Your Namak for Friday, November 12
Civilian killed in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan to create checkpoints in southern Armenia and British parliament passes first reading of genocide recognition bill.
Hi there, here’s your weekly briefing of Armenian news in English, curated, reported and fact-checked by journalists Astrig Agopian and Maral Tavitian.
One Civilian Killed and Three Wounded in Nagorno-Karabakh
On November 8, Azerbaijani servicemen opened fire on civilians repairing water pipes in Nagorno-Karabakh, killing one and injuring three others. In the late afternoon, the four men were completing infrastructure maintenance near the city of Shushi when Azerbaijani soldiers shot at them. Portions of the road connecting Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh were temporarily closed following the incident. Later in the evening, fireworks from a celebration in Shushi marking the one year anniversary of Azerbaijan’s control over the city were visible from Stepanakert.
Azerbaijan To Establish Checkpoints in Armenia’s Syunik Region
In an interview with Armenian Public TV on November 10, Secretary of the Armenian Security Council Armen Grigoryan announced that the Azerbaijani authorities will establish customs checkpoints on the road connecting the cities of Goris and Kapan in southern Armenia. In response, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan published a statement seeking clarification about what he described as the surprise announcement. Tatoyan said the presence of Azerbaijani armed servicemen on Armenian roadways presents the risk of human rights violations against the civilian population.
British Parliament Passes First Reading of Genocide Recognition Bill
On November 9, the House of Commons of the British Parliament passed a bill on the first reading regarding the country’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Conservative Member of Parliament Tim Loughton introduced the Ten-Minute Rule Bill, a procedure which gives a legislator ten minutes before the chamber to make the case for a proposed law. “We cannot legitimately call out and stand up to genocide still going on in the 21st century by sidelining and neglecting the genocides of the 20th century,” Loughton said. The bill will be presented for a second reading early next year.
Pashinyan’s Press Secretary Resigns
On November 9, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Press Secretary Mane Gevorgyan announced her resignation. In a statement published on her Facebook page, Gevorgyan said, “The process of fulfilling the duties of the Prime Minister’s press secretary was filled with many challenges for Armenia. Despite everything, I have tried to stay true to the values that were the basis of the 2018 revolution.” A former journalist, Gevorgyan had held the position since March 2020.
Kocharyan Announces Movement to Topple PM
Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan headlined a rally in Yerevan’s Freedom Square to announce a movement aimed at ousting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. In early parliamentary elections held in June, Pashinyan’s Civil Contract Party won with 53.91 percent of the vote, and Kocharyan’s Armenia Alliance came in second with 21.09 percent. The Armenia Alliance is the main opposition party in parliament.
Shoushan Keshishian: Meet a Lebanese-Armenian cultivating Stepanakert’s cultural scene
“Armenians are still living in Artsakh, and I want to fight this whole discourse saying it is a boring, depressing, unsafe place.”
Shoushan Keshishian always has a smile on her face. Whether she is crossing checkpoints on the road between Goris and Stepanakert, sitting at a café, or talking about how much she misses Lebanon, her positive energy is incredibly infectious.
The 24-year-old was born in Latakia, Syria and grew up in Beirut. She studied political science at the Lebanese American University and earned a master’s degree in post-war recovery studies at the University of York, graduating right before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
“I went through Covid and then the Beirut blast and then the war here. So many things happened,” Shoushan says. “The last two years just taught me how unpredictable life is.”
She moved back to Beirut after graduating and applied to the iGorts program, an initiative by the Armenian government to recruit Armenians from the diaspora to work for one year in various state institutions. One day after the Beirut blast and a few weeks before the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war started, she moved to Yerevan and started working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Throughout my life, whenever I did something, whenever I chose what to study, I always had the idea of moving to Armenia in the back of my mind,” Shoushan says.
When the war started, Shoushan did not think for a moment to turn back on her plans. Despite the challenging conditions, she felt an even greater responsibility to put her skills to use.
“As someone who was born in Syria and lived in Lebanon, and with the latest events in Beirut, I just think safety as a concept is different for us,” she says.
After the war, Shoushan changed her placement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the government of the Republic of Artsakh. She started regularly commuting between Yerevan and Stepanakert, a city she had only ever visited on family vacations.
Shoushan has always been drawn to the arts as a form of post-war recovery. She created the Artsakh Art Initiative, a virtual gallery of artworks dedicated to Artsakh by artists around the world. Together with another iGorts fellow, Lilit Ter-Akopian from Russia, she started brainstorming how to expand the concept into an in-person event.
The two young women founded Sunrise Stepanakert, an arts festival held in July, despite many challenges created by the post-war environment, such as securing visas for artists and guests from outside Armenia. They plan to make the festival an annual gathering.
“We wanted to be able to say there is this amazing festival in Stepanakert with musicians, great movies being screened. There are reasons for you to go to Artsakh,” Shoushan says. “Armenians are still living in Artsakh, and I want to fight this whole discourse saying it is a boring, depressing, unsafe place.”
When asked about the everyday difficulties of living in Stepanakert, such as unreliable cell service and water or electricity cuts, Shoushan just brushes them off with a laugh.
“You know I was born in Syria and raised in Lebanon, so electricity cuts…been there, done that,” she says. “Honestly life is easier in Stepanakert than in Beirut now. I just keep my head down and work, that’s all we need to do.”
Shoushan has moved to Stepanakert permanently and is working on yet another project: a co-working space called Hub Artsakh. The goal is to create a place where people can make professional connections and work with coffee, snacks and WiFi. The Hub also launched the Nagorno-Karabakh Entrepreneurship Incubation Program to help 15 startups turn their ideas into profitable projects that will support the region’s recovery efforts.
“No matter where you come from and whatever your expertise is, there is always a role for people here,” Shoushan says. “It’s always the negative news that is going out, but there is also positive news and amazing young people who are talented, motivated and want to stay here and make the situation better in Artsakh and Armenia.”
To read: A Compassionate Companion, an article announcing Robin the Robot as one of Time’s Best Inventions of 2021. A product of the Armenian startup ecosystem, Robin is designed to ease anxiety and loneliness among children in hospitals.
To listen: Պիտի գնանք (We must go), a folk song recorded by the Saghsara project, which aims to collect and archive traditional music from villages throughout Armenia.
To watch: Etch, a cultural platform dedicated to storytelling in the Western Armenian language.
That’s it for today, see you next week!
Questions? Story ideas? An urge to say barev/parev? You can send us a secure email at namaknews@protonmail.com.