Text and photographs by Onnik James Krikorian TBILISI, Georgia — An Azeri teahouse, and naturally Azerbaijani can be heard spoken inside. A dozen men, identical in appearance, sit at tables, chain smoking and drinking cups of çay (tea). “Salam,” we say, before...
No sooner does the ruling Republican Party of Armenia inform journalists that there is no mutual hatred or enmity between political forces contesting the crucial municipal election to determine Yerevan’s mayor on 31 May comes news of some minor clashes between opposition supporters and the police. Oh, and did I mention an albeit aborted violent assault on a television journalist?
Nothing is ever simple in the South Caucasus, and no sooner had world leaders hailed a ground-breaking announcement from Armenia and Turkey that might set the scene for the normalization of relations between the two estranged neighbors, than nationalists throughout the region became agitated. Here in Yerevan, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashanktsutyun, for example, announced that it would leave the coalition government it has been supportive of for over a decade.
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.
These interviews form part of research on the division within Armenia’s Yezidi community regarding identity and reports that some Yezidi schools are refusing to accept new school text books printed in Cyrillic and a language recognized by the Armenian Government as `Yezideren’ or `Ezdiki.’
Hasan Tamoyan is Deputy President of the National Union of Yezidis, member of the National Minority Council, and Head of Yezidi language programs on Armenian Public Radio.
Rostom Atashov was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1963, and received his law degree from Yaroslavl State University in Russia in 1987 and worked in the Prosecutor’s office after graduation. He returned home to Georgia in 1988 and joined the Ministry of Justice, sitting several terms as a judge. He currently serves as President of the `Union of Yazidis of Georgia’ NGO, the larger of two Kurdish organizations in Georgia. The organization has approximately 10,000 members and works to promote Kurdish language and culture in Georgia and also assists ethnic Kurds integrate into Georgian society.
RFE/RL’s Armenia Service reports that the new European Envoy on the South Caucasus has again underscored the importance the EU places on resolving the long-standing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the mainly-Armenian populated territory of Nagorno Karabakh. Speaking to reporters after meeting the Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, Peter Semneby again stated that there is a “window of opportunity” still open this year.
RFE/RL once again confirms that this time round, there really is the chance of a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed mainly Armenian inhabited territory of Nagorno Karabakh.
This month marks the 30th Anniversary of the 1994 ceasefire agreement that put the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the then disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh on hold. The 5 May declaration, known as the Bishkek Protocol, instructed the sides to introduce a ceasefire on 9 May though slight delays followed. A formal cessation was signed by the Armenian, Azerbaijan, and Karabakh defence ministers days later, coming into effect just after midnight on 12 May 1994.
When Rafik Baghdasaryan died in prison in 1993, his body was transported from Russia to Armenia for burial. Baghdasaryan was part of a criminal network spanning the former Soviet Union and associates from Baku flew in to Yerevan to attend his funeral. At the time, Armenia faced a profound shortage of energy but reverence for Baghdasaryan was reportedly so profound among criminal circles in Azerbaijan that power was restored if only for the few days of the funeral. Since then, Armenia receives its gas from Russia through the North Caucasus-Transcaucasia Gas Pipeline.
As peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan appear to be making some progress, the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations have begun to gain more traction. In April, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan described any breakthrough as “epoch-making” for the region. Toivo Klaar, EU special representative for the South Caucasus and Crisis in Georgia, told media he hoped talks would continue in the near future.