Top EU official visits Armenia and offers economic support to help counter Rus

Ekmekjian Janet
Associated Press
July 2 2026

By  AVET DEMOURIAN
Updated 2:07 PM EDT, July 2, 2026

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YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Armenia on Thursday, promising to provide a 18-million euro ($20.5-million) aid package and the elimination of import duties on most Armenian farm products to support the South Caucasus nation’s push for closer ties with the European Union and pivot away from longtime ally Moscow.

Last month, the party of Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan extended its hold on power in a parliamentary election that was widely seen as a vote on its geopolitical future. Weeks before the vote, Moscow introduced a slew of trade sanctions, imposing import bans on Armenian flowers, brandy, wine, fruits and more.

Von der Leyen said “Armenia is still facing significant economic pressure from Russia,” describing it as “nothing short of economic coercion.”

“But rest assured: when pressure mounts on our partners, the EU steps up,” she added.

Von der Leyen said that Armenia will soon receive an additional 18-million euro to help strengthen and diversify its trade, the final installment of the 52-million euro ($59.4-million) support package the EU pledged in early June.

On top of that, she announced that the EU will offer tariff-free access to almost 80% of the Armenian exports to the bloc, saying the move would help “re-route products that currently still rely heavily on the Russian market.”

Pashinyan thanked the EU for its support and noted the need to quickly resolve technical issues to open the EU doors for Armenian farm products as the country entered the harvesting season.

Russia, which has a military base in Armenia, has warned that Yerevan’s Western shift could have severe political and economic consequences. President Vladimir Putin has compared Armenia’s course to that of Ukraine in what observers have described as thinly veiled threats and suggested that Russia’s war with Ukraine was rooted in its bid to sign an association deal with the EU.

Relations between Moscow and Armenia soured as Azerbaijan retook control of the Karabakh region. The mountainous area had been controlled for decades by ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia, part of a long conflict between the neighboring countries.Armenia accused Russian peacekeepers deployed to the region of failing to stop Azerbaijan’s onslaught. Moscow, busy with the war in Ukraine, has rejected the accusations.

In August 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to sign a deal aimed at ending their decades-long conflict and including provisions for the creation of a new transit corridor from Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan.

Von der Leyen traveled to Armenia a day after her trip to Azerbaijan, where she announced a new 200-million euro ($228.6-million) Global Gateway package. She said that with its financial partners, the EU aims to mobilize up to 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) for strategic transport, energy, and digital projects all across the South Caucasus.

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EU to liberalize trade with Armenia, 80% of exports will not be subject to dut

Garnik Tadevosian
Commersant, Georgia
July 2 2026

The European Union intends to introduce autonomous trade measures for Armenia that will allow for the liberalization of around 80% of Armenian exports, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

“I know Armenia is still facing significant economic pressure from Russia. But rest assured: when pressure mounts on our partners, the EU steps up. And I have some announcements here too,” von der Leyen said when announcing two measures at a joint briefing with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan on Thursday.

Armenia will receive the remaining 18 million euros from a 52 million euro aid package aimed at strengthening and diversifying trade in the near future, she said.

“The funding can help establish an export promotion agency. Second, we are presenting a proposal for Autonomous Trade Measures. They will liberalise almost 80% of Armenian exports to the EU. That means 80% of your trade with us will now be tariff-free,” von der Leyen said.

On account of this, those goods that are now largely oriented towards the Russian market will be sent to the single market of the European Union, she said.

“This measure will open the European doors to almost 99% of Armenia’s fresh fruits, vegetables, and plants that used to be exported to Russia. And it will open the door of the European Union Single Market to more than 90% of your exports of beverages and spirits,” she said.

“And this is only the beginning. With these new measures in place, you will have the means to diversify – and to diversify fast. In mid-July, we will deploy experts to Armenia to work directly with your producers, your businesses, and your exporters and help them seize all the opportunities that a privileged partnership with the EU can offer,” von der Leyen said.

https://commersant.ge/en/news/worl/eu-to-liberalize-trade-with-armenia-80-of-exports-will-not-be-subject-to-duties-european-commission-head

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Analysis / Armenian Genocide: New Israeli Card in Geopolitical Contest with Tu

Frangulian Shushan
ABNA
July 4 2026

The age-old strategy of “divide and rule” has long been a staple of diplomacy, particularly wielded by colonial powers to expand their spheres of influence. And in today’s era, this tactic is alive and well, just as it was in the days of empire.

ABNA24 – The age-old strategy of “divide and rule” has long been a staple of diplomacy, particularly wielded by colonial powers to expand their spheres of influence. And in today’s era, this tactic is alive and well, just as it was in the days of empire. The Israeli cabinet’s recent decision to recognize the Armenian genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923 fits squarely into that playbook. To view this merely as a historical, moral, or human-rights gesture would be naive.

The regime’s foreign ministry has hailed the move as “historic,” and Israeli officials are framing it as a stand for historical truth and justice for the victims. But the timing of the decision, the regional upheavals of recent months, and Armenia’s notably tepid response all point to a different reality: Tel Aviv is weaponizing the Armenian genocide file as a geopolitical bargaining chip and a tool for settling regional scores.

Though the cabinet greenlit the plan only days ago, and it still needs final Knesset approval to become official policy, the political will to go down this road had been taking shape for months. The clearest signal came back in late August 2025, when Benjamin Netanyahu broke new ground by explicitly labeling the massacres of Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks under the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

Growing confrontation with Turkey: When history is weaponized

This latest decision by Tel Aviv should be seen as the next link in a chain of upheavals triggered by the collapse of Israeli-Turkish relations after the Gaza war, and the emergence of a new geopolitical order stretching from the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant all the way to the South Caucasus. In this new order, even historical grievances are being repurposed as tools in security and political rivalries.

Over the decades, the two countries’ relationship had seen its share of ups and downs, but never fully ruptured. That changed after the Gaza war, pushing ties into uncharted territory. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not just accuse Tel Aviv of committing genocide in Gaza, he branded the regime a “terrorist state.” Ankara went on to claim it had halted a significant portion of its economic and trade ties with the Israeli regime and closed its airspace to Israeli aircraft.

In recent months, the Turkish leader and his AK Party officials have repeatedly framed Zionist ideology as a threat to Turkey’s national security. Erdoğan even declared that the fight against Zionism is not just about defending Palestine, it is part of a broader struggle for the survival of the Turkish nation.

Into this volatile mix steps the Armenian genocide file, now effectively weaponized as a historical and political pressure lever for Israel against Turkey. It is an issue Ankara has been hypersensitive about for over a century, treating any formal recognition by foreign governments as a hostile act.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry fired back swiftly, accusing Israel of using the Armenian genocide recognition to whitewash its genocide against the people of Gaza. Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz echoed that line, calling the cabinet’s move a desperate attempt to cover up its own crimes.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has insisted the decision is not “retaliatory” against Turkey. But coming at a moment of peak tensions between the two sides, and given the blunt language Israeli officials have been using about Turkish policy, the political calculus behind this move leaves little room for doubt.

Seen through this lens, Tel Aviv is sending Ankara a clear and unmistakable message: just as Turkey wields the Gaza file and genocide allegations against Israel on the international stage, Israel can just as easily turn Turkey’s most sensitive historical wound into a political pressure point of its own.

Boosting Israeli foothold in Caucasus and Central Asia 

The second dimension of this decision lies in the geopolitical contests playing out across the South Caucasus, and Israel’s calculated push to expand its footprint there.

In recent years, Tel Aviv has been pursuing a two-pronged strategy: on one hand, breaking out of its regional isolation through normalization deals with neighboring states; on the other, reinforcing its security posture by building influence along the geopolitical periphery of the Islamic Republic, which it views as the single greatest existential threat. Within that framework, Israeli regime has trained its sights on Central Asia and the Caucasus, looking to open new channels of engagement.

The developments of the past few years, particularly since the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, have turned the South Caucasus into one of the most contested arenas for regional and extra-regional powers. Russia, Turkey, Iran, the United States, the EU, and Israel are all jockeying to lock in their positions.

Yet the hostile dynamic between Azerbaijan and Armenia, coupled with Baku’s strategic alliance with Ankara, makes this recognition move a delicate and potentially disruptive gambit within Israel’s existing regional alliances.

Over the past two decades, Tel Aviv has built a deep strategic partnership with Azerbaijan, including military, intelligence, and energy cooperation that has become a cornerstone of Israel’s regional policy. But the Israelis know that relying solely on the Baku axis won’t secure a lasting presence in the Caucasus. Opening parallel channels with Armenia could give Tel Aviv far greater geopolitical flexibility, especially as Yerevan gradually drifts away from Russia and actively scouts for new security and political partners.

Seen in this light, recognizing the Armenian genocide may well be part of a broader Israeli effort to pry open doors in Yerevan, strengthen its hand in the emerging calculus of the Caucasus, and perhaps even extend its reach into Central Asia down the line.

Grouping in Palestinian case

Another likely objective behind this decision is Israel’s attempt to claw its way out of the international isolation it now faces over Gaza.

Tel Aviv is currently reeling under a avalanche of global accusations that include war crimes, genocide, you name it. Governments, human rights organizations, UN rapporteurs, and perhaps most critically, world public opinion, especially in the West, have leveled unprecedented criticism against Israel.

In such climate, recognizing the Armenian genocide could be a bid to rehabilitate Israel’s moral image: to cast the regime as a champion of genocide victims, a nation that refuses to stay silent in the face of historical atrocities.

But there may be a deeper geopolitical calculus at play here, one tied to the Israeli right’s long-standing ambition to bury the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative once and for all. That initiative, it’s worth recalling, promised the creation of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Netanyahu-led hardline cabinet is determined to erase even the faintest trace of that blueprint. And one of the most effective ways to entrench that erasure is to secure international legitimacy for moving Israel’s capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move already greenlit by the US during Trump’s first term. So, by formally recognizing the Armenian genocide, and by extension, drawing closer to Yerevan, Israel may well be laying the groundwork for a similar push: leveraging that moral and political capital to eventually gain broader acceptance for Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital.

When Yerevan reads Israel’s mind

Perhaps the most telling sign that this decision is politically driven lies in Armenia’s conspicuously tepid response.

Contrary to Yerevan’s usual practice of enthusiastically welcoming foreign recognition of the Armenian genocide, this time Armenian officials have held back. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had even warned earlier, explicitly, that the issue must not be turned into a “geopolitical bargaining chip.”

This Armenian position is driven in several hard realities.

First, Armenia knows full well that Israel has been one of Azerbaijan’s key arms suppliers in recent years. A significant chunk of Baku’s military edge in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was built on Israeli technology and equipment.

Second, Yerevan sees the timing of this move as driven less by historical or moral conviction and more by the escalating rift between Israel and Turkey.

Third, Pashinyan’s government has been pursuing a normalization track with Turkey over the past few years. With the recent breakthroughs between Baku and Yerevan, the prospect of reopening borders and restoring diplomatic ties between Armenia and Turkey is more tangible than ever. The last thing Yerevan wants is for the genocide file to be dragged back into the arena of regional power rivalries.

And fourth, from the perspective of a large swath of Armenia’s political class, a country accused of committing widespread atrocities against civilians in Gaza simply lacks the moral standing to pose as a defender of genocide victims.

Regional consequences for Tel Aviv

This decision by the Israeli cabinet carries implications that reach far beyond bilateral tensions between Tel Aviv and Ankara.

First, it is likely to escalate political and diplomatic friction between the two sides, though history suggests Ankara tends not to fully sever ties even with countries that have formally recognized the Armenian genocide.

Second, it could upset the delicate balance in the South Caucasus and complicate Israel’s relationship with Azerbaijan, especially if Baku interprets the move as Tel Aviv backpedaling on its longstanding strategic alignment.

Third, this episode underscores a broader trend: in the emerging regional order, historical grievances are no longer relics of the past, they have become live ammunition in geopolitical rivalries.

Ultimately, the Israeli cabinet’s recognition of the Armenian genocide is less a historical or moral statement than a reflection of the profound geopolitical shifts reshaping a region that stretches from the South Caucasus to the Eastern Mediterranean.

That is why, today more than ever, the Armenian genocide case is not merely a historical question, it is a strategic battleground, woven into the very fabric of a reordering region where even the historical memory of nations is now fair game in geopolitical competitions.

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Armenia’s PM Pashinyan In Tehran For Khamenei Funeral

Hovik Karapetian
Eurasia Review
July 3 2026
 July 3, 2026  0 Comments

By PanARMENIAN

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has arrived in Tehran to attend the official farewell ceremony for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s plane has landed in Tehran. He announced this on his Facebook page.

“I have arrived in Tehran to attend the official farewell ceremony for the late Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Khamenei,” Pashinyan wrote.

At Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport, Pashinyan was received by Iranian Vice President Seyed Hamid Pourmohammadi.

On July 2, Armenia’s prime minister told reporters that he would travel to Iran on July 3 and return the same day. He said meetings with Iran’s leadership were planned during the visit.

On the morning of July 3, Ali Khamenei’s body was transferred to Tehran, where Iranians began paying their final respects to the ayatollah, Sputnik Armenia reports.

Farewell ceremonies are planned in several cities across the Islamic Republic and will continue until July 9. Representatives of about 100 countries are expected to attend the mourning events.

In Tehran, the ceremonies will take place on July 4-6, followed by Qom on July 7. On July 8, Khamenei’s body is expected to be taken to Iraq so that Shiite Muslims can pay their final tribute. On July 9, the ayatollah will be buried in his hometown of Mashhad.

Khamenei was killed on the first day of U.S.-Israeli strikes, on February 28. The news was officially confirmed on March 1. After his death, his son Mojtaba became Iran’s new supreme leader. Due to injuries and security considerations, he has not appeared in public so far but has delivered several addresses to the Iranian people.

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Why Israel’s recognition of the Armenian genocide is raising new questions

Aram Torosian
RFI France
July 4 2026

Israel’s recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide has ended decades of caution over one of the world’s most politically sensitive historical events. The cabinet decision, announced last week and still awaiting parliamentary ratification, has also prompted questions over whether it is driven more by current regional politics than by historical recognition.

By:Jan van der Made

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who proposed the measure, called the recognition a “moral and historical duty”, saying Israel, “as a Jewish state” – built on memories of the genocide of its own people during the Second World War – “had to reject denial and distortion of the historical record”.

He also said the Armenian genocide – the state-sponsored ethnic cleansing launched by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 that killed up to 1.5 million ethnic Armenians – had been the subject of an “institutionalised campaign of denial”, mainly by the Turkish government.

“It is never too late to do the right thing,” Sa’ar added.

Political motives

Not everyone accepts the government’s explanation.

“This decision is strictly political,” said Professor Gerald Steinberg of Bar Ilan University.

“There’s a lot of criticism within Israel, including in diplomatic and security circles that are close to the government. This is about Turkey,” he said.

For years, Israel’s ties with Turkey discouraged recognition of the Armenian genocide, Steinberg said.

“That’s removed from the agenda: there is an ongoing escalation of conflict with… Turkey. Turkey now has become, in many ways, a source of conflict,” he said.

Armenia’s response was restrained rather than celebratory. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Yerevan saw “no need to respond” and did not want to be drawn into the “weaponisation” of the genocide issue in current politics.

“It was generally seen as too little too late,” Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Centre in Yerevan, told RFI.

“Coupled with Israeli military support for neighbouring Azerbaijan in the war of 2020, this was much less of a welcome positive move than would be expected.

“There’s a degree of resentment in Armenia that the genocide issue has become ammunition in the conflict between the Israeli government and the Turkish leadership”.

Armenia genocide monument in Yerevan. © RFI/Jan van der Made

Angry response

Turkey reacted angrily, accusing Israel of political hypocrisy and of trying to distract attention from the war in Gaza.

Its foreign ministry said Israel, which it described as being accused of genocide against Palestinians, was trying to “cover up its own crimes” through the recognition decision.

Ankara also rejected the genocide label, maintaining that the 1915 events “should not be described as genocide”.

“The general feeling is that Turks are being unfairly picked on for having committed terrible deeds,” said ltar Turan a professor at Bilgi University in Istanbul.

“Which at a time when nationalism in an environment where many races lived in an intermingled fashion meant that many races committed terrible things against the others.”

Armenians warn ethnic cleansing risks being forgotten – again

Turan argued that Israel hoped the decision would divert attention from its actions in Gaza.

“I don’t see anything moral about what Israel is doing,” he added.

Others believe Ankara’s anger was directed less at the recognition itself than at Israel’s government.

“The Turkish reaction was 90 percent criticising [Israeli PM Benjamin] Netanyahu and Israeli policy, and a mere 10 percent reacting to the genocide recognition itself,” said Giragosian.

For Turkey, he said, “it’s also seen as Israel being an interloper, interfering in an issue that’s really between Turkey and Armenia.”

Steinberg sees the dispute as part of a broader regional rivalry.

He said Turkey wanted to become a “regional superpower” in the Middle East, possibly replacing Iran, while “harbouring a number of Hamas officials that are accused of having planned terror attacks” and “trying to resuscitate the organization from within Turkey.”

Who gets to be remembered under France’s contentious ‘memory laws’?

Diplomatic costs

The criticism did not come from Turkey alone.

Its ally Azerbaijan also condemned the decision and called on Israel to reconsider. The foreign ministry said the move “distorted historical facts, would not promote reconciliation or mutual understanding, and risked deepening divisions rather than helping regional peace.”

The response carries particular weight because Azerbaijan is one of Israel’s closest regional partners. It also fought a bloody war with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave that ended in 2023 with Turkish support.

Clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia ended in 2023 with Azerbaijan taking over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave after decades of Armenian occupation. © AFP

“Azerbaijan’s vehement criticism of the Israeli move is a step backwards, because it follows a year and a half of unprecedented progress in diplomatic negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Giragosian said.

He argued that Azerbaijan should not be part of the dispute.

“Azerbaijan has no direct relevance to an issue between Armenia and Turkey and to global genocide recognition,” Giragosian said.

“It’s Turkey that has to deal with a painful, difficult past and come to terms with the Armenian genocide. And it’s Turkey more than any other country that has this burden of responsibility.”

The diplomatic picture is complicated by Israel’s long-standing security ties with Azerbaijan.

Relations between Israel and Armenia “are not good”, Steinberg said, adding that Israel works closely with Azerbaijan, which has “major advanced Israeli weapons cooperation”, while Iran is “an enemy, both of Azerbaijan and Israel” – with “Armenia, seen as on the other side.”

Turan said Azerbaijan’s criticism was aimed primarily at Israel rather than Turkey.

“Being critical of Israel is a message to Israel, not to Turkey,” he said. “We must not forget that Azeri oil is being shipped to Israel through Turkish ports.”

Despite Israel’s change in policy, Steinberg does not expect relations with Armenia to improve significantly.

He said the recognition was unlikely to “lead to a major improvement in the relations” between Israel and Armenia.

In fact, he argued, Israel is “shooting in its own goal”.

“Recognising the Armenian genocide was seen as a means of embarrassing Turkey. But it complicated Israel’s diplomatic isolation.”


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Pezeshkian: Iran, Armenia enjoy deep friendly ties, historical bonds

Karakhanian Suren
IRNA, Iran
July 4 2026

Tehran, IRNA – Meeting the Armenian prime minister, the Iranian president deeply appreciated Armenia’s high-ranking delegation for attending the funeral of the martyred Leader, describing the Armenian government and people’s condolences as a testament to deep, historic bilateral ties.

Pezeshkian made the remarks during a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of a ceremony honoring the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, attended by foreign delegations in Tehran on Thursday.

Pezeshkian emphasized that bilateral relations have consistently been built on mutual respect, good neighborliness, and shared interests.

The Islamic Republic highly values Armenia’s responsible approach and friendly support across various sectors, viewing this cooperation as vital for strengthening bilateral ties and regional stability, he stated.

He further stressed the necessity of shielding bilateral relations from foreign interference, adding that the friendly ties between Tehran and Yerevan must develop based on the mutual will of both nations, independent of external actors.

For his part, Pashinyan reaffirmed the friendly relations between the two countries, asserting that his country has consistently striven to ensure its actions never compromise Iran’s interests. Instead, Armenia remains committed to standing by Iran within the framework of friendship and good neighborliness to the best of its capabilities.

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Why isn’t the Armenian government celebrating the official Israeli recognition

Emil Lazarian
All Israel News
July 1 2026
J. Micah Hancock 

The Israeli government’s recent decision to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide sparked predictably angry reactions from Turkey and Azerbaijan; however, the reaction from Armenia has largely been muted. 

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan downplayed the significance of the Israeli government’s move while speaking to reporters in Yerevan. 

“We see no need to respond because we believe that refraining from entering into the issue of the weaponization of the Armenian Genocide is in the interests of the Republic of Armenia,” Pashinyan said. 

The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has previously noted major genocide announcements or memorials around the world, did not issue any statement regarding the Israeli government’s acknowledgment. 

The Armenian National Committee also released a tepid statement welcoming the move, while also accusing Israel of playing a role in the deaths of Armenians during the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. 

A harsher reaction to the cabinet’s decision was offered by the former Armenian parliament member Mihran Hakobyan, who wrote, “It is the pinnacle of immoral cynicism that the 1915 Armenian Genocide is being ‘recognized’ by a fascist state which, from the moment of its founding, has been — after Turkey — the most active in fighting against the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, has directly participated in the patricide of Armenians in Artsakh, and is carrying out an obvious genocide in Gaza.” 

A similar position was expressed by Serj Tankian, an Armenian-American and the lead singer of the heavy metal band System Of A Down, which is composed entirely of Armenian descendants. In an expletive-laced reaction video posted to Instagram, he accused the Israeli government of using Armenian history and pain for “political advantage.” 

“For many years, Israel’s government used AIPAC to lobby the U.S. Congress to not recognize the Armenian Genocide, to prevent Congress from recognizing the Armenian Genocide due to their relationship with Turkey, their intelligence sharing with Turkey, etc.,” Tankian said. 

“Today, the Netanyahu cabinet decided to recognize the Armenian Genocide of 1915, a genocide that led to Hitler thinking that he could do what he could do to the Jews in the 1930s and 40s,” he continued.

“The fact that this government is already committing genocide in Gaza and Lebanon, decided to recognize the genocide of my grandparents, is the worst f—ing thing that they could have done to Armenians by using our history, our genocide, our pain to their political advantage,” Tankian said.

The harsh words by Hakobyan and Tankian illustrate the pain many Armenians feel over the failure of the Israeli government to officially recognize the genocide, which many historians believe led directly to the Holocaust. 

However, not all Armenian leaders reacted as cynically to the Israeli cabinet’s move. Bishop Koryun Baghdasaryan, a senior leader and dean of the manor of Jerusalem’s Armenian Patriarchate, said that in making this move the government “fulfilled its moral duty.” 

“It means a lot for the State of Israel, for the Jewish people,” Bishop Baghdasaryan told The Jerusalem Post, “because as a nation that went through the Holocaust, and right after the Holocaust established the State of Israel, it was really the moral duty for the State of Israel to recognize the Armenian Genocide.” 

Predictably, the reaction by Turkey was sharp, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accusing Israel of “slander.” 

“There are many slander campaigns going on by this network of murderers who had the blood of 73,000 innocent Gazans on their hands,” Erdoğan said. 

“In our history, there have been no genocides, no massacres, oppression, and no colonialism. Throughout our thousands of years of glorious history, there has only been justice and compassion,” he claimed. 

Erdoğan’s press secretary Burhanettin Duran accused Israel of using the announcement to “cover up” its killings of Palestinians. 

“Israel’s recognition of the events of 1915 as a so-called ‘genocide’ is nothing more than a futile attempt to cover up the blood of innocent Palestinians shed by its own hands, its own state terrorism in the Middle East, and its crimes against humanity committed with impunity,” Duran wrote in a post to social media. 

Israel’s regional partner, Azerbaijan, which has a majority Turkic population and speaks a Turkish dialect, called the announcement “a matter of serious concern.” 

“The decision by the Israeli government concerning the so-called ‘Armenian genocide’ is a matter of serious concern,” the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry said. 

“The distortion of the historical facts surrounding the events of 1915, and the reduction of a complex historical issue to a political decision without a sound legal or scholarly basis, are unacceptable,” the statement continued, while calling on the Israeli government to “reconsider this decision.” 

So why has Israel’s long-sought recognition provoked such a tepid reaction among many Armenians? The answer lies in changing political realities of the major parties involved. 

The Turkish government has long denied any systematic Ottoman government program targeting Armenians. While acknowledging that many Armenians were killed, the government has long blamed the deaths on “civil war” and tension related to World War I. 

The genocide has its roots in the broader Islamic-Christian regional conflict stretching back over a millennium. 

Most of the Anatolian Peninsula, modern-day Turkey, was captured from the Christian Byzantine Empire by the Seljuk Turks in the 11th century, which involved the massacre of many Christians. Under later dynasties, including the Ottomans, Armenian Christians refused to convert to Islam. 

During World War I, many Armenians joined Russia, itself a Christian nation, in attacking the Ottomans. In retaliation, the Ottoman Empire began forcibly conscripting adult males, while forcing women, children, and the elderly out of historic Armenian territory. According to many historians, somewhere between 600,000 and 1.5 million Armenians were killed during this time. 

For many years, the Israeli government supported the Turkish stance due to the political cost of angering the Turkish government. Historically, Turkey was one of Israel’s strongest regional partners in the decades before Erdoğan’s Justice and Development (AKP) party came to power. 

Similarly, Israel has not wanted to offend Azerbaijan, which provides roughly 40% of Israel’s oil imports along with a strategic border with one of Israel’s primary enemies, the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Turkey had deep economic and military ties with Israel during the 1970s-1990s. With the rise of Erdoğan’s Islamist party to power, that relationship began to deteriorate rapidly, especially following the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010, when Israeli military forces intercepted several vessels from Turkey that were attempting to break the blockade on Gaza imposed after Hamas took over the Gaza Strip. 

Activists in the flotilla attacked Israeli soldiers as they were boarding one of the vessels, which led to the death of several people. That incident provided Erdoğan with the political cover to disrupt relations with Israel, which had become increasingly unpopular in the religious sector of Turkey. 

While the two nations attempted to restore ties, the start of the October 2023 Gaza War brought a further worsening of relations, after Erdoğan’s government refused to condemn the Hamas attacks and began accusing Israel of “genocide” at the start of the ground campaign. 

With the worsening relations and increasing threats by members of the Erdoğan government being directed against Israel, the former political calculus against angering Turkey no longer holds. 

Many Armenian leaders see the current recognition of the genocide in light of that Israel-Turkey conflict, not as a benevolent gesture by the Israeli government. 

Similarly, the timing of the Israeli announcement appears to be aimed at causing Turkey to lose face just before it hosts the NATO Leaders’ Summit in Ankara next week, as it attempts to re-enter the F-35 program. 

Additionally, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who was only recently re-elected, has been leading a movement away from demanding recognition of the 1915 genocide, and towards peace and integration with both Turkey and Azerbaijan, as part of a push to deepen ties with Europe. 

As election results came in on June 8, Pashinyan said, “The people of Armenia voted for peace, regional prosperity and regional cooperation, and I hope this will be met with a positive response from Turkey and Azerbaijan.” 

From Pashinyan’s perspective, the growing antagonism between Israel and Turkey, already threatening to escalate into a major regional conflict, could not come at a worse time.

Just as he attempts to move on from the defeat in and loss of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023, in which Israel played a part by supplying weapons to Azerbaijan, the Israeli government, for reasons of its own, has chosen to acknowledge the one issue which could drive a wedge between Armenia and its neighbors. 

If Israel is to convince Armenia that the recognition is not just political theater, it will have to treat the issue with the same respect that it demands for Holocaust remembrance.

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Armenia looks to Europe for escape route as Russia tightens the screws

Karapet Navasardian
The Irish Times
July 1 2026

EU acts with relative immediacy in another geopolitical battleground between Russia and the West

Luan Rogers in Yerevan

On Thursday of this week, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is due to land in Armenia, followed by enlargement commissioner Marta Kos.

No strangers to the region, both senior officials visited Armenia when it hosted its inaugural EU Summit in May.

The European Union‘s show of support for Armenia comes as Russian trade restrictions threaten to disrupt the country’s increasingly vulnerable economy.

Moscow introduced the measures during last month’s election campaign, citing apparent food safety concerns with various Armenian goods. This appears to be a punitive measure following the re-election of prime minister Nikol Pashinyan, who has overseen a pivot away from Russia and towards greater alignment with the West.

With Russia now effectively blocked off, Armenia must find other markets for its exports. So far, the EU has pledged support, announcing a €50 million package to help Armenia weather the storm of the Russian embargo.

The EU has acted with relative immediacy in what has emerged as the latest geopolitical battleground between Russia and the West. Last month, von der Leyen went as far as describing Russia’s actions as economic coercion. “We know this playbook all too well,” she said. “This is why Europe stands firmly with Armenia.”

Though Brussels has pledged its support, Armenian exporters will have to push to establish themselves in competitive European markets. Fewer than 8 per cent of Armenia’s exports reach Europe, while more than 35 per cent go to Russia. Despite Armenian producers increasingly meeting international quality standards, Europe’s protected markets remain difficult to penetrate.

Ever since Russia imposed the restrictions, the EU has facilitated the import of Armenian goods, with shipments of fruit and flowers arriving in the last few weeks. Though largely symbolic, it signifies increased economic integration between Armenia and Europe.

Buoyed by European support, Armenia’s economy has largely withstood Russian pressure so far. However, Armenia’s central bank governor has sounded the alarm, warning that the restrictions could cause inflation and weaken the national currency.

Moscow’s failure to deter Azerbaijani military aggression in 2020 severely damaged Armenia’s trust in Russia

As the pressure mounts, Russian president Vladimir Putin has threatened to annul a 2013 energy agreement which guarantees Armenia discounted rates in return for Russian control over natural gas distribution. The reliance on Russian energy exposes Armenia’s vulnerability to leverage from Moscow.

Russia has previously used similar methods to keep its neighbours in check. As tensions escalated with Georgia in the mid-2000s, Moscow blocked the sale of Georgian goods while also deporting Georgian workers from Russia.

Deprived of both export and remittance income, the Georgian economy suffered a temporary shock. However, with the support of the EU, Georgia managed to modernise its production standards and diversify exports over time.

In a similar move, Putin has cautioned that Armenians in Russia will require work permits if the country decides to leave the Eurasian Economic Union. An estimated 70,000 Armenians work in Russia, with their remittances accounting for nearly 12 per cent of the country’s GDP.

The trade dispute represents the latest juncture in Armenia’s complex relationship with Russia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia remained largely under Russian influence, with the new oligarchic elites sidling up to Moscow in exchange for cheap energy and security guarantees.

However, Moscow’s failure to deter Azerbaijani military aggression in 2020 severely damaged Armenia’s trust in Russia. Since then, Armenia has looked to diversify its regional security, recently entering a strategic partnership with the US amid normalisation talks with Azerbaijan.

Either way, Putin has called time on Armenia’s diplomatic balancing act – demanding a referendum to decide whether Armenia remains in the Eurasian Economic Union or breaks ranks and joins the EU. Ultimately, Armenia stands at a crossroads, faced with a changing geopolitical landscape that presents both risks and opportunities for the country’s future.



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Azerbaijan chief rabbi asks Knesset to reconsider recognition of Armenian Geno

Garnik Tadevosian
Jerusalem Post
July 1 2026

Rabbi Shneur Segal, Chief Rabbi of the Ashkenazi Jewish Community of Azerbaijan, sent the letter to Ofir Katz, Chairman of the Likud Faction, on Monday following the Israeli government’s vote.

ByMATHILDA HELLERJULY 1, 2026 14:16Updated: JULY 1, 2026 17:36

If the Knesset recognizes the Armenian Genocide, it will affect the local Jewish community, according to Rabbi Shneur Segal, chief rabbi of the Ashkenazi Jewish Community of Azerbaijan.

“I am writing to you on behalf of the Jews of the city and the Jewish community, with a sincere request that you hear our voice and take it into consideration before advancing in the Knesset the recognition of what is referred to as the ‘Armenian Genocide,’” he wrote Monday in a letter to letter to Likud MK Ofir Katz, the coalition chairman.

On Sunday, the cabinet voted to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide.

The Jewish community forms an inseparable part of Azerbaijani society and, for generations, has enjoyed security, respect, and full religious freedom, Segal said.

“At a time when Jews in many countries around the world are afraid to walk openly with visible Jewish symbols, here we are able to walk through the streets of Baku wearing a kippah, safely and without fear,” he wrote. “This reality demonstrates more than anything the depth of friendship and respect that the Azerbaijani people have for the Jewish people.”

Furthermore, Azerbaijan’s Jewish community is deeply connected to Israel, where most of its members have relatives.

Segal said he had felt compelled to write to the Knesset because of this deep connection between the Azerbaijani Jewish community and Israel.

Armenia-Azerbaijan dispute spans decades

The dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan is one of the longest-running conflicts in the post-Soviet world. The two countries have spent nearly 35 years fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory but historically inhabited mainly by Armenians.

What is known as the Armenian Genocide was the systematic persecution, deportation, and mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I, beginning in 1915. Most scholars estimate the death toll was anywhere from one million to 1.5 million Armenians.

Azerbaijan’s antipathy toward the recognition of this genocide stems more from modern geopolitical loyalty and regional alliances and less from historical debate.

Turkey, which is Azerbaijan’s strongest military and diplomatic ally, rejects the characterization of the 1915 events as genocide, and Azerbaijan does not wish to directly contradict Ankara’s official historical position.

Armenia is also viewed by many Azerbaijanis as the cause of much of their national trauma, especially due to the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh. They therefore may view recognition as politically benefiting their adversary while harming a key ally.

Armenian Genocide is ‘sensitive’ to Azerbaijani people, rabbi says

Armenian Genocide is a sensitive issue for Azerbaijani, Segal said.

“We do not seek to decide historical disputes, nor do we enter into questions that are left to the research of historians,” he wrote. “However, we know very well how sensitive this issue is for the Azerbaijani people, and how much the decision taken in Israel has hurt people who see themselves as true friends of Israel and of the Jewish people.”

Segal said he did not doubt that relations between Israel and Azerbaijan were strong and stable, but he could nevertheless see the pain caused.

“Many members of the Jewish community living here also feel discomfort regarding this decision,” he wrote. “We ask you, as members of the Knesset and as leaders of the public in Israel, to also listen to the voice of the Jewish community in Azerbaijan, and to do everything in your power not to advance recognition of this decision in the Knesset.”

“We believe that listening to our voice will be an _expression_ of responsibility, sensitivity, gratitude, and commitment to continuing to strengthen the deep friendship between Israel and the Republic of Azerbaijan,” Segal wrote.

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Conscience or convenience: What’s behind Israel’s recognition of Armenian Geno

Hambardsumian Paul
Jerusalem Post
July 1 2026

The moral question, however, never changed. If recognizing the Armenian tragedy is a moral imperative today, why was it not one in 2006, or in 1996?

ByDR. ELINA BARDACH-YALOVJULY 1, 2026 18:44Updated: JULY 1, 2026 19:54

The Israeli government has unanimously approved Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s proposal to recognize the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. The official statement repeatedly invokes Israel’s moral obligation. That immediately raises a simple question. If this was indeed a moral obligation, why did it suddenly become one only now?

For decades, successive Israeli governments declined to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Politicians from across the political spectrum proposed doing so, yet every government ultimately chose not to, citing strategic and diplomatic considerations.

The moral question, however, never changed. If recognizing the Armenian tragedy is a moral imperative today, why was it not one in 2006, or in 1996?

The answer has never been about morality.

According to longstanding reports, Israel’s public broadcaster prepared a documentary in the 1980s about the mass killings of Armenians in 1915. The film was never aired. The reported reason was pressure from the government and the security establishment after Turkey, then one of Israel’s closest regional partners, allegedly warned that broadcasting it could jeopardize a sensitive security operation. Whether every detail of that account is accurate is almost beside the point. What matters is that, for decades, Israeli governments openly treated this issue as one of national interest rather than moral principle.

Today, that strategic reality has changed.

National interests have always shaped the decision

There is nothing unusual about that. States shape foreign policy according to national interests every day. But if that is what happened here, it would be more honest to describe this decision as a diplomatic gesture dressed in moral language rather than as the fulfillment of a moral obligation.

National interests have always shaped the decision

There is nothing unusual about that. States shape foreign policy according to national interests every day. But if that is what happened here, it would be more honest to describe this decision as a diplomatic gesture dressed in moral language rather than as the fulfillment of a moral obligation.

Supporters of the government’s decision may argue that timing is irrelevant. Doing the right thing late, they might say, is still better than never doing it at all.

That argument raises another difficult question. If recognition is truly based on an unchanging moral principle, would a future Israeli government ever be justified in reversing it if relations with Turkey were one day fully restored? Imagine a future Turkish leader committed to fully restoring the strategic partnership with Israel who asks Jerusalem to revoke its recognition as part of a broader reconciliation. Would Israel refuse because moral principles cannot be negotiated? Or would the political calculus change once again?

If the answer depends on the geopolitical circumstances of the day, then morality is no longer guiding policy. Policy is guiding morality.

History should be left to historians

This is precisely why questions surrounding the events of 1915 should remain primarily in the hands of historians rather than politicians. Historians work with archival documents, eyewitness testimony, military records, and competing interpretations. Their responsibility is to follow the evidence wherever it leads. Governments, by contrast, inevitably make decisions through the lens of present-day diplomatic interests.

Important aspects of the events of 1915 remain the subject of historical debate, including the wartime context, the role of Armenian paramilitary forces, Russian financial and military involvement, the Russian Empire’s displacement and ethnic cleansing of Muslim populations in the Caucasus, and the decisions taken by the Ottoman authorities. These questions belong in archives, universities, and scholarly journals, not in cabinet resolutions shaped by the diplomatic priorities of the moment.

Once governments begin issuing official judgments on historical controversies more than a century after the fact, where does the process end? Should elected officials determine the accepted interpretation of every disputed historical tragedy? Or should they leave those questions to historians whose profession is to study the past?

Supporters of the government’s decision often point to Holocaust recognition as a precedent. At first glance, the comparison appears persuasive. Yet the two cases are fundamentally different.

When European states recognize the Holocaust and criminalize its denial, they are not simply expressing an opinion about history. In many cases, they are confronting their own historical responsibility. Nazi Germany planned and carried out the systematic extermination of the Jewish people, while numerous European governments, institutions, and collaborators participated directly or indirectly in that crime. In such cases, recognition is inseparable from accepting responsibility.

Israel’s recognition of events that took place in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 is fundamentally different. Israel bears no historical responsibility for those events. The same is true for many other countries whose parliaments periodically vote on the issue. Honoring the memory of Armenian victims, supporting historical research, preserving memorials, and encouraging open academic discussion do not require transforming a century-old historical tragedy into an instrument of contemporary political messaging. This is especially true at a time when Armenia itself is moving closer to normalization with Turkey, and when its leadership has made clear that it does not want the events of 1915 to be weaponized by other countries for their own political purposes.

Principle or political timing?

History deserves careful scholarship. Diplomacy requires difficult choices.

Confusing one with the other ultimately weakens both.

When governments discover their conscience only after the geopolitical risks have disappeared, what they are celebrating is not morality.

It is convenience.

Dr. Elina Bardach-Yalov is a former member of Knesset, a former advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a research associate at Jerusalem Multidisciplinary College, and head of the Antisemitism Watch NGO.

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