This week on Insights with Eric Hacopian, host Eric provides analysis on the latest Armenia-Azerbaijan foreign ministers meeting in Berlin and what comes next in the peace process. Updates will also be shared on the major personnel changes announced in Armenia’s armed forces. The episode closes with an overview and the implications of the canceled visit by Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to the region.
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EU monitors confirm Azerbaijani damage to civilian infrastructure in Armenian
By Alexander Pracht Observers from the European Union Monitoring Mission in Armenia (EUMA) recorded damage to civilian infrastructure in the Armenian border-straddling village of Khoznavar in the southern Syunik region as a result of gunfire, the mission announced Monday. “Over the Easter weekend, EUMA conducted 27 day and night patrols in its Area of Operation including villages Khoznavar, Khnatsakh and Aravus. In Khoznavar, EUMA observed the impact of two shots damaging civilian infrastructure, possibly originating from an Azerbaijani position in the area.,” the statement said. The Armenian Defense Ministry reported on Monday that Azerbaijani forces had opened fire in the […]
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State-Sponsored Hate: How Armenia’s Ruling Party and Pro-Government Media Target
By Tigran Grigoryan and Aram Tadevosyan Following the March 29 rally organized by displaced Artsakh Armenians in Yerevan’s Freedom Square, the Armenian authorities and their affiliated media have continued a sustained campaign of hate speech and defamation against the participants. The primary cause of the demonstration was the government’s decision to scale back a social assistance program that covered housing expenses. During the rally, speakers also addressed the right of return and other related issues. The scale of the hate campaign targeting Artsakh refugees by Armenian officials and pro-government media outlets has grown to such an extent that it underscores […]
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Gas and Geopolitics: Cooperation Amid Conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean
By Didier Holleaux The article was published in the April 21 issue of the World Energy Weekly, a publication of Petrostrategies, a French think tank specializing in energy issues. The Eastern Mediterranean has been a zone of territorial and political conflicts since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, but gas discoveries have fostered surprising instances of cooperation in the region. Historically, Egypt was the only significant gas producer in the region. The discovery of large gas reserves in Egypt’s offshore fields led to the construction of liquefaction plants in Idku and Damietta in 2005, enabling the export of liquefied natural […]
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Armenian hockey team runner-up at World Championship in Yerevan
By Alexander Pracht The Division IV Ice Hockey World Championship concluded on Saturday in Yerevan, where six national teams competed for promotion to the higher-tier Division III. Although Armenia fell short of winning the tournament, the national team made a strong comeback to the ice after a 15-year hiatus, earning several impressive victories and sparking renewed local interest in the sport. The World Championship is an annual tournament organized by divisions. The top division features the world’s strongest teams, such as the United States, Canada, and Sweden, while Division IV includes the lowest-ranked national teams from countries where ice hockey […]
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Mr. Sylvain: Teghut’s Coach from Côte d’Ivoire
Due to the war in Côte d’Ivoire, football player Yao Sylvain Kouassi moved to Armenia. After he was unable to continue his career because of an injury, Silven decided to stay in Armenia and develop a youth football program. He is now a football coach in the Tavush region’s Teghut village, where he is known as Mr. Sylvain.
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The disappearing art of Armenian handwriting
By Nanor Froundjian Leafing through the pages of the infamous 18th century ‘Encyclopédie,’ part of which broaches world alphabets, Ruben Malayan recalls seeing the Armenian alphabet’s first letter, ayb (Ա), in a whole new light. It’s a moment he describes as pure illumination. “The treatment of ayb in that (book) shocked me, because I’d never seen ayb this beautiful – and unusual for me – because I’m used to the ayb they taught us in school,” said Malayan, remembering the moment that inspired a life-changing study of Armenian calligraphy, about 15 years ago. The multi-disciplinary visual artist has since committed […]
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Memory and Denial: Commemorating the Armenian Genocide in a Time
Op-ed by Vartan Oskanian, Armenia’s former foreign minister (1998-2008) This April 24 marks the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide—a moment of solemn remembrance for Armenians around the world. For generations, we have honored the 1.5 million lives lost to a deliberate, state-orchestrated campaign of extermination. But this year, a cloud hangs over our collective mourning—not from outside forces, but from within. The clarity that has long defined our commemoration is now threatened by a profound and disorienting moral collapse in Armenian leadership. Nikol Pashinyan stands accused of something previously unimaginable: publicly casting doubt on the veracity and scale of […]
