Basel Issmail is a resident of Armenia with roots in the coastal regions of Syria, where in recent days hundreds of his fellow Alawis have been massacred by forces with links to the new government, with confirmed casualties continuing to rise. He joined us to talk about the first-hand accounts of the violence he has heard from those close to him still in the Latakia region and to sound the alarm about this ongoing ethnic cleansing. With reports of Armenians having been killed as well, Issmail warns that every minority group in Syria is a potential target.
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The Undoing of Armenia: Nikol Pashinyan’s Negotiation Debacle
Op-ed by Vartan Oskanian, Armenia’s former foreign minister (1998-2008) By any objective measure, Nikol Pashinyan has proven to be the worst negotiator Armenia has ever had. In the six years since he came to power, every diplomatic or strategic dossier he has touched has turned to ash. Armenia, once a resilient state, now stands hollowed out—Nagorno-Karabakh lost, mainland territories occupied, its defenses weakened, its alliances frayed, and its people disillusioned. This is not simply the result of Azerbaijani aggression; it is the product of breathtakingly poor leadership and a near-textbook violation of every core principle of sound negotiation strategy. Pashinyan’s […]
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What Turkey wants in the South Caucasus
Dr. Mustafa Aydin, a professor of international relations at Kadir Has University is in Yerevan to participate in a conference organized by the Caucasus Institute entitled “Gathering Storm: Regional Security of the South Caucasus in the Context of the Crisis of the Global Order.” He speaks with CivilNet about Turkey’s evolving role amid global and regional upheavals, as well as the country’s positioning between the Russia-Ukraine war and conflicts in the Middle East. The discussion focuses on how Turkey views the South Caucasus and, in particular, normalization attempts with Armenia. Aydin emphasizes the importance of people-to-people contact between Turks and […]
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Georgian university accepts, then expels student from Nagorno-Karabakh
By Siranush Adamyan Anush Petrosyan, a displaced student from Nagorno-Karabakh, has been denied the opportunity to continue her education at a Georgian university due to her diploma. Anush was forced to flee Nagorno-Karabakh in late September 2023 following Azerbaijan’s military offensive against the region and the subsequent ethnic cleansing that led to the mass displacement of more than 100,000 Armenians. This was not the first time she had been uprooted. In 2020, during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, her hometown of Shushi was captured by Azerbaijani forces, forcing her and her family to relocate to Stepanakert, the region’s capital. Despite these […]
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Erdogan vs. İmamoğlu: The Battle for Turkey’s Presidency Begins
By Karena Avedissian Why İmamoğlu’s Arrest Matters “The security forces have deployed hundreds of police to my house,” Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main rival, said in a video message to supporters on Wednesday, March 19th. Moments later, he and several staff members were arrested. İmamoğlu’s detention is not just about removing a political rival—it signals Erdoğan’s deepening concern over his hold on power. As a leader who has spent more than two decades consolidating control, Erdoğan is now facing an existential political challenge. A leading figure in the Republican People’s Party (CHP), İmamoğlu’s popularity, especially […]
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70 Days Behind Enemy Lines: Surviving War and Finding Purpose
Kolya Stepanyan, a writer and a veteran made a life-changing decision to repatriate to Armenia in 2019 and serve in the military, only to find himself in an all out war and stranded behind enemy lines for 70 days. In this podcast interview with CivilNet, the 2020 Artsakh War survivor shares his story of survival, the bonds that he formed, and how he channeled his emotions into writing his debut novel Where.
