Tag: turkey

In EVN Report’s news roundup for the week of March 8: Armenia asked Russia to withdraw its border guards from Yerevan’s Zvartnots International airport; Armenia repatriates the Azerbaijani serviceman, who crossed the border in Syunik last week as a show of goodwill; the unfinished uppers section of the Cascade complex has been returned to the Yerevan Municipality by the Cafesjian Museum Foundation.

Landlocked Armenia, surrounded on two sides by unrelenting foes, has limited access to the outside world. Railways could potentially help alleviate this isolation by providing reliable outside connections for trade and passenger traffic.

In Part II of a two-part series examining Armenia’s pivot to the West, Gaidz Minassian examines the question of the reliability of the partnership with Americans and Europeans.

In EVN Report’s news roundup for the week of February 9: European Council President Charles Michel and Russian President Vladimir Putin enthusiastically congratulate Ilham Aliyev on his landslide victory; Armenia’s president travels to Hungary for an official visit; Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan once again speaks about the need to change Armenia’s Constitution to remove the reference to the declaration of independence and more.

2024 has gotten off to a bad start, with several destabilizing fires fueling the specter of a widespread conflict. In these circumstances, Armenia must opt for a global view of the regional situation, writes Tigran Yegavian.

As the geopolitical landscape in the South Caucasus remains precarious, potential changes in EU and U.S. leadership can pose additional challenges for Armenia. Amid these uncertainties, Armenia's diplomatic efforts become increasingly important and serve as a test of its resilience.

This article presents a comprehensive perspective on the concept of “Western Azerbaijan,” portraying it as a continually evolving agenda that Azerbaijan might be integrating into a broader framework of bolstering Turkish influence in the Caucasus.

In EVN Report’s news roundup for the week of April 7: 27 civilians, trying to return home to Artsakh with the assistance of Russian peacekeepers are prevented entry by Azerbaijanis; Azerbaijan continues to violate the ceasefire on the Line of Contact with Artsakh; Russia moves to ban imports of Armenian dairy products and more.

In EVN Report’s news roundup for the week of February 24: The International Court of Justice orders Azerbaijan to ensure free movement of persons, cargo and other goods along the Lachin Corridor; Ruben Vardanyan, the State Minister of Artsakh is dismissed from his position by President Arayik Harutyunyan; the Government of Armenia gives the go ahead to Lydian to start operating the Amulsar gold mine and more.

Since the 2020 Artsakh War, during which Turkey provided military and political support to Azerbaijan, Armenians in Turkey have felt increasingly isolated. How do young Armenians in Turkey feel about the use of genocidal language by ultra-nationalist groups in the country and not only?

In EVN Report’s news roundup for the week of February 17: Armenia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ararat Mirzoyan is in Turkey this week; 120,000 people in Artsakh continue to remain under siege as Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor continues; Armenia and Azerbaijan continue to discuss the next phase of the peace process and more.

The devastation caused by the massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria last week is human, material, political and diplomatic. Tigran Yegavian explains.

Relations between Armenians and Kurds date back to the time of the Medes. The relationship has fluctuated, sometimes uniting, other times dividing the two peoples living on the same land and now facing the same threats.

There are three scenarios of how the war in Ukraine might end for Russia and what this will mean for the three countries of the South Caucasus. Gaidz Minassian examines the strategies of the players in the region.

Baku does not want an equitable peace, the West struggles to advance the negotiations, and Moscow prefers freezing the process to create a new status quo it can control. Yerevan will need to enhance its bargaining abilities by engaging in asymmetrical aggressive bargaining.

Who is the most influential and determined mediator to prevent the possibility of another aggression against Artsakh or Armenia? The answer will define who can be the main guarantor of peace for the South Caucasus.

Cemeteries serve as a reflection of societal beliefs, values and ideas and impact how we live and develop our identities; there we find every human manifestation, from the subtlest to the crudest.

The security context for the month of October can be better understood as the changing configuration between Armenia’s implementation of its diplomatization-of-security doctrine against Azerbaijan’s multi-tiered hybrid warfare doctrine.

Historian Suren Manukyan discusses the process, mechanisms and goals of the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Հայոց ցեղասպանության միջազգային ճանաչման ընթացքին անդրադարձող հոդվածի ՁայնաԳիրը։

Following Azerbaijan’s latest attack, this time against Armenia proper, international actors are calling on both sides to de-escalate the situation. Bothsidism in this context is ridiculous, tiresome, and shameful. Not naming the aggressor or who is benefiting from violence is not a neutral act. It is not telling the truth.

Armenia hasn’t participated in any multilateral connectivity initiatives in the South Caucasus since independence, primarily due to the war with Azerbaijan. Since the 2020 Artsakh War, new projects are taking shape—again without Armenia’s participation.

Baku’s aggressive rhetoric must not be normalized. In spite of their geopolitical, oil and gas interests, major international players should define their red lines, refrain from a policy of parity and prevent further military aggression by Azerbaijan.

After its military victory in the 2020 Artsakh War, Azerbaijan elevated its war of narratives against Armenians to a new and increasingly aggressive level, often accompanied with disinformation.

The 2020 Artsakh War and the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war are the first classic interstate wars in almost two decades involving the regular armies on both sides of the conflict, highlighting trends in warfare, including the effect of the latest technological solutions.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has thrust the South Caucasus into a contest for control over transport routes. Despite being landlocked, Armenia remains at the center of Russian-Turkish ambitions to deepen cooperation.

In EVN Report’s news roundup for the week of July 29: Azerbaijani Armed Forces fire on villages in Artsakh, damaging a home in Karmir Shuka; jailed government critic Avetik Chalabyan is released from pre-trial detention; Turkey sets preconditions for normalization of relations with Armenia and more.

«Քաղաքականություն» բաժնում հրապարակված Սուրեն Մանուկյանի «Մաս 1. Ցեղասպանությունը՝ որպես ազգային և միջազգային օրակարգի մաս. Ցեղասպանության հարցը և ժամանակակից դիվանագիտությունը» հոդվածի ձայնագիր տարբերակը։ Ընթերցում է Գոհար Աբրահամյանը։ Անցյալում կատարված ոճրագործությունների և այսօր էլ աշխարհում ընթացող մարդկայնության դեմ հանցագործությունների խնդիրն օգտագործվում է ոչ միայն քաղաքական հռետորաբանության մեջ, այլ նաև միջազգային զանազան խաղացողների կողմից իրենց շահերի սպասարկման համար։

In EVN Report’s news roundup for the week of July 15: A new Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces has finally been appointed; Armenia’s Prime Minister has a telephone conversation with Turkey’s President; Armenia’s parliament discusses the reestablishment of an Interior Ministry and more.

Past crimes and crimes against humanity taking place today are being used by various international players to serve their interests, at times solving practical problems and dramatically increasing the political weight and importance of the genocide factor.

A collection of articles about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the lens of Moscow by Dr. Artyom Tonoyan entitled, “Black Garden Aflame” will become a classic and a major go-to resource for scholars, writes Dr. Pietro Shakarian.

A new security environment was created after the 2020 Artsakh War, requiring a revision of Armenia’s National Security Strategy that was adopted before Azerbaijan launched the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Hovsep Kanadyan explains.

«Արվեստ և մշակույթ» բաժնում հրապարակված՝ Նորա Գրիգորյանի «Մարիամ Շահինեան. ստվերից դուրս» հոդվածի ձայնագիրը: Ընթերցում է Գոհար Աբրահամյանը: Թուրքիայի առաջին կին պրոֆեսիոնալ տաղավարային լուսանկարչուհի Մարիամ Շահինեանի նորօրյա բացահայտումով մի խումբ կանայք ոգեշնչվում և համագործակցելով փորձում են վերծանել ստվերում մնացած պատմության այս էջը։

For over 30 years, there has been a constant refrain on the righteousness of Armenia’s national aims and precious little about the means towards those ends, and the feasibility of those chosen goals.

In EVN Report’s news roundup for the week of May 13: Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations will meet in Moscow next week to discuss border demarcation issues; opposition protests continue in Yerevan; Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the Netherlands on an official visit and more.

The general state of flux and lack of clarity on Artsakh and the negotiation process has produced a great deal of uncertainty, precipitating important questions about nationhood, state-building, and how to move forward.

Although Armenia did not see any combat during the Second World War, known throughout the post-Soviet space as the Great Patriotic War, both Armenia and Artsakh sacrificed disproportionately to the rest of the Union.

Are we headed toward a better, or a more worrying future? Is the pendulum swinging toward more uncertainty or toward a lull? Two fundamental questions stand out: the survival of Artsakh and the independence of Armenia.

In the wake of lingering concern over the events unfolding in Ukraine following Russia’s February 24 invasion and its defeat in Artsakh in 2020, how can Armenia pull itself out of this chain of elevated conflicts?

Media commentators, analysts and historians have all scrambled to draw historical parallels to make sense of Putin’s recent aggression toward Ukraine, but there have been relatively few nuanced references to World War I.

Given the strategic significance of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, the power to implement the Montreux Convention underscores the strategic importance that Turkey retains due to its geography.

Over a year after Russian troops were deployed to Artsakh, here’s what we know about the Russian presence there, with the historical background for Moscow’s drive for boots on the ground in Artsakh.

In its historic “Uniting for Peace” session, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution reaffirming Ukrainian sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. Sossi Tatikyan explains why Armenia abstained.

The strategic limitations of the last 30 years are no longer tenable, and there is an acute need for innovation, creativity and sophistication in creating a new chapter in U.S.-Armenia relations.

A power vacuum was created after the pullout of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, allowing China, Russia, Iran, and also Turkey to play a greater role in Central Asia triggering new developments. What does that mean for the wider region?

This new series presents the Russo-Turkish wars of the 19th-20th centuries, which were of crucial importance for the two segments—eastern and western—of the Armenian people.

Representatives of Armenia and Turkey met in Moscow on January 14, 2022 for the first round of bilateral negotiations. Gaidz Minassian looks back at various stages of Armeno-Turkish dialogue before Armenia restored its independence in 1991.

In EVN Report’s news roundup for the week of January 14: Armenia sends peacekeepers to Kazakhstan as part of a CSTO-led peacekeeping mission; three soldiers have already been killed this year by Azerbaijani fire; the special envoys of Armenia and Turkey meet for the first time in Moscow.

2021 was a difficult year for the Armenian nation as it continued to confront external threats, Azerbaijani incursions into its sovereign territory and an unclear future for both Armenia and Artsakh. Here we present a brief overview of the main events from the past year.

As Armenia works to rebuild its positions following the 2020 Artsakh War, it must assess the challenges, threats and risks of the security environment and clarify a position that reflects state and national interests.

Western attempts to infiltrate into the sphere of Russian influence have meant to weaken Russia and maintain constant tension. Could this result in larger clashes with more unpredictable consequences, this time between large geopolitical players?

A year after the end of the war in Artsakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan are far from a sustainable peace. Regardless of how many olive branches are gifted to the leaders of the two sides, we are once again back to a “no war, no peace” situation, writes Tatev Hayrapetyan.

Turkey is Georgia’s main source of imports and finances strategic infrastructure such as energy projects. The imbalanced arrangement provided Turkey with “strategic depth” and opportunities for power projection. Armenians are apprehensive about the repercussions of going in the same direction.

The recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. stemmed from its own interests. Other allied powers are considering following suit. Will Armenia be able to take advantage of this shift in global geopolitics?

Back in early October, a resident of Martakert was shot dead by Azerbaijani fire while he was driving a tractor. A Russian peacekeeper was sitting right beside him at the time. What is behind Azerbaijan’s provocations?

The Treaty of Kars was signed under difficult geopolitical conditions. Turkey was able to use the “threat” of normalizing its relations with the West to extract maximum concessions from the Russian side, mainly at the expense of Armenia.

A unique combination of causal factors at different levels made the 44-day war possible. Tigran Grigoryan presents a systematic and comprehensive explanation of the structural conditions and circumstances behind Azerbaijan’s large-scale offensive.

The UK embassy in Azerbaijan and British companies were very active during and after the 2020 Artsakh War. While the spilled blood was still fresh, British businesses were already focused on the profits to be made.

Back in the 2010s, Armenian policymakers were too short-sighted to assess the implications that the Arab Spring had for our own country. Does the recent American withdrawal from Afghanistan have any significance for Armenia?

Azerbaijan and Turkey are not interested in peace. With the new realities on the ground following Azerbaijan’s military success, the Armenian Government should be careful when promising an “era of peace” to its people.

What has Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 Artsakh War revealed? Tigran Yegavian reviews a recently published White Paper that looks at a number of misconceptions, failures and dysfunctions within Armenian statehood and attempts to diagnose those ills and offer possible solutions.

Since the end of the 2020 Artsakh War, tensions between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Azerbaijan have been escalating. Although an outright military confrontation seems unlikely, it would have devastating consequences for the region.

Dictators are emboldened by the silence of those who claim to be proponents of human rights and justice. Turkey’s Erdogan and Azerbaijan’s Aliyev must be held accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity, writes Irina Ghaplanyan.

China considers Turkey a key strategic partner under the Belt and Road Initiative. It has also intensified economic relations with Azerbaijan and is keen to diversify its commercial routes to Europe. Was China a silent observer or did it have any role to play during the 2020 Artsakh War.

By extending its expansionism from land to sea, straining regional relationships and traditional alliances, Turkey is testing its limits and can expect to find itself in deeper conflicts when it finally reaches them.

Following the 2020 Artsakh War, the creation of a new geopolitical reality in the region by Baku and Ankara opened a "Pandora's Box" forcing the main stakeholders to re-articulate their geopolitical agenda.

Armenia’s security infrastructure requires a robust defense doctrine, expansive reforms, rearticulation of geopolitical and geostrategic realities, closing the gap in power disparity with regional actors and competent institutional structures.

With Russia and now Turkey having new footholds in the South Caucasus following the 2020 Artsakh War, will Washington under the Biden administration attempt to counter these new developments?

For nearly three decades, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been buying large quantities of weapons from a number of countries. Hovhannes Nazaretyan presents a comprehensive list of weapons acquired by both countries since independence.

Several popular myths that had become deeply entrenched in Armenian society began collapsing after the war. Today, new myths are being constructed. Will Armenians risk fooling themselves into disingenuous politics and disastrous policy based on a set of new myths?

Many assumed that Turkey’s direct involvement in the 2020 Artsakh War and thereby its intrusion into Russia’s “near abroad” would be met with hostility by Russia, or at least vocal condemnation. The reaction was mild, writes Zaven Sargsian.

Given the growing sense of global multipolarity and the apparent twilight years of the American-anchored liberal international order, Armenia cannot solely rely on friends and allies around the globe to ensure its survival. A more realistic approach is necessary.

Armenia’s air defense systems were largely ineffective against the onslaught of combat and reconnaissance UAVs used by the Azerbaijani military. The single most important UAV used in the 2020 Artsakh War was the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2.

The operation of the Southern Gas Corridor raises the geopolitical significance of Azerbaijan and Turkey, contributing to the further isolation of Armenia from regional projects. The EU seems to limit its concern about human rights violations and war crimes in Artsakh to mere lip service.

Is it necessary to assimilate or exterminate a people to affirm one's identity? Has an Azerbaijani identity been founded upon the genocide of a people, who, like in Turkey, lived side by side with the Turkic populations until the rise of nationalism?

The 2020 Artsakh War changed the geopolitical picture in the South Caucasus, impacting all the countries in the region. While there were clear winners and losers, some countries both won and lost.

A concerted effort is needed to overcome the crisis the Armenian nation is facing. To do that, we need to understand where we are now, be honest, admit mistakes, learn lessons and move forward, writes Hovsep Kanadyan.

Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan institutionalized their triangle long before the 2020 Artsakh War and have established deep roots of cooperation.

Taking into account Turkey’s overt support to Azerbaijan during the 2020 Artsakh War, Armenia’s government has decided to ban the import of Turkish goods for six months. The ban will take effect on December 31 of this year.

Given the geography, tactics and methods of the Azerbaijani offensive, the autocratic regime of Ilham Aliyev is aiming to forcibly occupy the territory of Artsakh through committing large-scale atrocities.

In the early morning hours of September 27, Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched an offensive along the Artsakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact. We present a briefing of the situation.

A nation that has been confronted by the choice to either adopt another's culture by subterfuge or by violence, or face cultural extinction is a nation that has experienced the agony of cultural genocide. A conversation between two historians.

July 24 marked the first Muslim prayer service in the Hagia Sophia in almost 90 years. Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman policies are also reverting other aspects of Turkish society back to a bygone era.

The flare-up of violence on the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border triggered a chain of reactions in Azerbaijan and Turkey. Historian Vahram Ter-Matevosyan examines the domestic situation in Azerbaijan and the implications of Turkish involvement.

The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute has become part of the current effort to destabilize the existing administration. This pan-national lieu de mémoire, has de facto been smeared by those who claim to protect “national values,” writes Dr. Stephan Astourian.

A story weaving together the fragments of a woman’s life who organized the chaos of reality into a sensible and livable realm offhandedly called “home” but no one recognized it until she was gone.

The liberation of the strategic town of Shushi was a turning point in the Karabakh war, causing a dramatic shift in the military progress of Armenian forces and ultimately obstructing future Turkish-Armenian relations.

Through the voices of his great-grandparents, Varak Ketsemanian gives the reader a small glimpse into the inner world of Genocide survivors.

Anna Barseghyan looks back at Europe’s record on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and writes that as long as new genocides are happening across the world, the Armenian question remains contemporary.

The late Samvel Karapetyan's work goes beyond Armenian heritage: It is a luminous testimony that highlights the violence of certain states to annihilate an indigenous culture with impunity.

Justin Tomczyk traces the history of the Armenian-Turkish border spanning from Armenia’s incorporation into the USSR to the present day, touching upon the Zurich Protocols and reflecting on the viability of a future normalization process.

After a decades-long struggle by the Armenian-American community, the U.S. House of Representatives officially recognized the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Maria Titizian writes about the significance of this resolution for her and all Armenians, despite the motivations behind the vote.

This article explores the changing and evolving mindset of young Istanbul Armenians not only through a sociological lens but through a political one, exploring the history and changing political landscape of Turkey and the clear power distinction that exists between Armenians and Turks.

Western Armenia or Eastern Turkey? This 'lost homeland' has been a thorn in Turkey's side since 1923. The thorn reminds the Turks and the Kurds of a people who lived and thrived in Turkey, and who played an enormous role in the unfolding of Turkey's history, writes Paul Mirabile.

When Turkey launched its military offensive in northeastern Syria, it triggered something in the minds and hearts and memories of many Armenians.

“Western Armenia” as a concept is a crucial component of the Armenian national narrative, mostly in the Diaspora. In this article, Varak Ketsemanian raises some questions regarding the Armenian reality’s understanding of “Western Armenia,” its biases and blind-spots. He suggests refining the ways in which we discuss and represent “Western Armenia” in the 21st century.

Many took the harrowing experience with them to their graves. Others would share only fragments of memories. All of them suffered unimaginable loss. They were the orphans of the Armenian Genocide and their stories must never be forgotten.

From those who survived the Armenian Genocide to those who moved to Soviet Armenia during the Great Repatriation of the 1940s, Western Armenians contributed to Yerevan’s incredible rise as a major city, turning it into the heart and soul of the Armenian nation.

A survivor of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, Soghomon Tehlirian assassinates Talaat Pasha, the mastermind behind the attempted annihilation of the Armenian nation in Berlin on March 15, 1921. Historian Suren Manukyan examines the repercussions and consequences of that act of revenge.

Public Radio of Yerevan, known as Radyoya Erîvané or Erivan Radyosu* beyond the Armenian-Turkish border, has left a mark in the memories of thousands of Kurds across the Middle East, Europe and the former Soviet republics. Throughout the years when Kurdish language and culture were banned in Turkey, Radio Yerevan served as a bridge between the Kurdish people and their culture.

The essay attempts to offer several historical and pedagogical responses to the genocide of the Armenian people by suggesting a program on the study of the Middle Ages of Turkey, one that would entail the study of the three mediaeval epic tales that were forged during the Middle Ages on Anatolian soil.

For decades, production of historical texts in Armenia was in the tight grip of Soviet state ideology. Post-independence, some topics previously repressed or omitted found their way back into Armenian history textbooks, however “memory gaps” remain.

In the last 100 years, there have been hierarchies of identity and canonical approaches to definitions of "Armenian," especially as articulated, rationalized and promoted by elites, institutions and political parties in the Diaspora and in Armenia. This essay is not a study of identity per se, but about one of the aspects of identity – the “Armenian” bit of it.

On October 30, 2017 the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway better known as the Akhalkalak-Kars Railway, became operational. The Akhalkalak Terminal, is only 30 kilometers from Armenia’s border. What does this mean for Armenia and for the Armenians of Javakhk? Vahram Ter Matevosyan takes a closer look at the implications and prospects for Armenia.

This year, the Zoryan Institute for Contemporary Research and Documentation marks its 35th anniversary. The Institute's core concept is to serve the cause of scholarship and public awareness relating to issues of universal human rights, genocide and diaspora-homeland relations.

On April 16, 2017, Turkish citizens voted in a referendum that would give sweeping new powers to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. With almost 99 percent of the ballots counted, Erdogan has claimed victory. What will this mean for Turkey's democracy in the coming years? Vahram Ter-Matevosyan explains.

Armenia is situated in a volatile region with 80 percent of its borders sealed. This article by Vahram Ter-Matevosyan examines the foreign policy programs of the nine political parties and blocs running in the parliamentary elections.