Opinions & Editorials

By Suren Sargsyan published in the Armenian spectator   Whatever Armenia and Azerbaijan will agree upon regarding the status of Nagorno-Karabakh is not at all important, as Moscow has its own interests to promote in the South Caucasus region. If Moscow once lost Georgia and withdrew its forces from there, it does not mean that it will happen in the case of Armenia – and in Azerbaijan too, technically, as Russia’s peacekeeping contingent is placed in...

By Andrew published in The Armenian Mirror-Spectator   ISTANBUL (Al-Monitor) — Turkish authorities banned the commemoration of the 1915 Armenian Genocide for the second year running Monday in a decision condemned as “unacceptable” by organizers. The blocking of a memorial event in Istanbul came as issues affecting Turkey’s minorities took hold ahead of next month’s elections, following opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s declaration of his Alevi faith last week. The April 24 Commemoration Platform condemned the move in a statement. “There is no...

April 4, 2023 marks the 78th anniversary of the passing of Vahan Tekeyan in Cairo, Egypt. Below is a reprint of a masterful commentary on Vahan Tekeyan by Yervant Azadian, the recently deceased President of the Tekeyan Cultural Association of the United States and Canada. The commentary was first published on April 14, 2010 in the Armenian Mirror-Spectator.   "Many people, who are not very familiar with Armenian literature (and that is not uncommon in these...

In recent months, several political developments seemed to enhance Armenia’s position vis-à-vis that of its enemies, i.e., the verdict at the International Court of Justice, the placement of 100 European Union monitors on Armenia’s territory, and the resolutions adopted at the French Senate and National Assembly (the two houses of the French parliament). In addition, the tragic earthquakes shattering Turkey’s provinces (as well as Syria) had temporarily put a limit to Turkey’s aggressive stance...

After two years of a devastating war, Azerbaijan’s unrelenting pressure, in terms of border incursions, false negotiations and constant demands for concessions, recently, a turn of events offered a respite, some breathing room to recover and maybe even return to normalcy. In addition, nature’s fury could lead to changes in regional politics. The powerful earthquake in Turkey, which also devastated Syria, shook fundamentally the architecture of that country’s foreign policy, which will become more apparent in...

Until recently, Armenia faced a threat to its sovereignty from Azerbaijan. After the 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev demanded the opening of the “Zangezur Corridor,” which effectively would bisect Armenia’s territory, thereby compromising its sovereignty. This was Aliyev’s condition for signing a peace treaty after the disastrous 44-Day War. As if that were not enough, Mr. Aliyev invented another plan to completely take over Armenia’s territory, proclaiming it “Western Azerbaijan.” Indeed, Mr....

Another hot topic was tossed into the already superheated public debate in Armenia amid the Armenia-Russia standoff, blockaded Lachin corridor and the stalled Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty negotiations, among other issues. Indeed, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s administration’s initiative to send rescuers and aid to Turkey rocked the news and social media in Armenia. Most opposition voices criticized the initiative, while the government sources and regime-friendly news outlets defended the move, on several grounds. The debate continues...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s transformation from posing as a strategic ally of Armenia to that of a sworn enemy has spanned a spectacular political trajectory over the last two years, since the 44-Day War, which Azerbaijan waged against Armenia in 2020, with the active participation of the Turkish army, Israeli drones, Pakistani pilots and Islamist jihadist mercenaries. That war blew the cover of mystery draped over the strategic partnership between Armenia and Russia, as...

News of incidents which took place in Jerusalem on January 27 through 29 have alarmed the world Armenian community, as a group of extremist Jewish settlers have attacked an Armenian restaurant and the Armenian Patriarchate, shouting incendiary slogans, such as “Death to the Arabs, Death to the Christians.” When cornered in this recent incident, the Armenians, who trace their history in the Holy City to the sixth century AD, reminded their attackers, who asked a...

Armenia can hardly handle one calamity at a time but a rapid succession of disastrous occurrences is shaking the country to its core. The closure of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan with its ensuing humanitarian consequences had left the Armenian nation reeling from Yerevan to the remote corners of the diaspora. We were in a national dialogue to find out a solution to the blockade and help the 120,000 Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) to survive....