Weekly update
26 February
Amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Azerbaijan has been trying to maintain good relations with both countries, sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine just days after signing a treaty alliance with Russia. According to eurasianet.org meanwhile, many Azerbaijanis have been discontented with what they see as their government’s conspicuous silence in the face of the invasion, and several hundred Azerbaijanis held a rally in solidarity with Ukraine, which was ultimately dispersed by the police. On February 26, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy tweeted his thanks to Azerbaijan for supplying humanitarian aid to his country. That aid supply had not been previously made public in Azerbaijan, but several hours later local media reported that a plane from Azerbaijani air cargo company Silkway had transported 5 million euros’ worth of medicines to Ukraine. The same day, Zelenskiy sent another tweet thanking Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for ordering gas stations in Ukraine belonging to Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR to provide free fuel to ambulances and emergency services vehicles.
https://eurasianet.org/azerbaijan-tries-to-balance-between-ukraine-and-russia
25 February
Defense Minister Suren Papikian reportedly reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to closer military ties with Russia and spoke of “new challenges and threats” facing the two allied countries as met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on Friday. In line with azatutyun.am “I can assure you that I will do my best to further develop Russian-Armenian defense cooperation,” the Russian Defense Ministry quoted him as telling Shoigu at the start of their talks. Papikian, who was appointed as defense minister in November, began his first visit to Russia in his current capacity on Thursday just hours after the Russian military launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine condemned by the West. Official press releases on his meeting with Shoigu made no explicit mention of the Russian invasion. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Papikian said Moscow and Yerevan have to constantly deal with “new challenges and threats.” “It’s obvious that all these challenges and threats facing our states can only be overcome by acting jointly,” he said. A statement released by the Armenian Defense Minister said the two ministers discussed Russian-Armenian military cooperation as well as “international and regional security issues.” It said they praised Russian efforts to help “stabilize the military-political situation” in the South Caucasus.
https://www.azatutyun.am/a/31723495.html
24 February
Iranian diplomats and clerics have criticized Azerbaijani lawmakers for claiming that a 18th century Shia mosque in Yerevan managed by Iran is an Azerbaijani monument. According to azatutyun.am the two pro-government lawmakers arrived in Armenia earlier this week to attend a session of a parliamentary assembly of the European Union and ex-Soviet states involved in the EU’s Eastern Partnership program. While in Yerevan, they also visited the city’s Blue Mosque and later posted on social media photographs of themselves sanding at its picturesque courtyard. Both men wrote that the Muslim shrine is the “sole Azerbaijani monument” preserved in the Armenian capital and expressed confidence that its “real masters” will be able to pray there soon. The Iranian Embassy in Armenia hit back at the Azerbaijani deputies on Wednesday in a series of tweets written in Armenian, Persian and English. It also posted photographs of Persian-language inscriptions on the walls of the mosque and adjacent structures. “The Blue Mosque, a symbol of Iranian art, has been active again in the last 3 decades as the praying and congregation place of Muslims residing in Armenia and a touristic attraction,” wrote the embassy.
https://www.azatutyun.am/a/31721472.html
23 February
Yerevan faces uncomfortable choice between political and diplomatic alliances. Analysts in Armenia warn that the standoff between Russia and NATO over Ukraine may impact deeply on the South Caucasus nation, whose foreign policy is a balancing act between socio-economic ties with the West and security relationships with Moscow. According to iwpr.net Yerevan’s relations with Russia, NATO and the EU place it in a difficult spot, explained Tigran Grigoryan, former member of the Armenian Security Council. Yerevan has yet to respond to Russia’s February 21 recognition of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics as independent states. “The intensification of confrontation, when small and vulnerable countries will have to make a choice, is the most undesirable scenario for Armenia,” Grigoryan said. Moscow is Yerevan’s closest military ally. Armenia hosts the Russian 102nd military base in the country’s second largest city, has about 3,500 Russian troops on its soil and depends on the Kremlin’s mediation in its fragile relation with Azerbaijan over Nagorny Karabakh. It is also a member of two Russia-led entities – the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), which deployed peacekeepers to Kazakstan in the wake of violent riots in early January, and the Eurasia Economic Union, which Yerevan chose to join over the association agreement with the EU.
https://iwpr.net/global-voices/ukraine-crisis-proves-tense-armenia
22 February
The USC Institute of Armenian Studies has selected 23 applicants from eight countries to participate in its 2022 research call—The Future of Karabakh. According to armenianweekly.com, the Institute will provide more than $90,000 in funding to researchers investigating the urgent questions related to the future of regional relations in the South Caucasus and the status of Karabakh (Artsakh) post-war. More than 60 applicants from 15 countries submitted proposals in response to this call. The war in 2020 created new challenges and exacerbated unanswered questions about the future of regional relations and the status of Karabakh. This new research aims to address some of the questions that are crucial to Karabakh’s existence and development. Some of the topics that researchers will be studying during the next year include: the effectiveness of the Russian peacekeeping mission in Karabakh, assessment of healthcare needs in Artsakh, post-war energy security in the region, the impact of the 2020 war on entrepreneurial activities in Karabakh, the organization of war volunteers, cultural heritage, media bias, impact of traumatic memories, and Karabakh in the Iranian media. This diverse group of scholars come from Armenia, the United States, Azerbaijan, France, Turkey, Russia, Georgia and Canada. “Today, as Armenians in Armenia and Karabakh continue to find themselves amid a humanitarian catastrophe and an uncertain future, rigorous and relevant research on these topics is not just crucial for understanding what happened, but also for generating the types of reforms and policies necessary to shape a new path for the future of the region,” says Syuzanna Petrosyan, associate director of USC Institute of Armenian Studies.
https://armenianweekly.com/2022/02/22/23-global-researchers-to-study-issues-related-to-the-future-of-karabakh/
21 February
The sitting of the Bureau of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly took place in Yerevan on February 21. The heads of the delegations of the parliaments of Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine from the Eastern Partnership countries, as well as the political groups of the European Parliament took part. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the parliament of Armenia, during the sitting, the deputies of the Eastern Partnership countries presented information on the current political processes in their countries. Issues related to the security and political situation in the European Union and the Eastern Partnership area were also discussed. The sittings of the Euronest PA Committees on Political Affairs, Human Rights and Democracy, Economic Integration, Legal Approximation and Convergence with EU Policies, Energy Security, Social Affairs, Employment, Education, Culture and Civil Society will be held on February 22 at aren Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1076101.html
20 February
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan expects to hold phone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the situation around Ukraine in the near future, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Sunday, TASS reported. According to news.am "Our president's proposal to organize a meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine is, in fact, the most important and concrete proposal for a way out of this crisis," the Star newspaper quoted Kalin. "During our recent visit to Ukraine, he discussed it with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy," he added. Erdogan's spokesman said that Turkish officials are in contact with their Russian counterparts and continue to prepare for Putin's visit to Turkey.
https://news.am/eng/news/687753.html
19 February
The Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA has selected Taner Akçam as the inaugural director of its Armenian Genocide Research Program. The program will provide a home for scholarly activities relevant to the genocide, including opportunities for institute-affiliated postdoctoral scholars, graduate students and visiting researchers. Akçam is the Kaloosdian and Mugar Professor in Modern Armenian History and Genocide at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies of Clark University in Massachusetts. He is widely recognized as one of the first scholars of Turkish descent to write extensively on the Ottoman-Turkish Genocide of Armenians in the early 20th century, according to the institute. Many of Akçam‘s publications constitute an unprecedented examination of secret documents that show the deliberate nature of the Armenian Genocide. “Taner Akçam has a demonstrated track record of groundbreaking research and mentored some of the most remarkable young scholars in the field of Armenian Genocide studies,” said Ann Karagozian, the inaugural director of the Promise Armenian Institute and a distinguished professor of engineering. “His dedication and passion for advancing this field make him the ideal person to establish and carry out this new research program at UCLA.”
https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/taner-akcam-to-lead-uclas-armenian-genocide-research-program
Sources: eurasianet.org, azatutyun.am, iwpr.net, armenianweekly.com, armenpress.am, newsroom.ucla.edu