Today marks the 20th anniversary of the 1988 earthquake which devastated much of northern Armenia leaving 25,000 dead and many more homeless. Despite huge amounts of foreign aid flooding into the country after the tragedy, poverty in the second largest city of Gyumri remains high and thousands remain without homes leading Unzipped to agree that the past two decades were “20 years of empty promises.”
With some media outlets reporting that momentum to striking a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan continues, the reality on the ground in both republics is that the two populations are not ready for resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict based on mutual compromise. The situation is reportedly worse in Azerbaijan, but many Armenians also seem unwilling to consider the return of at least six of seven regions currently serving as a buffer zone.
True, we’ve been here before with the media reporting that a solution to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh might finally be in sight, but the possibility for peace is once again resurfacing. However, such hopes have always been dashed at the last moment, but what makes the situation different this time round is the active involvement of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in convening a meeting between his Armenia and Azerbaijani counterparts tomorrow in Moscow. RFE/RL has more.
Armenians have read a lot about the frozen conflict over the disputed mainly-Armenian populated territory of Nagorno Karabakh, but such articles are usually from partisan sources inside Armenia or in the Diaspora. Seldom does the Armenian press carry impartial and objective reports, and of late there has been some clandestine funding of less than objective articles on the situation in and around Karabakh to serve certain political interests.
“Five years ago, when I was 75, I thought it was time to rest and pray in preparation for the last joyous journey to be with our Father in heaven, but it was not to be,” said Father Hovsep Behesniryan, a priest of the Armenian Catholic Armenia Congregation. After serving more than 64 years in ministries in Venice, Paris, Los Angeles and New York, “I was called into service once more, this time in Mekhitarist.”
As political tensions in Armenia rise ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections, the arrest of a former Nagorno-Karabakh military commander critical of the Armenian government’s talks with Azerbaijan is raising fresh concerns about how the vote will be conducted.
In a December 10 raid carried out by masked agents of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) at a Yerevan restaurant, Zhirayr Sefilian, an ethnic Armenian from Lebanon, was taken into custody on charges of plotting a government coup. Sefilian, a former commander in Armenia’s war with Azerbaijan over the predominantly ethnic Armenian breakaway territory of Karabakh, is a decorated, hard-line war hero. He is an outspoken opponent of any deal with Azerbaijan that includes the return of territory currently under Armenian control.
As political tensions in Armenia rise ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections, the arrest of a former Nagorno-Karabakh military commander critical of the Armenian government’s talks with Azerbaijan is raising fresh concerns about how the vote will be conducted.
For the first time since the collapse of the former Soviet Union an Azerbaijani airliner has landed at Armenia’s main Zvartnots Airport. In what was no doubt as much symbolic in the context of continuing attempts to resolve the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh than simply travel, the Azal Airlines TU–134 carried the three OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs charged with the task of mediating a solution.
After the new U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza, revealed details of the proposed framework peace deal to resolve the Karabakh conflict last week, much to the annoyance of the Armenian President, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has now released more details. Actually, we already knew what was being discussed, but this is the first time that American and Armenian officials have confirmed them openly, and in so much detail.