new promising era New Promising Era "President" & VP Nikol Pashinian

[MosJan]

rench-German TV Channel Arte Omits Armenia from Map, Faces Major Backlash from Armenians

On March 24, 2025, a controversial episode of 28 Minutes, a program aired by the Franco-German public-service channel Arte, sparked widespread outrage when it featured a map of the Caucasus region that completely omitted Armenia.

The map, which was part of a segment focusing on Turkey, displayed the neighboring countries accurately, including Georgia, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, but Armenia was entirely absent. In its place, Azerbaijan’s borders were extended uninterrupted to Turkey, effectively erasing the sovereign nation of Armenia from the map.

The omission has generated significant backlash, with many accusing Arte of either a severe lapse in fact-checking or a deliberate editorial choice. Among the critics was Simon Karapetyan, an Armenian citizen living in France, who publicly denounced the mistake.

The timing of this misstep only added to its sensitivity. Armenia, which lost the Artsakh region in 2023, continues to face immense challenges, including the displacement of over 120,000 people. With the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day approaching on April 24, this error has further aggravated an already tense geopolitical situation.

Arte, which is funded by both French and German taxpayers to promote culture and education, has come under fire for this significant error in a region where territorial integrity and historical accuracy are particularly critical.

The omission could not simply be dismissed as a minor mistake. It raises important questions about the channel's commitment to presenting well-researched and accurate content, especially given the delicate nature of the issues surrounding Armenia and its neighbors.

In the wake of public backlash and multiple complaints, Arte has delayed issuing an official response. The broadcaster has yet to clarify whether this was an unintentional mistake or a more concerning editorial choice and make a public apology for the mistake.

Simon Karapetyan informed on his facebook page that he has applied directly to Arte with a formal inquiry about the error and is now waiting for a response from the broadcaster. He has expressed hope that Arte would provide an explanation and take responsibility for the omission.

Given its role as a publicly funded entity, Arte has a responsibility to uphold high editorial standards and ensure the accuracy of the information it broadcasts.

Following the backlash, the TV Channel first removed the episode from the website. Later on, the episode was redownloaded, but the scenes with the map were covered up.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1450656096198038&set=a.731181941478794

[MosJan]

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KURSIV, Kazakhstan

March 26 2025

 

Armenia stays firm on joining the EU despite restoring ties with Russia

Published March 26, 2025 22:00

 

Olesya Bassarova

 

The National Assembly of Armenia has passed a final resolution to join the European Union (EU), despite Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s decision to improve relations with Russia. The resolution was adopted earlier today, on March 26, as reported by the RIA Novosti news agency.

«Sixty-four deputies voted in favor of the law, while seven voted against it. The resolution has been adopted,» the agency cited Alen Simonyan, president of the assembly.

The resolution declares the country’s intention to join the EU, promoting the move as the right path to Armenia’s prosperity.

Last week, Pashinyan decided to restore ties with Russia and instructed government agencies to immediately start working on this issue, citing the global geopolitical situation.

Notably, Pashinyan stated last summer that Armenia planned to leave the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance led by Russia. In December, he declared that «the point of no return has been passed,» emphasizing that the country’s authorities had frozen their participation in the alliance.

On Jan. 9, Armenia’s cabinet approved draft legislation on the country’s joining the EU when the document was submitted to parliament for consideration. Later, Dmitry Peskov, press secretary for the Russian president, stated that Armenia has a sovereign right to make such a decision but emphasized that it is impossible to be a member of two different alliances. At the time, Armenia’s cabinet clarified that the country was not planning to withdraw from the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). 

https://kz.kursiv.media/en/2025-03-26/engk-nknk-armenia-stays-firm-on-joining-the-eu-despite-restoring-ties-with-russia/

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OC Media

March 26 2025

 

The Armenian Parliament adopts a bill seeking EU accession

 

by Arshaluys Barseghyan

 

On Wednesday, the Armenian Parliament adopted a bill that calls on the government to seek EU integration in its second and final hearing. The bill was passed with 64 votes in favour and 7 against.

The opposition Armenia Alliance faction did not participate in the voting, while the I Have Honor faction voted against it.

The bill was drafted after the Central Election Commission verified that a petition to initiate a draft law regarding Armenia’s prospective membership in the EU had gathered over 50,000 signatures.

It was backed by the government in January.

The bill’s preamble was amended following the parliament’s adoption of the legislation in its first reading in February, and a section saying that Armenia, ‘expressing the unified will of the people of [...] Armenia’, was removed.

The paragraph was rewritten — ‘[Armenia], aiming to develop democratic institutions, increase the welfare of society, strengthen the country’s security, resilience and the rule of law, declares the start of the process of the accession of [...] Armenia to the [EU]’.

A joint statement by MEPs Nils Ušakovs and Miriam Lexmann on the adoption of the bill celebrated its passage, saying that it marked ‘another significant step in the already very strong EU-Armenia relations’.

‘We take note of this decision and welcome it as another clear _expression_ of Armenia's steadfast commitment to our shared values and the country's democratic path’, read the statement.

The MEPs also ‘encourage[d] the Commission, the High Representative/Vice-President and the [European] Council to actively support Armenia’s desire for increased cooperation with the EU in all dimensions and its European aspirations’.

They noted that EU accession ‘is a complex, long-term and merit-based process’ and expressed their readiness ‘to continue supporting Armenia in its reform efforts [...]’.

At the cabinet meeting in January when the bill was approved, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that after parliament adopts it as a law, a discussion must take place between Armenia and the EU to develop a roadmap toward accession.

The government’s approval of the bill led to a swift and sarcastic reaction from Russia.

Since January, high-ranking Russian officials have repeatedly talked about the incompatibility of the EU with the Eurasian Economic Union [EAEU], which Armenia is a member of. The issue was touched upon during a recent call between Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Putin offering ‘his comments and assessments’ on the matter.

https://oc-media.org/the-armenian-parliament-adopts-a-bill-seeking-eu-accession/

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RUDAW, Kurdish Press

March 24 2025

 

Armenian scholar awarded for contributing to Kurdish language, Yazidi community

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Armenian woman with Yezidi origins on Sunday received the prestigious Jemal Nebez Award in recognition of her contributions to the Kurdish language and Yezidi community, according to a statement from the award commission.

The Berlin-based Jemal Nebez commission of the Jemal Nebez Foundation designated the religious scholar Khanna Omarkhali for the Jemal Nebez Award, which is a biennial accolade honoring individuals who have made significant contributions to Kurdish culture, language, and intellectual discourse.

“Omarkhali has significantly advanced the understanding of Yezidi theology, oral traditions, and the social structure of the Yezidi community,” the statement read, adding that her contributions to Kurdish grammar and linguistics “have deepened understanding of how Kurmanji Kurdish is used in both religious and secular contexts.”

She is a professor at Georg-August University of Göttingen and the Free University of Berlin. In addition to teaching and researching, Omarkhali has “systematically” documented Yezidi religious texts and advanced linguistic resources for the Kurmanji dialect of the Kurdish language, according to the statement by the commission.

“We are very pleased to award the prize this year to Khanna Omarkhali,” Fexriye Adsay, the coordinator in charge of the prize commission, told Rudaw, adding that Omarkhali is one of the “most prominent Yezidi Kurdish authors and researchers.”

The commission emphasized that Omarkhali's efforts and dedication have helped amplify the voice of the Yazidis and shed light on their resilience in the face of persecution, oppression, and genocide.

Omarkhali is a Kurdish-Yazidi researcher and writer, born in 1981 in Armenia. She comes from a prominent Yazidi religious lineage in the country. She completed her university studies at Saint Petersburg University in 2002, specializing in Iranian linguistics and Kurdish studies.

In 2004, she earned her master’s degree, followed by a PhD in 2006, with her dissertation focusing on the Yazidi religion. This made her one of the first academically specialized researchers in this field.

The Jemal Nebez Award is presented biennially by a special commission of the Jemal Nebez Foundation in Berlin, Germany. It honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Kurdish language, culture, politics, or arts, or those with notable scientific achievements or exceptional services to Kurdistan that have left a lasting impact.

 

https://www.rudaw.net/english/people-places/24032025 

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DW - Deutsche Welle, Germany

March 26 2025

 

Armenia - A Pawn Between Superpowers

 

Armenia, a former Soviet republic, is located in the South Caucasus. Since the early 20th century, the mountainous country has been the scene of geopolitical conflicts.

Armenia, and the Nagorno-Karabakh region that once belonged to it, have long histories.

 

The cradle of early civilizations, they have been the target of numerous invasions and the scene of great tragedies. For decades, conflicts have arisen between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

In 1923, Joseph Stalin wanted to secure the support of Turkish-speaking Muslims in the region and ceded the Nagorno-Karabakh region to Azerbaijan. With this absurd and brutal redrawing of the country's borders, he created a mountain enclave in Azerbaijan inhabited mainly by Armenians. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the former republics declared their independence, the Nagorno-Karabakh region became a geopolitical powder keg.

Azerbaijan has long demanded control of the region, while the Armenians regard Nagorno-Karabakh as part of their historical homeland. Violence escalated in 1988. In 1990, Russia sent troops to the Azerbaijani capital Baku, and the conflict led to the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1991-1994) between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Russia formed a military alliance with Armenia and was seen as the patron of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, though Russia never severed ties with Azerbaijan's government.

But the region has continued to be volatile. In 2020, during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, Russia was able to mediate between Armenia and Azerbaijan and a temporary ceasefire was agreed upon.

But at the end of 2022, the only access to Nagorno-Karabakh via a mountain road was blocked by Azerbaijan, preventing aid and medicine from reaching the region. This last land connection from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh was actually supposed to be secured by Russia. But Russia, which had begun its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, did nothing. 

Azerbaijan, supported by Turkey and rich in oil, blocked the corridor and attacked Nagorno-Karabakh again in September 2023.

More than 100,000 Armenians were finally expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh in the fall of 2023. Azerbaijan won the war for the region, with the help of Turkey and Israel - and not least due to Russia's passivity.

On 1 January 2024, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was dissolved, despite the fact that it had never been internationally recognized - not even by Armenia.

The conflict extends far beyond Armenia and neighboring Azerbaijan. The causes are ethnic, religious, geopolitical and energy-strategic.

https://www.dw.com/en/armenia-a-pawn-between-superpowers/a-71385307

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Azatutyun.am

 

Armenian Parliament Completes Passage Of EU Membership Bill

Մարտ 26, 2025

• Tatevik Lazarian

 

Belgium - Armenian and EU flags fly outside the EU headquarters in Brussels.

 

Ignoring repeated warnings from Russia, the National Assembly on Wednesday approved in the second and final reading a government-backed bill declaring the “start of a process of Armenia's accession to the European Union.”

Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovannisian again stressed that the one-sentence bill, denounced by the Armenian opposition as reckless, does not constitute a formal EU membership bid.

“Nevertheless, it expresses the aspiration of Armenia’s citizens wishing to take partnership with the European Union to a new level and is consistent with our balanced and balancing foreign policy,” he told lawmakers during the final parliament debate on the issue.

Hovannisian did not clarify what concrete steps the Armenian government is planning to take next.

The bill formally endorsed by the government in early January was drafted by several pro-Western groups largely loyal to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. They collected last year 60,000 signatures in support of their demands for a referendum on joining the EU.

Pashinian has said that the referendum should be held only after Yerevan and the EU work out a “roadmap” to Armenia’s accession to the bloc. No EU member state has officially voiced support for such a prospect so far. Nor has the EU’s executive body, the European Commission, welcomed Yerevan’s initiative that came amid an unprecedented rift with Moscow.

Virtually all of the 64 parliament deputies who voted for the bill are members of Pashinian’s Civil Contract party. Their parliamentary leader, Hayk Konjorian, said Armenia is thus trying to “diversify its policies and strengthen its security.”

Opposition lawmakers continued to criticize the bill and warned of its severe consequences of the Armenian economy heavily dependent on Russia’s vast market, cheap energy resources and capital inflows. They also argued that Armenia has no chance of being admitted to the EU in the foreseeable future.

“This is not a law, this is a mockery of a law,” charged Gegham Manukian of the main opposition Hayastan alliance that boycotted the vote.

Russia did not immediately react to its final passage. Moscow warned earlier that the launch of the EU accession process will mark the “beginning of Armenia's withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic Union,” a trade bloc that gives the South Caucasus nation a tariff-free access to the Russian market.

Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, said last week that Moscow would retaliate by not only imposing hefty tariffs on Armenian products but also deporting scores of Armenian migrant workers. Armenia will lose at least one-third of its Gross Domestic Product as a result, he warned.

According to Armenian government data, Russia accounted for over 41 percent of Armenia’s foreign trade last year, compared with the EU’s 7.7 percent share. Armenia also buys the bulk of its natural gas from Russia at a price that is set well below international market-based levels.

 

 

https://www.azatutyun.am/a/33360980.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawJSWcdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHbywLqG3BNI48izDO7xs8aH29ru27MgxNG-6emia21fJeqaxM20b6MApvA_aem_DvPWbhVcogexl5s9gF9Jng

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Azatutyun.am

 

Pashinian Threatens Former Armenian Presidents

Մարտ 26, 2025

 

Armenia - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks in the parliament, Yerevan, March 26, 2025.

 

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Wednesday threatened to “throw against the wall” and “trample underfoot” Armenia’s three former presidents if they don’t stop blaming him for the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In a furious diatribe, Pashinian lashed out at Levon Ter-Petrosian, Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian for spurning a televised debate with him on the issue and continuing to lambaste him through their political allies instead.

“If there is nothing to debate, sit down and shut up,” he said on the parliament floor. “If you are ready to debate, let's talk. I say I will not debate with you, I will throw you against the wall and the remains of your political corpses will be taken out from there. It concerns all three of you. Stop playing with my nerves. I will trample you underfoot, not debate with you.”

“Either you hunker down, shut up and don't talk about that topic, or we go to a live debate,” he warned. “There is no other option.”

Pashinian challenged Ter-Petrosian, Sarkisian and Kocharian to the debate in December after they unanimously dismissed his claims that all peace plans jointly drafted by U.S., Russian and French mediators and considered by Armenia’s former governments were about “returning Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan.” The ex-presidents shrugged off the offer, saying that Pashinian is blatantly lying to try to absolve himself of blame for the 2020 war in Karabakh and Azerbaijan’s subsequent takeover of the Armenian-populated region.

Ter-Petrosian also challenged him to publicize those peace plans. Pashinian claimed in January that he is ready to do that but that his administration has still not managed to find those documents.

Ter-Petrosian’s spokesman, Arman Musinian, hit back at Pashinian’s latest rant later on Wednesday.

“He will bite, cry, kick, scream and threaten to complain to higher authorities, do the unimaginable and the unimaginable,” Musinian said in a Facebook post. “But he will never publish the official plans of the Minsk Group for the Karabakh settlement and Armenia's official responses, including the 2019 plan rejected by him.”

Hayk Mamijanian, a senior member of the opposition Republican Party led by Sarkisian, also scoffed at Pashinian’s “hysteria.”

“I will respond with a sentence that Serzh Sarkisian said on another occasion: ‘I don’t deal with sick people,’” wrote Mamijanian.

Most of the Karabakh peace proposals were based on so-called Madrid Principles which the United States, Russia and France originally put forward 2007. This draft framework agreement, repeatedly modified in the following decade, upheld the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination while calling for their withdrawal from Azerbaijani districts around Karabakh occupied in the early 1990s. Karabakh’s internationally recognized status would be determined through a future referendum.

Pashinian has repeatedly criticized the Madrid Principles since the 2020 war in Karabakh. In particular, he claimed in 2021 that the mediating powers sought a “surrender of lands” to Azerbaijan and offered the Armenian side nothing in return. A senior Russian diplomat, Igor Popov, bluntly denied that in written comments posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.

Popov said Yerevan and Baku intensively negotiated on the proposed peace formula until Pashinian’s government “came up with new approaches” in 2018. He argued that under the 2019 peace plan, Karabakh would have an internationally recognized interim status and retain control of two of the seven surrounding Azerbaijani districts pending the future referendum on its status.

 

 

https://www.azatutyun.am/a/33361087.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawJSWixleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHa4ig_ySD68gx8ts2BYIkFs_sljiTNqJB15hbTAgcBucetIAG3hv3qhCCw_aem__unPLZY0vTyk3PEUG3aZPw

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if you have  clean up the  first day, this  would  never  happen today

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Armenpress.am

 

Politics09:30, 28 March 2025

Armenia needs strong security guarantees – IPHR’s Simon Papuashvili on Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal

Read the article in: ՀայերենРусский

Simon Papuashvili, Programme Director for Eastern Europe & South Caucasus at the International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), believes that only the possible signing of a peace agreement could prevent further Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia.

In an interview with Armenpress in Brussels, Papuashvili stated that the regime of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly demonstrated in recent years that it disregards its international obligations.

“I am skeptical about any peace deal that can be reached with Azerbaijan at the moment. Aliev's regime has repeatedly shown their disregard for international legal commitments in the recent past, and I highly doubt that a peace agreement can stop them from initiating further aggression against Armenia. Instead I believe that what Armenia needs is strong security guarantees from its European allies that should include reinforcement of Armenia's defensive military capabilities to deter further Azerbaijani aggression. We will live in a world in which brute force is the only effective language that works in international affairs,’’ Papuashvili said.

On March 13, the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan announced that negotiations on the peace treaty had been concluded.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has proposed to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to begin consultations on the time and venue for signing the agreement. However, Azerbaijan is setting preconditions for signing the treaty. In particular, Baku insists on the false claim that Armenia’s Constitution allegedly contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan, demanding constitutional amendments as a precondition for signing the agreement. Another Azerbaijani precondition pertains to the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group.

In parallel with these preconditions, Azerbaijan has been spreading false claims for several days, alleging that Armenian armed forces have been firing at Azerbaijani positions along various sections of the border.

 

 

 

Published by Armenpress, original at https://armenpress.am/en/article/1215603?fbclid=IwY2xjawJUat9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHbb1RQfRUo3Bl0sdDgZwwM2wh80Af_GvpjS_rb5uELKRanPtBcA-e85L6A_aem_c65EuAZEzV-RuekpHeI65A

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Azatutyun.am

 

Thousands Of Karabakh Armenians Protest In Yerevan

Մարտ 30, 2025

• Gayane Saribekian

 

Armenia - Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh demonstrtate in Yerevan, March 29, 2025.

 

Thousands of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh rallied in Yerevan on Saturday to demand that Armenia’s government stop discriminating against them, champion their right to safely return to their homeland on the international stage and keep up housing allowances paid to many of them.

Organizers of the rally gave the government one week to meet these and nine other demands or face more such street protests. They pitched a tent and began a nonstop sit-in in the city’s Liberty Square right after what was the biggest demonstration staged by Karabakh Armenians since their September-October 2023 exodus.

It took place amid an unusually heavy police presence around the square. The government did not immediately react to the protesters’ demands.

“If the authorities take no action to keep this segment of the Armenians in Armenia and strengthen Armenia, the course of this struggle will definitely be unpredictable,” warned one of the speakers. “If they don’t solve our socioeconomic problems and our women and children are left on the street, this struggle will become a political struggle, whether they like it or not.”

The protest leaders first and foremost want Armenia’s leadership to take “all possible legal, political and diplomatic steps to ensure the collective return of the people of Artsakh to their homeland where they can live a safe, dignified, stable and self-determined life.”

Armenia - Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh demonstrtate in Yerevan, March 29, 2025.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government does not raise this issue in its peace talks with Azerbaijan or on multilateral international platforms. Pashinian has repeatedly indicated that the Karabakh issue is closed for his administration. He has lambasted Karabakh’s Yerevan-based leaders for continuing to present themselves as a government in exile and threatened to crack down on them.

The rally’s organizers, who did not include members of the exiled government, accused Pashinian and his political team of spreading hate speech against the Karabakh Armenians and demanded an end to the alleged practice. They said the authorities in Yerevan must also reinstate all refugees as Armenian citizens.

In a major policy change, Pashinian and other government officials declared in October 2023 that the refugees are not Armenian citizens despite the fact that virtually all of them hold Armenian passports. Some legal experts disputed those claims.

Another key demand of the Karabakh Armenian demonstrators is that the government must scrap its decision to stop paying housing allowances to many refugees and significantly reduce them for others.

Since November 2023, the government has given each refugee, who does not own a home or live in a government shelter in Armenia, 50,000 drams ($125) per month for rent and utility fees. The aid program has benefited the vast majority of some 105,000 Karabakh Armenians who fled their homeland after it was recaptured by Azerbaijan in September 2023. A lack of affordable housing remains one of the main problems facing them.

The government decided in November 2024 to start phasing out the housing scheme. Starting from next month, the financial aid will be provided only to children, university or college students, pensioners and disabled persons forced to flee Karabakh. The monthly allowance paid to them will be cut to 40,000 drams in April and to 30,000 drams in July.

 

 

https://www.azatutyun.am/a/33364015.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawJVTY1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHQHBZffw9VF7j8mLyJIZ5EjeTw0AgBAVLFeLRbfqMftWpHIkm_YMkF8ClA_aem_OOhjDLvr42kMwD5OFhQrAQ

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Azatutyun.am

 

Armenian Border Village Reportedly Hit By Azeri Gunshots

Մարտ 31, 2025

• Narine Ghalechian

 

Armenia - A bullet hole on a window glass in a house in the village of Khnatsakh, March 31, 2025.

 

Azerbaijani forces opened fire at a border village in Armenia’s Syunik province overnight, the Armenian Defense Ministry said on Monday as it denied renewed Azerbaijani allegations of Armenian truce violations along the border between the two countries.

The Azerbaijani military made the claims on Sunday and Monday. It said Armenian army units targeted its troops at various sections of the long border.

The Defense Ministry in Yerevan dismissed the claims, again challenging Baku to present evidence of the alleged truce violations. It said Azerbaijani troops themselves fired at the village of Khnatsakh and damaged one of its houses shortly after midnight.

The ministry released photographs purportedly showing a bullet hole on a window glass of the house. Local residents confirmed the cross-border gunfire. According to them, the damaged house belongs to the head of the village administration, Seyran Mirzoyan. The latter could not immediately be reached for comment.

Kamela Ohanian, a woman from Khnatsakh, said she was woken up by the sound of gunfire on Sunday night.

“There was shooting again at night,” Ohanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service by phone. “It happened several times and for a long time.”

Residents of Khnatsakh as well as the nearby village of Khoznavar reported gunfire from nearby Azerbaijani army positions for several consecutive nights last week. They said the gunshots were mainly fired into the air from around 10 p.m. until the early hours of the next morning. Defense Minister Suren Papikian downplayed the significance of the gunshots, saying that they are “not directed towards Armenia.”

Azerbaijan began accusing Armenian of violating the ceasefire regime on a daily basis just a few days after the two sides finalized on March 13 a bilateral peace treaty. Armenian opposition figures and pundits suggested that the accusations, denied by Yerevan, are aimed at preparing the ground for a military attack on Armenia or forcing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to make more concessions.

Yerevan already made a number of concessions to remove the remaining disagreements on the text of the draft treaty. It has repeatedly appealed to Baku to promptly sign the treaty.

Baku has set a number of conditions for that, notably a change of Armenia’s constitution which it says contains territorial claims to Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reiterated on Monday that the constitution is “the main obstacle” to peace.

 

 

https://www.azatutyun.am/a/33365537.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawJYQJ5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHZ9LXm-LqSG60bjICPZsa6QuzAAoWwpX8qFwCEuwJzfTmzOsGojqWKZQfQ_aem_nrQzvdfOcXMUwXQAvGimcg

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OC Media

April 2 2025

 

Armenia brings charges of official negligence against two former high-ranking military officials

 

by Arshaluys Barseghyan

 

New charges have been brought against two former high-ranking military officials, Movses Hakobyan, Deputy Defence Minister, and Armen Harutyunyan, former Head of the Missile Troops and Artillery Department of the Armed Forces. They are accused of official negligence connected to the supply of ‘unusable’ military equipment from Russia worth ֏4.3 billion ($11 million) nine years ago.

In addition, the Prosecutor General’s Office is demanding to confiscate ֏4.5 billion ($12 million) from the two generals.

The office announced on Tuesday evening that the case has been sent to the court.

They also provided the details of the case to Public TV, according to which the agreement was signed on 21 July 2016 between the Armenian Defence Ministry and the Russian Rosoboronexport company for the purchase of 15 Aistenok electronically-scanning radar systems.

The latter is 'the sole state-owned intermediary in Russia for exporting and importing the entire range of military and dual-use products, [...] in the field of military-technical cooperation with foreign countries’.

From the Armenian side, the agreement was signed by Hakobyan, who was the Head of the Material and Technical Support Department of the Armenian Armed Forces at the time, as well as the Deputy Defence Minister.

According to public prosecutor Karen Karapetyan, Hakobyan ‘did not designate a responsible unit’ that would receive the radar systems. In addition to that, the signed contract did not include testing the purchased equipment under ‘practical, combat fire conditions’ to determine its condition.

The radar systems were supplied to the relevant military units in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh in 2017, and failed to ‘fulfill the tasks set before them in practical conditions’, Karapetyan told Public TV.

Following their delivery, specialists were invited from Russia in 2018 ‘to eliminate the shortcomings’. However, Karapetyan said the work reportedly was carried out ‘incompletely’.

Harutyunyan, serving as the Head of the Missile Troops and Artillery Department, ‘did not check whether they were repaired or not, and whether they were suitable for use or not’, Karapetyan said.

During the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, according to the prosecutors, the radar system proved to be ‘not suitable for use and it was decided to remove them from use’.

Both Hakobyan and Harutyunyan claim their innocence. A ban on leaving the country was imposed on both, while the court also set Hakobyan’s bail at ֏10 million ($26,000).

https://oc-media.org/armenia-brings-charges-of-official-negligence-against-two-former-high-ranking-military-officials/

 

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eurasianet

April 2 2025

 

Armenia: Pressure increasing on Pashinyan

Prime minister confronting adversity all around.

 

You could not blame Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan if he is feeling these days like the walls are closing in on him from all sides.

Domestically, there are signs that citizens are souring on his policies, judging by recent municipal election results. And on the diplomatic front, concerns are rising about the country’s territorial integrity amid a steady, thumping bass rhythm of war-like rhetoric sounded over the past few weeks by Azerbaijan.

Two Armenian municipalities held local council elections March 30, providing the first electoral gauge on Pashinyan’s performance since he unveiled his “Real Armenia” program to remake society, as well as on the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process. The results did not bode well for the prime minister.

In Parakar, a suburb of the capital Yerevan, Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party experienced a drubbing at the hands of an opposition coalition, outvoted by an almost two-to-one margin. In Gyumri, Armenia’s second-largest city, Civil Contract gained 36 percent of the vote, the largest share of any single party on the ballot, but it may be shut out of power, as an array of opposition parties are set to join forces to form a majority in the city council.

The results indicate that Pashinyan has a daunting task in front of him to secure popular approval for the Real Armenia program and an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.

Pashinyan’s Real Armenia agenda seeks to overhaul Armenia’s economic order by promoting individual initiative and entrepreneurship. It also calls on Armenians to adopt a new geopolitical outlook that draws a line on the past and focuses on the future. The ideals embodied by the program should be enshrined in a new constitution, to be adopted by a nationwide referendum, Pashinyan has stated. He wants to develop a draft before Armenia holds its next parliamentary election in 2026. 

Based on the initial ballot-box indicators, Real Armenia seems in real trouble of going down to defeat in a popular plebiscite, and Pashinyan’s reelection chances appear touch-and-go.

Pashinyan also is finding that he has little room to maneuver as he tries to get Azerbaijan to sign a peace pact, the text of which has been finalized. Baku has set several preconditions for signing, including a demand that the Armenian constitution be amended so that Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over the Nagorno Karabakh territory is unequivocally recognized. The recent local election results suggest that an attempt at this time by Pashinyan to push the kind of amendment demanded by Baku would be political seppuku.   

Azerbaijan, meanwhile, is acting like there is no peace treaty ready for signing. Instead, Azerbaijani officials seem itching to renew hostilities. For the past two weeks, Baku has leveled near-daily accusations against Yerevan that Armenian forces are initiating armed provocations in border areas. Armenian government officials have vigorously denied all accusations, and even offered visual evidence of what they contend is Azerbaijani firing on Armenian villages near the border.

Top Azerbaijani government officials and state-aligned media outlets are already on the rhetorical offensive. In a March 27 speech made in the village of Agdam, which was occupied for almost three decades by Armenian forces, President Ilham Aliyev repeatedly described Armenia as a “hated enemy,” referring to Armenian forces as “marauders” and “thieves” who engaged in “unprecedented barbarity.”

Perhaps more ominously, the Azerbaijani press is full of hints that Baku does not consider the existing border between the two states to be fixed. Various media commentaries of late have featured the phrase “contingent border” [şərti sərhəd]. The meaning of the phrase suggests that the frontier is not real, even if it is accepted by all sides. The repeated use of the phrase in the press, especially in light of Aliyev’s recent claims that portions of Armenian territory in Syunik Province are historically Azerbaijani lands, raises fears that Azerbaijan may resort to force to take back what Baku portrays as “West Zangezur.”

Regional analysts are growing worried that the window of opportunity for lasting peace in the South Caucasus is closing.

“If those advocating for peace in the South Caucasus want to act, the time is now. The key pieces are in place. If Baku and Yerevan wait too long, they may squander one of the best opportunities for a settlement they have ever had—a misstep that would have grave consequences for the entire region,” wrote Olesya Vartanyan, a Caucasus expert with Brussels-based Crisis Group, in a recent commentary published by Carnegie Politika. 

https://eurasianet.org/armenia-pressure-increasing-on-pashinyan

[Yervant1]

Azatutyun.am

 

Aliyev Again Rules Out Unconditional Peace Deal With Armenia

Ապրիլ 02, 2025

• Ruzanna Stepanian

 

Azerbaijan - Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Frank-Walter Steinmeier make statements to the press after talks in Baku, April 2, 2025.

 

Dismissing repeated appeals from Yerevan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday reiterated his main preconditions for signing a peace deal with Armenia finalized last month.

Aliyev continued to insist on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group and a change of Armenia’s constitution which Baku says contains territorial claims to Azerbaijan. He specifically demanded the removal of a reference to Armenia’s 1990 declaration of independence contained in the constitution’s preamble. The declaration in turn cites a 1989 unification act adopted by the legislative bodies of Soviet Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.

“After these two conditions are met, there will be no obstacles to signing the peace treaty,” Aliyev said after talks in Baku with Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. “As they say, the ball is in Armenia's court. If Armenia really wants to sign the peace treaty, it must accept these two legitimate conditions of Azerbaijan.”

Armenian leaders maintain that the reference does not amount to territorial claims to Azerbaijan, citing a corresponding conclusion drawn by Armenia’s Constitutional Court last September. They have also argued that the draft Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty commits the two states to recognizing each other’s territorial integrity and stipulates that they cannot refer to their domestic legislation to justify their possible failure to implement it.

While rejecting Aliyev’s precondition in public, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has pledged to try to enact a new Armenian constitution through a referendum. But this is unlikely to happen before June 2026.

Yerevan already made a number of concessions last month to remove the remaining disagreements on the text of the draft treaty. It has since repeatedly appealed to Baku to sign the treaty.

The international community has also called for the quick signing of the peace deal. Steinmeier added his voice to those calls when he visited Yerevan on Monday. The German president made similar comments at a joint news conference with Aliyev.

Pashinian’s domestic political opponents say that Baku will not sign the deal before clinching further Armenian concessions not only on the constitution but also other key issues such as a land corridor to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave. They say that Pashinian’s appeasement policy has only emboldened Aliyev to make more demands on Armenia.

 

 

https://www.azatutyun.am/a/33368783.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawJbEX9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHfcCxVIvd3hcAG4ZSAGVaCqs7CGURXPeLUDIfiyynd_BkatL7jzN7tPcqQ_aem_mRO1MyMYSNby1CUQq33Zwg

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

 

Economy19:44, 4 April 2025

Opening Armenia's borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan would be a game-changer – EU chief von der Leyen

Read the article in: ՀայերենРусский简体中文

After three decades of closure, the opening of the borders of Armenia with Türkiye and Azerbaijan is going to be a game changer. And it will bring Europe and Central Asia closer together like never before.

According to the official website of the European Commission, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said during the plenary session of the inaugural EU–Central Asia Summit.

“Central Asia is the very definition of a global gateway, the beating heart of Eurasia. 

This is why our Global Gateway investment agenda focuses so much on this region. Last year, we pledged EUR 10 billion to the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor. 

This will cut the overland journey between Europe and Central Asia by around a half. That is down to just 15 days. The corridor will also unlock untapped potential for business between our regions.

 And it will boost links and trade within your five Central Asian nations. Today I am pleased to announce that a new Investors Forum will take place in Uzbekistan in 2025. 

This will secure private funding for the Corridor and allow us to assess progress. In an increasingly fragmented world, the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor will boost connections between your five countries and Europe. 

But infrastructure is not everything. Smooth border crossing within Central Asian and South Caucasus countries is also essential to reach the Black Sea.

 After three decades of closure, the opening of the borders of Armenia with Türkiye and Azerbaijan is going to be a game changer. And it will bring Europe and Central Asia closer together like never before,” she said.

 

 

 

Published by Armenpress, original at https://armenpress.am/en/article/1216348?fbclid=IwY2xjawJc6KdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHlKg5NgMHk-h98y6e-WJVWWC5cmrsnYf-PbFbmHp6C09QTD8LA_G_jSNBQtJ_aem_C65vbvdbzDha0Njijij5Qw

[Yervant1]

Interfax

April 4 2025

 

Armenia's president signs law about country's intention to join EU

 

YEREVAN. April 4 (Interfax) - Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan on Friday signed into law a bill of his country's intention to join the European Union, his press service said.

The bill passed its second and final readings in the parliament on March 26. Sixty-four deputies voted for the bill on starting Armenia's EU membership process, and seven voted against it.

Only MPs from the ruling Civil Contract party voted for the bill. MPs from the opposition I Have Honor Alliance formed around ex-president Serzh Sargsyan voted against the bill, and MPs from the opposition Armenia Alliance formed around ex-president Robert Kocharyan abstained.

The bill was approved by the government on January 9. The decision to join the EU must be made in a nationwide referendum, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.

Armenia is comfortable in the Eurasian Economic Community but the government sees a substantial portion of the population wanting their country to join the EU, he said.

 

https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/110788/ 

[Yervant1]

Azatutyun.am

 

Gyumri Set To Have Opposition Mayor

Ապրիլ 04, 2025

 

Armenia - A view of the building of the municipal administration of Gyumri, November 8, 2024.

 

The leader of a political group that finished third in the March 30 municipal election in Gyumri has reluctantly agreed to enable another opposition candidate and his bitter rival to become the new mayor of Armenia’s second largest city.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party won most votes (36.8 percent) but fell well short of an absolute majority in the city council empowered to appoint the mayor. Official vote results show that it will hold only 14 seats in the 33-member council. The 19 other seats will be controlled by four opposition groups.

Vartan Ghukasian, a former Gyumri mayor who ran in the election on the Armenian Communist Party (HKK) ticket, staked a claim to that post of mayor after the HKK came in second with almost 20.7 percent of the vote. He quickly won the backing of two other opposition groups led by TV producer Ruben Mkhitarian and businessman Karen Simonian. They polled 7.9 percent and 6.2 percent respectively.

The fourth opposition contender, the Our City bloc of Gyumri-based opposition lawmaker Martun Grigorian, got almost 16 percent. Grigorian and Ghukasian as well as their extended families have long been at loggerheads with each other. Grigorian was therefore reluctant to the provide the decisive support to the ex-mayor despite facing strong pressure from Yerevan-based opposition leaders and public figures critical of the government.

Armenia - Our City bloc leader Martun Grigorian speaks at an election campaign rally in Gyumri, March 25, 2025.

In what he called his “most difficult” ever political decision, Grigorian announced on Friday that members of the new city council affiliated with Our City will give Ghukasian the votes needed for his election as mayor.

“I apologize to all my voters, relatives, friends, and supporters, but I also say with confidence that I am subordinating my personal issues and approaches to the interests and security of my country, state and statehood, Gyumri and the people of Gyumri and I am taking this step at the demand of the people,” he said in a statement. He stressed that his top priority now is to oust Pashinian’s party from the municipal administration.

Grigorian made clear that he believes Ghukasian is “the most vulnerable” of the opposition mayoral candidates because of criminal cases pending against him. He warned that the controversial ex-mayor could be arrested soon, just like another opposition figure who won most votes in Vanadzor, the country’s third largest city, in a 2021 local election.

The lawmaker said that it would therefore make more sense to designate one of the two other opposition candidates, Mkhitarian or Simonian, as Gyumri mayor. He chided them for rushing to back Ghukasian.

Armenia - Opposition mayoral candidate Vartan Ghukasian casts a ballot at a polling station in Gyumri, March 30, 2025.

Mkhitarian, who boasts a large nationwide following on social media, was quick to welcome Grigorian’s announcement. “The coveted victories lie ahead,” he wrote, hinting at regime change in Yerevan.

There was no immediate reaction from Ghukasian, who ran the city from 1999 to 2012. He said during the election campaign that he is not afraid of being arrested.

Nazeli Baghdasarian, Pashinian’s Gyumri-born spokeswoman who actively participated in the ruling party’s election campaign, predicted Grigorian’s decision earlier this week. She claimed that the local opposition forces got their votes as a result of “misleading the people and abusing their trust.”

The opposition has charged, for its part, that Civil Contract and its mayoral candidate, Sarik Minasian, heavily abused their government levers before and during the election.

The Armenian government appointed Minasian as acting mayor late last year following criminal charges brought against the unofficial leader of a local bloc that ran Gyumri. The charges led to the resignation of the city’s previous, elected mayor, Vardges Samsonian.

 

 

https://www.azatutyun.am/a/33373686.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawJdUWdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHl-tCm-rHakpGtCFOwyrdRZ6IqjLzE686LyMWgvkHLtmnrWAJ7Z9oDIig2B5_aem_IMsu8ywkLvtHntoFxVj6aw

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

 

Iran18:13, 9 April 2025

Armenia, Iran to conduct joint military exercise

Read the article in: العربيةفارسیFrançaisՀայերենქართულიРусский

From April 9 to 10, special forces units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct joint military exercise, the Armenian Defense Ministry has said in a statement.

The unit of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia will conduct its portion of the exercise on the territory of Armenia, while the unit of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct its portion on the territory of Iran.

The exercise involves operations to neutralize attacks by simulated terrorist groups on border checkpoints located along the Armenia–Iran state border.

 

 

 

Published by Armenpress, original at https://armenpress.am/en/article/1216711?fbclid=IwY2xjawJj9pFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHqLyKNj5xFfN9Ycxqg_XcIVAvl5RuA36MjMQhpHkogRdmf8PJKoZ3LWG-fiK_aem_PM8ZfPI38LCIaa3raXIHaw

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

 

Azerbaijan19:40, 9 April 2025

EU mission increases number of night patrols along Armenian-Azerbaijani border

Read the article in: FrançaisՀայերենРусский

The EU monitoring mission in Armenia (EUMA) has increased the number of night patrols along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border since March, aimed at improving nighttime security and reducing  possible tension.

“Starting from March, EUMA has increased the number of night patrols along the Armenian side of Armenia-Azerbaijan to enhance nighttime security and safety and relieve possible tensions. Our monitors remain committed  around the clock, ensuring a continuous presence day and night,’’ EUMA said on X. 

 

 

 

Published by Armenpress, original at https://armenpress.am/en/article/1216720?fbclid=IwY2xjawJj9x1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHsAJfG4qPtXhog81eNv5mDtZBIh9z75Nl-1IlPrBY-0NZStlNBePBW7vrPFF_aem_4M6EK8tmKFHaXn2Sq6hsew