By Paul Vartan Sookiasian
The past month for Armenia has been one of engagement on international platforms. Many trips were made by senior Armenian officials abroad, such as one to improve ties with long-term antagonist Hungary and to solidify a stronger alliance with neighboring Georgia. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe finally saw fit to temporarily reject Azerbaijan for its violations of human rights both at home and against Armenians, while Armenia joined the International Criminal Court. Armenians even have a strategic presence within the top international story of the year, the Israel-Palestinian conflict, as the Armenian Quarter is simultaneously under assault with its strategic position within Jerusalem. Armenia is also caught in the middle of what has been relegated to a secondary but still major world conflict, the Russia-Ukraine war, as it attempts to walk the impossibly fine line of growing closer to the west while Russia routinely threatens Armenia to remember its geopolitical position. This round-up tells the stories of the past weeks through social media – the serious and the light.
One of the most interesting, and also hypocritical, relevant tweets in recent weeks came from Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz. After Turkish President Erdoğan backed South Africa’s case of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice, Katz struck back with the tweet above. While his statement is undoubtedly accurate, it fell quite flat coming from Israel, which has resisted for decades calls to recognize the Armenian Genocide, often in deference to Turkey. Some wondered if this tweet amounted to a tacit recognition, however it is far from the first time that Israel has threatened to recognize the genocide in its spats with Turkey. Formal recognition would remove a lever Israel has over Turkey, and as Israel’s main supply of oil passes through Turkey, it has been in their mutual interest to keep that going even with their relations at their all-time low. While Israel might “remember” the past atrocities against Armenians, it has also not stopped it from enabling new ones with its constant and ongoing supplying of weapons to Azerbaijan which have played an integral role in the ethnic cleansing of the Artsakh Armenians.
What started as a small movement by mostly young people within Jerusalem’s Armenian community against a land deal which further endangers the future of the Armenian Quarter has grown not just in size and intensity, but also in global significance as its relevance to the Palestinian situation within Israel has become visible The Armenian Quarter is located at a strategic crossroads, which if closed off by this development, would cut off a direct route of passage for Muslims and Christians through Jerusalem.
The International Criminal Court shared multiple tweets regarding Armenia’s official accession to the body after ratifying the Rome Statute last fall. According to Armenia’s legal representative at the court, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Armenia is preparing to file lawsuits against Azerbaijan at the ICC and a large amount of evidence is being evaluated. While Azerbaijan is not a party to the court, it still can be liable in cases which involve Armenia, such as the war crimes committed on its territory during the September 2022 attacks.
The joining of Armenia’s flag with those of 123 other countries at the ICC headquarters.
As tweeted by Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister and until recently Prime Minister for a decade. Luxembourg has been a staunch defender of Armenia, so much so that in 2021 Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev went on a rant (in the form of a “joke”) in which he belittled and mocked the country and threatened it to desist from any further criticism. Truly a cringe moment during his gathering of Azerbaijan’s international lobbyists and friends- which included a number of former US ambassadors such as Matthew Bryza- and culminated in the opening of the infamous “war trophy museum”.
Perhaps it is the sharpness of the tweet coupled with the large following of the account, but rather unexpectedly this tweet went extremely viral, with thousands of people replying to it with anger at Azerbaijan and the situation. Many of them were bemused that Azerbaijan would resort to war on Armenia, especially after already ethnically cleansing all of Nagorno-Karabakh. Pashinyan’s announcement has clearly got people talking and perhaps grappling more seriously with how precarious a moment it is for Armenia.
With so much feeling dark and threatening for Armenia, there’s also still a great deal of the lighter side of Armenian-related things on social media. The singer turned heads on the Grammys red carpet in this dress, and when asked the famous question of who she is wearing, she responded: “Khosrov, he’s an Armenian designer.”
An Armenian (well, a remote one) was also at center stage at one of the US’s biggest nights of the year, the Super Bowl (also known for its singers, especially this year). The quarterback leading one of the teams, the San Francisco 49ers, Brock Purdy, is the great-grandson of an Armenian born in Sivas (Sepastia). For those of you who are counting, that makes him one-eighth or 12.5% Armenian through his paternal grandmother. Brock’s great-grandfather Ohannes Tufenkjian was born in 1913, the same year his father Arakel went to the United States. The Armenian Genocide would soon wreak havoc on the region, and would have cut off Arakel from his family for many years. Documentation indicates Ohannes and his mother spent time in Greece in the 1920s, which is where hundreds of thousands of Armenians sought refuge after Ataturk’s rise put them in further danger. Arakel was able to reunite with his family in France in 1927 and brought them into the United States through Ellis Island in 1927. Ohannes took on the approximate Americanized name of John Cannon, as Tufenkji- means riflemaker, graduated from Cornell University, and married a young woman from North Carolina. John died early long before Brock was born and it is unknown if he has any link with his Armenian roots, but it’s always nice to see someone of Armenian descent reach such a high level in his sport. While Armenians aren’t exactly known as the football-playing type, you can check out this interesting history of Armenians in the NFL.
And when it comes to Armenian athletes, don’t forget the women!
Speaking of sports, you might not have realized the international organization of French speaking nations Francophonie has its own version of the Olympic games, but it does and it is headed to Armenia! Held every four years, the 10th Jeux de Francophonie will take place in 2027 and thousands of participants are expected to take part. Besides sports such as basketball, cycling, soccer, and judo, it also has a cultural component which includes poetry, painting, dance, and even juggling. The previous games for 2023 took place in Kinshasa, DR of Congo, after the original host New Brunswick, Canada pulled out due to funding issues. While the expense isn’t anywhere near that of hosting the Olympics, it is clearly still a major undertaking and thus important Armenia has a viable plan to pull it off. Watch this space.
Famous analyst and author Nassim Nicholas Taleb was reflecting on his trip to Armenia in this tweet about the importance of stairs in exercise. In case you are wondering, the term he used to describe his Yerevan activities, flaneuring, means to stroll without any particular reason but people-watching.
Armenia appears in the Guardian’s list of “dream meals” across Europe. Alongside famous dining destinations such as Italy, France, and Greece appears little Tsaghkunk, Armenia, located not far from the Lake Sevan resort area. The article describes the village’s namesake restaurant as a must visit for local flavors. “The chefs are inventive, foraging in surrounding hills for mushrooms and herbs, and there is a traditional bread house attached, with a clay tonir for making Armenia’s moreish lavash flatbread.”
Finally, just as Armenia celebrated the ancient holiday of Trndez this week, may we always be able to find light in the darkness.
