In this episode of Insights, host Eric Hacopian offers a comprehensive analysis of the landmark appointment of Arpine Sargsyan as Armenia’s new Interior Minister. Sargsyan’s rise to the position represents a significant milestone for female leadership in the country, shattering long standing glass ceilings in the traditionally male-dominated realm of law enforcement and national security. Hacopian delves into the political implications of Sargsyan’s appointment, exploring the challenges and opportunities it presents for Armenia’s ongoing democratic development and efforts to promote greater gender equality in positions of authority.
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ADB’s Don Lambert on Armenia’s green economy potential
In this Civilnet interview, Don Lambert, the country director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), provides a comprehensive analysis of Armenia’s investment climate, foreign direct investment (FDI) potential, and the country’s promising green energy future. Lambert, drawing on his extensive experience and the ADB’s engagement in the region, offers a nuanced perspective on the key drivers, challenges, and opportunities shaping Armenia’s economic development.
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The Sham Trial in Baku: A Betrayal of Justice and
Op-ed by Vartan Oskanian, Armenia’s former foreign minister (1998-2008) Today, Azerbaijan has once again demonstrated its disdain for justice, human rights, and international law by staging a sham trial against the leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh. This grotesque spectacle is the latest act in a campaign to erase the Armenian presence from a region that has been its cultural and historical heartland for centuries. It also serves as a glaring indictment of the international community’s failure to act and, perhaps most damningly, of the Armenian government’s complicity in the tragic dismantling of Nagorno-Karabakh. This trial is not an isolated incident. It is […]
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Critical Questions: Unpacking Armenia’s 2020 Karabakh Defeat
By Karen Harutyunyan This article was published in the book Defeat: The 2020 Karabakh War—Realities and Lessons, released by the Armenian Research Center in Humanities with the support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Why did Armenia suffer such a devastating defeat in the 2020 Karabakh war, and how did the subsequent domestic, regional, and geopolitical developments ultimately lead to the blockade, loss, and ethnic cleansing of Artsakh? To answer this critical question and explain the catastrophic failures of the Armenian side, it is necessary to address numerous factors—ranging from internal politics, geopolitics, and economics to military, societal, and structural issues. […]
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Ruben Vardanyan: All protocols bearing my signature are falsifications
Entrepreneur, philanthropist and former Nagorno-Karabakh state minister Ruben Vardanyan, who has been under illegal arrest in Baku for more than a year, said yesterday that Azerbaijani investigators falsified protocols and recordings of his interrogations and pressured him, his lawyer and translator to sign documents retroactively. He stated this in an open letter he dictated during a phone call from prison that was published on his social media accounts. Statement by Ruben Vardanyan, Armenian Political Prisoner Illegally Incarcerated in Azerbaijan (conveyed to his family during his weekly phone call) January 16, 2025 I would like to address the global community, to […]
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UK’s Paddington in Peru comes to Armenia
By Christopher Crowson As part of its efforts to promote British culture in Armenia and encourage closer bilateral ties across all spheres, the British Embassy hosted the premiere of the latest release in the Paddington film series, Paddington in Peru on Thursday. The event, which took place at the Yerevan Mall KinoPark, was a family affair, attended by British Ambassador to Armenia John Gallagher, his family, embassy staff, the Canadian ambassador to Armenia and his wife, as well as employees and children from the Lousé Foundation – a rehabilitation center for disabled children. Ambassador Gallagher told CivilNet that the event […]
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Foster Families: The Future of Care in Armenia
By Sophie Holloway “Vahan ran up to me, he seemed to think I was his mother,” says Knarik Yesayan, orphanage worker and foster mother to twins, Vahan and Vahe. “And so everything was decided on that very first day.” Foster care emerged as a state-sponsored alternative to institutionalised care in Armenia in the early 2000s as a solution to overcrowding in orphanages. Today, approximately 900 children are looked after by the state. A further 170 children live with foster families – and this figure is expected to grow. Foster care differs from adoption in that it is only a temporary […]
