles and drones at Israel, as well as at U.S. assets and other targets across the Middle East.

Published by Armenpress, original at 
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