- Armenia has one of the lowest rates of perceived corruption of any country in the region, according to a leading watchdog.
- A senior Armenian diplomat called on Turkey to play a more “constructive” role in stalled normalization talks with Azerbaijan.
- Armenia signaled its intention to continue deepening ties with Iran.
- Armenia’s parliament speaker indicated his support for changing Armenia’s anthem and coat of arms, after the prime minister floated overhauling the country’s constitution.
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Keeping the Artsakh identity alive through collective resettlement
Antranig Kasbarian, Trustee and Development Director of the Tufenkian Foundation, discusses the organization’s efforts to support displaced people from Artsakh in the aftermath of the 2023 ethnic cleansing of the region. He outlines Tufenkian’s new plan to resettle 20 families from Artsakh in the village of Svarants in Armenia’s Syunik province, focusing on sustainable housing and economic development. Kasbarian explains why collective resettlement is critical for preserving the region’s identity and why Syunik now plays a vital role in Armenia’s national future. 0:00- Tufenkian’s prior initiatives in Artsakh 2:39- Why collectively resettle Artsakhis in Armenia? 4:30- Why Syunik for resettlement? […]
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Outsourcing Syunik: A Corridor Too Far
Op-ed by Vartan Oskanian, Armenia’s former foreign minister (1998-2008) In today’s press conference, Nikol Pashinyan likened the idea of granting control over a corridor through Armenia’s sovereign territory to a third party with outsourcing national infrastructure such as the airport, railways, or postal services. This analogy is absurd, misleading, and dangerous. First, outsourcing the management of an airport or a postal service is a commercial arrangement in which national jurisdiction remains fully intact. The Republic of Armenia continues to exercise sovereignty over its land, airspace, and legal framework. These are standard public-private partnerships used globally to promote development, modernization, and […]
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Leaving CSTO more likely than defreezing membership, says Armenian PM
By Zhanna Avagyan Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that it is now more likely that Armenia will quit the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) altogether rather than continue its suspended membership. “It is more likely that we will leave the CSTO than freeze our membership,” Pashinyan told a press conference in Yerevan on Thursday. The statement marks another escalation in Armenia’s ongoing rift with the military alliance, which includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Armenia suspended its participation in the CSTO in February 2024, with Pashinyan citing the bloc’s failure to uphold Armenia’s security, sovereignty, and territorial […]
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Pashinyan does not rule out outsourcing management of Syunik route
By Alexander Pracht Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday dismissed concerns that foreign powers might take control of regional transport routes passing through Armenia, saying that while management outsourcing is practiced in the country, all infrastructure remains under Armenian ownership. “At present, Armenia applies the practice of outsourcing management,” Pashinyan said at a press conference in Yerevan, responding to questions about foreign administration of routes that might potentially connect Azerbaijan and its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenian territory. He cited examples such as Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport, managed by an Argentine company, and the country’s railways, served by Russia, both still […]
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Russia accuses Armenia of bootlegging brandy
By Alexander Pracht A sweeping inspection has found that 85% of Armenian brandy sold in Russia does not meet national quality standards, Russia’s Forbes reported Tuesday, citing research by the Russian Union of Brandy Producers (RUBP) and the anti-counterfeit association “Antikontrafakt.” The watchdog groups said the findings were based on a recent study of brandy products in Russian stores, where Armenian imports dominate the shelves. “There are very few Georgian brandies, even fewer Russian ones, and the overwhelming majority are from Armenia,” said Andrey Tretyakov of RUBP. “That’s why most of our violations are linked to Armenian producers.” Tretyakov noted […]
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Six reasons why Russia acts the way it does, according
By Lia Avagyan At a lecture delivered during the 2025 Monterey Summer Symposium on Russia, historian Ronald Grigor Suny argued that Russia’s foreign policy is driven not by a singular pursuit of power but by a complex mix of historical insecurity, fragmented identity, and perceptions of threat. Suny, a distinguished professor of history at the University of Michigan and emeritus professor at the University of Chicago, spoke in Batumi on June 25 as part of the symposium organized by the Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. In a keynote address titled “Empires and the […]
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Creative businesses shape the lives of women from Artsakh
By Minahil Arif Narine Hakobyan, 29, tears up recalling the blockade in 2022 when she had to stand in long queues for just a single loaf of bread. Her husband was serving in the army and would rarely come home, making her the sole parent responsible for the kids. She moved to Yerevan when roughly 120,000 Armenians were ethnically cleansed from Artsakh in 2023 following continuous violence and the full blockade of the region by Azerbaijan. Hakobyan survived the blockade together with her sister. When one of them stood in lines for food, the other stayed home with her kids. […]
