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Assault on Yerevan Police Station Underlines Risk of Violent Opposition to Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace

Assault on Yerevan Police Station Underlines Risk of Violent Opposition to Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace

Mar 28, 2024 | , , ,

For many, the news of the assault on a police station in Yerevan over the weekend brought back memories of the two-week siege of another station back in 2016. The reasons were similar too. Eight years ago, just a few months after the four-day war, rumours spread throughout Armenia that then President Serzh Sargsyan was under pressure to accept the so-called Lavrov Plan in which five out of seven regions then occupied by Armenian forces would be handed back to Azerbaijan as part of an anticipated peace deal.

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The Challenges and Contradictions of Displacement in Armenia

The Challenges and Contradictions of Displacement in Armenia

Mar 18, 2024 | , , ,

Almost six months after the mass exodus of the Karabakh Armenians, their plight in Armenia remains as uncertain as ever. On Wednesday, some will even protest in Yerevan’s Freedom Square. There had been no major humanitarian crisis, despite claims of mass starvation as they crossed into Armenia via the Lachin checkpoint in late September, but the situation for many remains one of desperation or despair. A recent report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) highlighted that clearly earlier this month.

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European Mission in Armenia Completes Its First Year Amid Regional Tensions

European Mission in Armenia Completes Its First Year Amid Regional Tensions

Mar 11, 2024 | , ,

On February 20, the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) marked the first anniversary of its deployment on the Armenian border with Azerbaijan. According to the European Union, its purpose is to aid in the normalization process between Yerevan and Baku and enhance stability in the South Caucasus. Last year, the EUMA was deployed following the end of a shorter-term European Union Monitoring Capacity (EUMCAP), which was deployed in October 2022.

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Clarity, Consistent Rhetoric, and Multitrack Diplomacy Still Lacking in Armenia-Azerbaijan Normalisation Talks

Clarity, Consistent Rhetoric, and Multitrack Diplomacy Still Lacking in Armenia-Azerbaijan Normalisation Talks

Mar 6, 2024 | , , ,

It was touch and go for a while. Even a day before this year’s prestigious Munich Security Conference it was unclear whether both Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev would attend. In the past, Armenian leaders have more often shunned the event and even despite December’s much-lauded bilateral COP-29 joint statement made bilaterally by Baku and Yerevan, the war of words between the sides unfortunately continues.

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Pashinyan Reignites Constitutional Reform Debate Amid Declining Ratings

Pashinyan Reignites Constitutional Reform Debate Amid Declining Ratings

Feb 15, 2024 | , ,

On January 18, six years after the street protests that brought him to power in 2018, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan raised the issue of reforming the country’s constitution during a meeting with the Armenian Ministry of Justice. The constitution was originally introduced under Levon Ter-Petrosyan in 1995 and controversially amended under his successors, Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan.

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Pashinyan’s Constitutional Gambit

Pashinyan’s Constitutional Gambit

Feb 12, 2024 | , ,

Reforming the constitution of any nation is inherently challenging, but in Armenia it has always proven particularly controversial. Introduced by referendum in 1995 under then President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the current constitution has been amended twice by his successors – Robert Kocharyan in 2005 and Serzh Sargsyan in 2015.

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Roadblock to peace: the geopolitical quagmire of the “Zangezur Corridor”

Roadblock to peace: the geopolitical quagmire of the “Zangezur Corridor”

Jan 31, 2024

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1994 ceasefire agreement that put fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the Soviet-era mainly ethnic Armenian Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) on hold – or at least until it escalated into war in 2016 and more devastatingly in 2020. Despite the involvement of international mediators, peace remained elusive despite occasional claims to the contrary. The sides were said to have gotten close, but never enough to prevent tens of thousands dying in over three decades of conflict.

Baku, Yerevan, and Moscow Clash Over Regional Transit

Baku, Yerevan, and Moscow Clash Over Regional Transit

Jan 26, 2024

In my first piece for The Jamestown Foundation, I again look at the continuing geopolitical impasse on attempts to restore economic and  transport links in the region following the 2020 Armenia-Azerbaijan war as per the trilateral ceasefire statement that ended it.  This is a topic that I’ve covered consistently since the beginning of 2021 but it has particularly come to a head now as hopes for a framework agreement between Baku and Yerevan persist. 

Beyond Borders: Parajanov Centennial Marked in Yerevan and Tbilisi

Beyond Borders: Parajanov Centennial Marked in Yerevan and Tbilisi

Jan 15, 2024

This year marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of legendary ethnic Armenian film director Sergei Parajanov. Very much a child of the South Caucasus, Parajanov’s work encompassed Armenian, Azerbaijan, Georgian, Moldova, and Ukrainian influences, with his legacy living on today.