The Fate of Armenia’s Borders in Limbo, Again

Image caption: From Lachin to Turkey, a question mark lingers over the fate of Armenian borders (Image by Ліонкінг/Wikimedia Commons).

Mixed signals have been reigning over the fate of Armenia’s borders for over a week now. With littered information blurring reality, border communities do not know what to expect.

Normalisation talks have been ongoing behind closed doors. Last week, Deputy PM Mher Grigoryan said normalisation talks have been fruitful. Mere hours later, PM Pashinyan said there’s proper potential for an aggressive war launched by Azerbaijan, as Baku’s ready and willing to point fingers at Armenia’s lack of interest in normalisation efforts. The PM accused Baku of canceling high-level meetings for normalisation talks and lacking cooperation with the POW issue.

Two days later, though, PM Pashinyan, during a press conference, that some communities in Berdzor/Lachin will have to evacuate because some parts of the region will be handed over to Azerbaijan. This raises many questions because Berdzor remains to be the safest and most efficient route to Artsakh today. Baku said the construction project will be complete by the end of July. The Mayor of Berdzor Narek Hakobyan said the people of the town will stay until things are clarified. President of Artsakh Harutyunyan said the Lachin agreement was a given based on the 2020 ceasefire agreement, but the village of Aghavno is intended to be kept Armenian and negotiations to keep it as such continue.

Russia MFA Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Russia is interested in normalisation talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

A few days later, Russian newspaper Izvestia cited an anonymous high-ranking official and indicated that Armenia has “accelerated the process” of the Zangezur corridor via Syunik, connecting Azerbaijan to the Nakhichevan region. The corridor will be 46km long, 40km of it already comprising Soviet-era pre-established routes. The 6km are mountainous areas and they have not yet been agreed upon.

Speaking of borders, only days ago the Armenian MFA said that, after holding talks with Turkey in Vienna, have agreed to open the border between the two countries for “citizens of third countries” as soon as possible. This also includes direct air cargo trade. This indicates the biggest normalisation move between the two countries since the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago. This comes a day after Turkey denied a permit to FlyOne Armenia to carry out its scheduled flights to Beirut, Lebanon.

Armenians Shining In Hollywood & Beyond

Image caption: Armenians in the film industry make us proud (Photo from Public Radio of Armenia).

Thanks to the social media channels of the Armenian Film Society, we’re always updated when an Armenian achieves notable heights in the film industry. In June alone, the achievements are countless.

We found out that Atom Egoyan’s new Exotica will be released later this September, Eric Esrailian was elected to the Academy Museum Board of Trustees. The Promise director Terry George will be heading the jury of the Golden Apricot Film Festival this July, and Natalie Qasabian, Sev Ohanian, and Jack Edjourian are now members of The Academy.

Ani Acopian joined Park Pictures, Paramount+ series SEAL Team hires cast regular Raffi Barsoumian for the show, and Ten Year Old Tom by Steve Dildarian has been renewed for a second season. Drake’s newest music video Falling Back is produced by Fuliane Petikyan and features an Armenian character named Aizabil Arabian in it, which also is the real name of the Syrian-Armenian actress of the video.

These are only a few of the many examples that the AFS posts about, so make sure to follow them to stay up-to-date with all things Armenian and film!

Notable News

• The Ecole 42 educational system, which has a branch at TUMO Center Yerevan, ranked first place as the university system with the best ethical values, followed by Franklin U, UPenn, Harvard, and Florida State.

• Armenia Supreme Judicial Council's acting head resigns.

• It is now possible to trade in AMD on the Moscow Stock Exchange.

• Relations between Cyprus, Armenia, and Greece grow closer.

• Lord Ara Darzi was awarded an honorary degree by Oxford University.

• Inter Milan FC signs Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

• US Ambassador to Ukraine assigned to head the Embassy in Yerevan bu POTUS.

• Sarah Tanzilli, Guillaume Kasbarian, and Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet are the three Armenians elected into the French parliament. All three of them are of the La République En Marche! political party, the party of French President Emmanuel Macron.

• Canada will open an embassy in Yerevan.

• The 5-year grant agreement between Armenia and the US is worth $120m USD.

• French singer Zaz and American rapper 50 Cent performed in Yerevan.

• Vice Speaker of Armenia’s NA Ishkhan Saghatelyan and Econ Affairs Chairperson Vahe Hakobyan have been relieved of their parliamentary duties by 66 unanimous votes. They are both opposition MPs and opposition MPs did not partake in the vote.

Multimedia Corner

Image caption: Forget France: Armenia is the hub of winemaking history, says Euronews. (Photo by AP Photo)

• Read: How much do you know about The Bastard of Istanbul? The bestseller written by Turkish fascists’ target Elif Shafak features an Armenian main character and takes place in the US and Turkey. Read the book here.

• Listen: World famous Sergey Khatchatryan has never failed to impress, but his rendition of Groong will forever be a personal favorite of mine. Listen here.

• Watch: How much do you know about Argentinian-Armenians? Never enough. Here’s a short doc to watch ASAP.

• Learn: Forget France: Armenia is the hub of winemaking history reads the headline of this Euronews article. Learn all about it here.