AW: Armenian Students for Artsakh research competition concludes with final event in Yerevan

Andranik Taslakhchian
 Guest Contributor From the Party, Youth 0

The event concluding the “Armenian Students for Artsakh” Research Competition held at the ARF Aram Manukian Youth Center, Yerevan, February 1, 2024 (Photo: Hakob Kolyan)

YEREVAN—On February 1, the concluding event of the “Armenian Students for Artsakh” Research Competition took place at the ARF Aram Manukian Youth Center in Yerevan. The event was organized by the ARF Bureau Youth Office of Affairs under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports of the Republic of Artsakh.

The program, initiated in 2023, aimed to harness the professional abilities of Armenian students across various fields to address the Armenian cause, particularly the Artsakh issue. It sought to make the conducted studies available for effective utilization by influential institutions engaged in pro-Armenian activities. In the long term, the initiative strives to analyze issues objectively, foster analytical thinking and develop approaches crucial for mature political thought and activity.

The event was graced by the presence of the Artsakh Republic’s Minister of Education and Culture Norik Mkrtchyan, Artsakh National Assembly deputies Vahram Balayan and Metakse Hakobyan, as well as RA National Assembly deputies Armenouhi Kyureghyan, Christine Vardanyan and Garnik Danielyan.

At the event, top-performing students participating in the program delivered speeches presenting their studies, while their mentors provided testimonials. Twelve individual students and one student group from Armenia, Artsakh, Lebanon, Iran and the United States dedicated themselves to the project.

Special appreciation was accorded to the following two articles, distinguished by their importance and relevance.

  • “The destructive impact of the blockade and forcible displacement of Artsakh on the rights and mental state of the children of Artsakh”
    • Mentor – Gegham Stepanyan, Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Artsakh
    • Student – Datev Davtyan, Republic of Armenia
  • “The urgent necessity to preserve the spiritual and non-material heritage of Artsakh”
    • Mentor – Father Garegin Hambardzumyan, director of Artsakh’s spiritual and cultural heritage preservation office in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
    • Student – Vahagn Khachatryan, Republic of Artsakh

The following students were recognized as winners.

  • First place – recipient of a $1,000 scholarship: 
    • “Relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia”
    • Mentor – Abraham Gasparyan, founding director of Genesis Armenia Center
    • Student Group – Hovhanes Ghazaryan, Lilit Yekmalyan, Latush Simonyan, Republic of Armenia
  • Second place – recipient of a $750 scholarship:
    • “Azerbaijan’s Caviar Diplomacy in Europe”
    • Mentor – Heghineh Evinyan, director of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy
    • Student – Narod Noramanian, Holland
  • Third place – recipient of a $500 scholarship
    • “Relations between Azerbaijan and Israel”
    • Mentor – Shahan Kandaharian, editor-in-chief of Beirut Aztag Daily
    • Student – Zhanna Vardanyan, Republic of Armenia 

At the conclusion, all participants were presented with certificates and gifts.

The organizers and winners of the “Armenian Students for Artsakh” Research Competition (Photo: Hakob Kolyan)

The ARF Bureau Office of Youth Affairs extends sincere thanks and gratitude to the donors and mentors of the project.

ARF Bureau member Hovsep Der Kevorkian (Photo: Hakob Kolyan)

In his remarks, ARF Bureau member and liaison to youth affairs, Hovsep Der Kevorkian, emphasized the three main focal points of the project: the students, the studies and the institutions dedicated to safeguarding Armenian rights. He highlighted that these studies serve not only as sources of information but also as platforms for recommendations and prospective action. Der Kevorkian underscored the strength of the Armenian people, particularly its students, portraying this project as a modest contribution toward consolidating their potential and enhancing their involvement in national affairs through innovative methods.

He added that some studies delve into how, over the years, Azerbaijan has leveraged various means to achieve its current successes, including stonewalling, diplomatic maneuvers, alliances and other strategies. The pressing question today, he argued, is how Armenians can strengthen the state and halt the gradual erosion of their positions, transforming this trend into a path of growth and recovery leading to new triumphs.

To rally Armenian students around this crucial issue, the ARF Bureau Office of Youth Affairs will continue its mission to encourage their engagement in pro-Armenian activities, prioritizing support for Artsakh and the protection of the rights of Artsakh Armenians.




RFE/RL Armenian Service – 02/15/2024

Emil Karabekian 
                                        Thursday, 


Iran Again Warns Against ‘Outside Powers’ In South Caucasus


Iran - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi meets Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher 
Grigorian, Tehran, .


In what appeared to be a fresh warning to Armenia, Iranian President Ebrahim 
Raisi told a visiting senior Armenian official on Thursday that Tehran remains 
strongly opposed to the geopolitical presence of outside powers in the South 
Caucasus.

Raisi’s office singled out the issue in its readout of his meeting with Deputy 
Prime Minister Mher Grigorian reported by Iranian news agencies. The 
intervention of “outsiders” in regional disputes could only exacerbate, rather 
than resolve, them, he said in a clear reference to the United States and the 
European Union.

Raisi made the same point in a December phone call with Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian. In recent years, Pashinian’s government has increasingly pinned its 
hopes on U.S. and EU efforts to broker an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.

Russia is very critical of those efforts, saying that they are primarily aimed 
at driving Moscow out of the region and could only spell more trouble for the 
Armenians.

“The future of the South Caucasus should be decided by the countries for which 
this region is a common home. Neither the United States, nor France, nor the 
European Union are among such countries,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister 
Mikhail Galuzin told the Moscow daily Izvestia in an interview published on 
Thursday.

“Therefore, we believe that the involvement of extra-regional forces, 
representatives of the West in this region, something towards which official 
Yerevan is unfortunately inclined, is not useful,” said Galuzin.

Amid Armenia’s unprecedented rift with Russia, Pashinian’s government has 
pledged to “diversify” the South Caucasus country’s foreign and security policy 
through closer links with the Western powers. Last September, it hosted a 
U.S.-Armenian military exercise criticized by both Moscow and Tehran.

Despite his clear warning to Yerevan, Raisi on Thursday described Iran’s current 
relationship with Armenia as “friendly” and “constructive.” He called for the 
“full implementation” of economic agreements reached by the two neighboring 
states.

An Armenian delegation headed Grigorian visited Tehran for a regular session of 
an Armenian-Iranian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation.

Iran backs Armenia in its rejection of Azerbaijani demands for an 
extraterritorial corridor that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan 
exclave through Syunik, the only Armenian region bordering the Islamic Republic. 
According to an Armenian government statement, during his meeting with Raisi, 
Grigorian praised Tehran’s stance on “the inviolability of Armenia’s territorial 
integrity and sovereignty.”




Pashinian Warns Of ‘Large-Scale’ Azeri Attack On Armenia


Russia - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijan's President 
Ilham Aliyev listen to a guide during a visit to the Catherine Palace on the 
sidelines of the CIS summit in St. Petersburg, December 26, 2023.


Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday rejected Azerbaijan’s continuing 
demands for legislative changes in Armenia and said that Baku may be planning 
“large-scale” military aggression against his country.

Pashinian complained that despite his readiness for compromise, the Azerbaijani 
leadership is pursuing a “policy of military coercion” in an effort to clinch 
more Armenian territory and other concessions from Yerevan. He said that it is 
reluctant to delimit the long border between the two states where four Armenian 
soldiers were killed in an Azerbaijani ceasefire violation on Tuesday.

“Our analysis shows that there may be one reason for this and that reason may 
be, for example, the launch of military operations at some sections of the 
border with the prospect of turning the military escalation into a full-scale 
war against Armenia,” he said during a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan.

Pashinian went on to reject Azerbaijani statements regarding the Armenian 
constitution and other legislative acts, saying that they constitute a violation 
of Armenia’s sovereignty and interference in its internal affairs.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev reiterated on Wednesday that he will not sign 
a peace treaty discussed by the two sides “if Armenia does not bring its 
legislation to a normal state.” He said that legislation contains territorial 
claims to Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is sworn in for a new term in 
office, .

Aliyev said on February 1 that Armenia should remove from its constitution a 
reference to its 1990 declaration of independence which in turn mentions a 1989 
unification act adopted by the legislative bodies of Soviet Armenia and the then 
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.

Pashinian countered on Thursday that during their peace talks and written 
exchanges last year two sides agreed to make sure that they “cannot refer to 
their respective laws to refuse to comply with any provisions of the peace 
treaty.”

“Therefore, there are no legal provisions in Armenia that prevent the 
implementation of the peace treaty,” he said.

Pashinian himself declared last month, before Aliyev’s statements on the issue, 
that Armenia needs a new constitution reflecting the “new geopolitical 
environment” in the region. His political foes and other critics say that he did 
so under Azerbaijani pressure. They also maintain that Pashinian’s appeasement 
policy will not stop Azerbaijan from demanding further Armenian concessions and 
resorting to military action for that purpose.

Pashinian has denied that he wants to scrap the current Armenian constitution at 
the behest of Baku. Still, he has said that peace with Azerbaijan will be 
impossible as long as the constitutional reference to the 1990 declaration 
remains in place.

Aliyev on Wednesday also indicated that he still has no intention to resume 
peace talks with Armenia mediated by the European Union and the United States. 
“We don’t need mediators to normalize relations with Yerevan,” he said after 
being sworn in for a fifth term in office.




Karabakh Official Unconvinced By Russia’s Calls For Return Of Refugees

        • Shoghik Galstian

Nagorno-Karabakh - Russian peacekeepers help ethnic Armenian civilians to take 
shelter at their base near Stepanakert, September 21, 2023


Nagorno-Karabakh’s human rights ombudsman dismissed on Thursday Russia’s offers 
to help Karabakh Armenians displaced by last September’s Azerbaijani military 
offensive return to their homeland.

Gegham Stepanian insisted that they will not go back even if Moscow offers them 
additional security guarantees.

“I believe that international guarantees are needed instead,” he told a news 
conference in Yerevan. “The track record of the Russian peacekeeping contingent 
deployed to Artsakh after 2020 shows that that guarantee is not enough to ensure 
security in Artsakh.”

Armenia has denounced the Russian peacekeepers for their failure to prevent or 
stop the September 19-20 assault that restored Baku’s full control over Karabakh 
and forced the region’s practically entire population to flee to Armenia. 
President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have rejected the criticism.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Wednesday 
that Moscow is now discussing with Baku the possibility of the safe return of 
the more than 100,000 Karabakh refugees. Earlier this week, Russia’s Deputy 
Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin similarly called for “creating conditions” for 
their repatriation.

Armenia - Gegham Stepanian, Karabakh's human rights ombusdman, at a news 
conference in Yerevan, .

Galuzin also claimed that the Karabakh Armenians left their homeland willingly. 
Stepanian condemned the claim.

“The Russian peacekeeping contingent should have been the first to certify that 
people left under real threat of physical annihilation,” said the ombudsman 
exiled in Armenia along with other Karabakh leaders.

Moscow is not known to have contacted any of those leaders so far to discuss the 
repatriation issue. It did not prevent Azerbaijani security services from 
arresting eight former political and military leaders of Karabakh during the 
mass exodus.

The 2,000 or so Russian peacekeepers remain stationed in Karabakh despite the 
fact that only a few dozen ethnic Armenians are reportedly left there. A senior 
Russian diplomat said in October that their mission “will also be necessary in 
the future.”




Fired Armenian Minister Indicted

        • Robert Zargarian
        • Naira Bulghadarian

Armenia - Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian speaks in the Armenian parliament, 
December 6, 2023.


One day after being relieved of his duties, former Economy Minister Vahan 
Kerobian was indicted and detained on Thursday in an ongoing corruption 
investigation criticized by him.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee implicated him in the alleged rigging of a 
procurement tender which was organized by the Ministry of Economy and 
invalidated by a court last June.

Kerobian entered the committee headquarters in Yerevan early in the afternoon 
and remained there as of 9 p.m. local time. His lawyer, Tigran Yegorian, said 
later in the evening that the law-enforcement agency has asked a court to remand 
his client in pre-trial custody on charges of abuse of power. Kerobian denies 
the accusations, Yegorian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

A U.S.-registered software company, Synergy International Systems, initially won 
the tender despite submitting a much higher bid, worth 392 million drams (about 
$1 million), than the other bidder, Harmonia. In a statement issued on Thursday 
evening, the Investigative Committee said a group of ministry officials colluded 
with senior Synergy executives to illegally disqualify Harmonia and ensure 
Synergy’s victory “at any cost.”

The statement said that the unnamed officials planned on granting the 
procurement contract to Synergy even after the Ministry of Economy reluctantly 
declared Harmonia the winner of the tender in August. It did not accuse them of 
bribery or give any reasons for the preferential treatment allegedly enjoyed by 
Synergy.

The committee spokesman, Gor Abrahamian, confirmed that Kerobian is among five 
ministry officials indicted in the case. But he did not elaborate on the charges 
brought against the ex-minister.

The investigators rounded up the four other officials, including Kerobian’s 
deputy Ani Ispirian, on January 31. They all were set free or moved to house 
arrest in the following days.

Also arrested two weeks ago were Synergy’s founder Ashot Hovanesian and two 
current and former employees. The latter were set free on Monday. Hovanesian’s 
lawyers on Tuesday condemned his continuing detention as “illegal and 
discriminatory.”

Another ministry official was arrested in a separate corruption inquiry jointly 
conducted by the Investigative Committee and the National Security Service. It 
stems from the alleged misuse of government aid meant for private entrepreneurs 
setting up intensive fruit orchards.

Kerobian repeatedly criticized both criminal cases before losing his job, 
arguing that the investigators did not charge his subordinates with bribery or 
embezzlement of public funds. He complained last week that the inquiries have 
“paralyzed the work of the entire state system” as many government officials are 
now not sure that “their honest work will not be punished in the end.”



Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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MS: Will There Be Any ‘Syunik Corridor’?

Jalatian Sonya

by Suren Sargsyan
Suren Sargsyan

Last week, Ilham Aliyev won the presidential elections held in Azerbaijan. The victory was given to him quite easily, without any upheaval and he will continue his presidency in the following years. Now, nothing prevents Aliyev from continuing his aggressive actions against Armenia. In particular, he will try to bring to life the so-called “Syunik Corridor” (or “Zangezur Corridor”) project.

This is a project that the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem had in mind since the collapse of the USSR and, no matter what the official statements are now, it is hard to believe that the two countries have changed their geopolitical priorities. Turkey needs this corridor for its aspirations to unite and lead the Turkic world, and Azerbaijan needs to provide a direct connection with Nakhichevan. At the same time, the implementation of this project is also necessary for Russia, because the settlement of Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Azerbaijani relations will mean that it will no longer make sense for Russia to have a military presence in Artsakh (there are no Armenians there but there are Russian troops still there) or on the territory of Armenia against Turkey (the Russian military base in Gyumri). Therefore, Russia needs this project if it is to ensure the security of the corridor, routes and communications, as well as its physical military presence on the ground. Actually, an agreement about the implementation of this project was reached with the statement of November 9, 2020 and it can be assumed that the Armenian authorities have given their consent to the project verbally, despite the fact that this statement is just a piece of paper.

When we talk about outside players, we also need to talk about those who will oppose this project. It is important to understand Iran’s position and it is unequivocally negative. Iran will not want to lose its regional transit position, and at the same time it will not want to lose or reshape its external border with Armenia which provides it an exit to Georgia, the Black Sea, etc. Yet another player is the United States, which opposes this project because Washington’s number one priority is to contain Russia, and with the implementation of this project, Washington will not be able to push Russia out of the South Caucasus region.

It is also important to understand which player is ready for what kind of actions to implement or to oppose the project. It is natural that the problem should be solved militarily so that the Armenian authorities can justify what happened in their own country and the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem will also give Russia a solid opportunity to move its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh to Syunik and deploy them right there in Syunik as the only security guarantor of Armenians.

In this scenario, everything may seem too logical. But there is also another important factor, which is adroitly chosen timing. Timing is crucial. It could happen when there is a tense pre-election or post-election processes in the USA and no one in Washington is particularly interested in what is happening in the South Caucasus – just as it happened during the 2020 elections.

Of course, this is not the only scenario for developments, but at the moment it seems the most possible one, to which Armenia cannot be an obstacle. But here, Iran and the United States, which surprisingly have common interests on this issue, can hinder Azerbaijan’s plans.

A day of love, Armenian style

Lilit Nahapetian
Feb 14 2024
By Mayalie Cieutat

Gyumri, ARMENIA – Newlyweds in Gyumri, Armenia got all fired up about their traditional spring event, Trndez.

The whole town has been preparing for a few days now for the big firelit night held February 13th in celebration of prosperity, love, spring and renewal.

Trndez is an Armenian apostolic holiday, where newlywed couples traditionally jump above a bonfire for a long and prosperous marriage. 

A few hundred people gathered on Vartanants Square, the central square of Gyumri, at 5 p.m. and formed a circle around a big pile of hay. As more people joined, old women, parents and their c

hildren threw flower crowns and other plants on top of the hay. 

“It’s meant for happiness in the family and health for the following year,” said Tamara Hovannissian, an Armenian language teacher in Gyumri, who attended the event.

Hovannissian said the flowers and plants might be a reminder of the olive branches that were brought with Jesus to the temple of Jerusalem 40 days after his birth, according to Armenian apostolic belief. 

She also said that normally, families get those flowers during Easter of the previous year. They keep them in their house all year and burn them on Trndez to keep sicknesses away.

At 5:40 p.m. the crowd was split in half to make way for the priests coming from the Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God, on Vartanants Square.

A compact horde of eager old women quickly followed them to get closer to the center of the circle. A few unfriendly looks and irritated Armenian comments later, everyone was ready for the ceremony. 

Children were placed on the inner circle, holding each other by the pinkie. 

Children stand around the haystack. (Mayalie Cieutat/YJI)

The priests sang and read the prayers to the sound of the cathedral bells. Separated into two groups with different attire, they spun around the hay as they recited prayers.

“It does not symbolize anything” about the meaning of the mysterious choreography, said Hovannissian, who is an Armenian and French language teacher in Gyumri.

Women, men and children all made the sign of the cross in unison all throughout the ceremony. In 2011, approximately 92% of the Armenian population claimed to be of the Armenian apostolic faith, according to the U.S. State Department’s Office of International Religious freedoms.


One of the priests then took a long torch, lit it with a candle and then ignited the hay all over. As it caught fire, the crowd seemed to reorganize itself.

All decked out in green t-shirts made for the occasion, members of Hrayrk, a traditional dance group based in Gyumri, came to the front with loud enthusiastic shouts. Music seemed to start blurting out from the ground. The front-liners of the circle started dancing around a blaze that reached about two meters higher than them. 

Temperature rose as fast as spirits as children and young people started to dance and shout.

But as people kept spinning, they grew dangerously close to the fire and a group of men urged the crowd to keep away.

And then the fire started turning into ashes. The dances stopped and the women rushed to the fire to light candles from the flames and to collect the ashes.

“The light is illumination,” said Varduhi Harutyunyan, a local holding a candle to her heart.

Harutyunyan, who was born and raised in Gyumri, explained that Trndez is celebrated “40 days after the birth of Jesus Christ” when he was, according to Armenian apostolic belief, taken to the temple of Jerusalem and purified.

A man lights a candle to bring some of the fire home with him. (Mayalie Cieutat/YJI)

“We also do it on Christmas Eve,” she said, which in Armenia is celebrated on January 5th.

“The ashes are for under the trees and flowers,” said Harutyunyan, “for blessing the plants and for a good harvest.” They are meant for “unity, no war, and peace in the world.”

Candles like hers – held inside a Coca-Cola plastic bottle cut in half – were sold around the square by local residents.

The crowd, which had scattered across the square, came back together to start the jumping part of the ceremony. Children, couples, grandparents and toddlers started jumping in pairs and creating a human tunnel with their arms for following jumpers.

New couples and newly married people are most likely to jump over the fire, said Arsen Sahakyan, who works at a marketing and creative lab in Gyumri.

Locals believe that the couples who got married that year should jump over the fire to be happy, healthy, blessed and purified.

“During the wedding, it makes it so it brings happiness,” said Hovannissian. She added that “it’s mandatory” for the fire to touch the couple’s legs while they are jumping, for it to bring happiness.

Matthew Elyan, an Armenian American who was present at the ceremony, said he once celebrated Trndez in Los Angeles, where he is from. He remembered jumping over a fire in what was “similar to a marshmallow stove.”

“Actually jumping over the fire is not really common,” Elyan said, of celebrating Trndez in Los Angeles. “We have to change that. We’ll buy some more stoves.”

Trndez wasn’t always celebrated as it is today though, said Sahakyan.

When Armenia became Christian, the church reclaimed this tradition to mark a clear break with pre-fourth century polytheistic customs.

“They had a mission to kill other religion stuff,” Sahakyan said. “They started to jump over the fire to say that ‘we are over that other god.’”

Instead, Trndez used to be a pagan celebration for the god of fire in ancient polytheist Armenia.

Back then, Sahakyan said, there was “no jumping, just celebrating.”

Mayalie Cieutat is a Junior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.



Video Interview: "Armenia, My Home" ’s Andrew Goldberg

Emil Lazarian

Feb 14 2024

Video Interview: Armenia, My Home’s Andrew Goldberg

2 hours agoAlexa Alfano

Directed by So Much Film’s Andrew Goldberg and narrated by Andrea Martin (Only Murders in the Building), the upcoming documentary Armenia, My Home explores the storied country’s past and present. Through interviews with familiar faces from the diaspora, archival photographs and rich footage of the nation known for fusing the East and West, the doc delves into the modern-day Republic of Armenia’s unique cultural tapestry, which spans thousands of years.

TV Real Weekly spoke to Goldberg about what prompted the film, sifting through mountains of history for what shines through, the partnership between So Much Film and PBS and more. Armenia, My Home is set to bow on PBS stations on February 23.

Sofia 2024 Day 2: Two golds for the hosts, one for Armenia

Jane Topchian
Inside the Games
Feb 14 2024
  • By Rafael Khalatyan

    •  

  •  Wednesday,

Bulgarian athletes Angel Rusev and Gabriel Marinov won the first gold medals for the host country on the second day of the 2024 European Weightlifting Championships. 

Aleksandra Gregoryan won the first gold for Armenia. Rusev finished third and Marinov and Grigoryan were out of the medals after the snatch, but the strong performances in the clean and jerk earned them gold medals in the total.

Rusev finished behind Turkey's Muammer Sahin and Georgia's Ramini Shamilishvili in the men's 55 kg snatch, but won the clean and jerk with 135 kg and the total with 244 kg. Shamilashvili remained in second place after the second event. Dzhan Zharkov from Bulgaria was second in the clean and jerk and third in the total with 102-133-235.

Spain's Josue Brachi failed all three attempts in the snatch, but finished third in the clean and jerk. Hampton Morris from the USA was by far the best lifter in the men's 61 kg category. The 19-year-old lifted 126 kg in the snatch and 171 kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 297 kg. 

His top lifts were both new American junior and senior records, as were his two totals. Morris' result was out of competition but allowed him to move up to 7th in the Olympic rankings.

Marinov won the gold medal with 281 kg (121+160), but was only 5th after the snatch. Another Bulgarian, Ivan Dimov, best after the snatch, took bronze in the clean and jerk and silver in the total with 130-150-280. Georgia's Shota Mishvelidze was third in the snatch and the total. Pavlo Zalipski of Poland and Valentin Iancu of Romania took silver in the snatch and clean and jerk respectively. 

Grigoryan was only sixth after the snatch in the women's 55 kg category, 5 kg behind leader Sol Waaler (Norway) and 4 kg behind Yulia Hulina (AIN) and Burcu Alici (Turkey), but the battle for gold in the clean and jerk and total was between Grigoryan and Italy's Celine Delia (fourth after the snatch). 

The Armenian won the competition with 115 kg in the clean and jerk and 196 kg in the total. Delia was second in both parts with 111 kg and 195 kg. Burcu was also third in the clean and jerk, but missed the podium in the total as the bronze medal went to Waaler.

Iran, Russia urge calm following new Armenia-Azerbaijan clashes

Kalashian Nyrie
Feb 14 2024
Iran has significant interests at stake in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, having a somewhat tense relationship with the latter.
Adam Lucente

Iran and Russia called for calm on Tuesday after a border skirmish between Armenia and Azerbaijan that left four Armenian soldiers dead, and one Armenian soldier and one Azeri soldier injured. 

Armenian authorities said that Azerbaijani troops fired on Armenian forces across the border in the Syunik region of southeast Armenia on Tuesday. But Azerbaijan said it fired on Armenian forces in retaliation for shelling of Azerbaijani forces on Monday, the Associated Press reported. 

Nasser Kanaani, spokesperson for Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs “called on both sides to exercise restraint and maintain peace."

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “We urge both sides to exercise restraint, to avoid in every possible way any actions that the other side might consider provocative,” Russia’s official news agency, TASS, reported.

At the press briefing Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the US was concerned by the renewed violence and offered condolences to the families. Miller said that the US is committed to Armenia-Azerbaijan peace negotiations, warned that the use of force undermines those efforts. He added that "any ceasefire violations should be investigated and properly addressed."

Armenia and Azerbaijan have had territorial disputes since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in early 1990s. In 2020, the two countries fought a war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region — an area that was inhabited by ethnic Armenians but internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. Baku launched a new offensive in September of last year, leading to the mass exodus of Armenians from the area and the dissolution of the local government in January of this year.

Syunik is located just south of Nagorno-Karabakh, and some residents are concerned Azerbaijan may move on the area, Radio Free Europe reported in November.

Why it matters: Iran has concerns about conflict in Syunik. The Islamic Republic fears the possibility of an Azerbaijani incursion in the area, as such an action could threaten Iran’s land border with Armenia, according to a January report from the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

Iran has a complex relationship with the conflict. In October, Iran hosted Armenian and Azerbaijani diplomats for a dialogue conference aimed at resolving tensions.

Iran has historically enjoyed warm relations with Armenia, but its relationship with Azerbaijan has been tense at times. The following is a breakdown of some notable recent developments in Iran-Azerbaijan relations:

  • A gunman shot and killed a security official at the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran in January of last year.
  • Iran slammed the opening of an Israeli embassy in Baku in March.
  • Azerbaijan expelled four Iranian diplomats in April, prompting Iran to make a reciprocal move in May.
  • Iran arrested five ethnic Azeris last week, accusing them of planning sabotage acts on orders from an unspecified entity in Azerbaijan.

Iran and Russia have expressed agreement on the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan recently. At the October conference, both countries denounced Western inference in the conflict, Agence France-Presse reported at the time.

Know more: Iran and Azerbaijan have been working to establish the Aras corridor recently. The corridor would link the Azerbaijani exclave Nakhchivan to the Azerbaijani mainland via Iran. The Islamic Republic has been pushing for the Aras corridor as an alternative to the proposed Zangezur corridor, which would connect Nakhchivan to the rest of Azerbaijan via Armenia. Iran opposes Zangezur, believing it would cut its trade and transit links to Armenia, Rahim Rahimov wrote for Al-Monitor in December.

Kristen Talman in Washington contributed to this report. 

 

Russia calls for Armenia-Azerbaijan de-escalation

Jhanna Virabian

 17:01,

MOSCOW, FEBRUARY 14, ARMENPRESS. Russia's Foreign Ministry expressed ‘deep concern’ Wednesday over what it described as military ‘incidents’ on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on February 12-13, when 4 Armenian soldiers were killed and another wounded when their position in Syunik came under cross-border Azeri gunfire.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing that Armenia and Azerbaijan should refrain from any actions that would escalate the situation.

‘We are calling on Baku and Yerevan to display restraint and make steps for de-escalation,’ she said, calling on the sides to resolve disputes peacefully. She added that the countries should adhere to the 2020-2022 Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan trilateral statements. ‘We are convinced that territorial disputes should be resolved as part of the work of the bilateral commission on delimitation,’ Zakharova added.

Prospects of return of the Armenian population to Karabakh under discussion-Zakharova

Toneyan Mark

 18:26,

MOSCOW, FEBRUARY 14, ARMENPRESS. Preparations for the next Russian-Azerbaijani contacts continue regarding the activities of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing Wednesday.

"Among the issues discussed are the prospects of the return of the Armenian population to Karabakh, with proper provision of their rights and security, the organization of joint patrols, the protection of monuments of cultural, historical and religious heritage," said the official representative of the Russian MFA, adding that the contacts are formed on a constructive basis and have a periodic nature.