Latest news with #Yerevan
Asharq Al-Awsat
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Armenian Prime Minister Meets Erdogan in Rare Visit to Türkiye Aimed at Mending Ties
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday as part of the two countries' efforts to normalize ties that were strained over historic disputes and Türkiye's alliance with Azerbaijan. The talks between the two countries, which have no formal diplomatic ties, were expected to center on the possible reopening of their joint border as well as the war between Israel and Iran. Türkiye, a close ally of Azerbaijan, shut down its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity with Baku, which was locked in a conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In 2020, Türkiye strongly backed Azerbaijan in the six-week conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, which ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal that saw Azerbaijan gain control of a significant part of the region. Türkiye and Armenia also have a more than century-old dispute over the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in massacres, deportations and forced marches that began in 1915 in Ottoman Türkiye. Historians widely view the event as genocide. Türkiye vehemently rejects the label, conceding that many died in that era but insisting that the death toll is inflated and the deaths resulted from civil unrest. The rare visit by an Armenian leader comes after Ankara and Yerevan agreed in 2021 to launch efforts toward normalizing ties and appointed special representatives to lead talks. Pashinyan previously visited Türkiye in 2023 when he attended a presidential inauguration ceremony following an election victory by Erdogan. The two have also held talks on the sideline of a meeting in Prague in 2022. It is Ankara and Yerevan's second attempt at reconciliation. Türkiye and Armenia reached an agreement in 2009 to establish formal relations and to open their border, but the deal was never ratified because of strong opposition from Azerbaijan.
Russia Today
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Moscow closely following arrest of Russian-Armenian billionaire
Moscow is closely monitoring the legal case against businessman Samvel Karapetyan, who was arrested in Armenia earlier this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. The billionaire holds both Russian and Armenian citizenship. Karapetyan has been accused of calling for the overthrow of the Armenian government and is being held in pre-trial detention for two months. He has denied all the charges, while his supporters claim the case against him is politically motivated. 'Of course we're watching. For us, he is a Russian citizen. We do not want to interfere in the internal affairs of Armenia, but we most carefully follow everything that is related to Russian citizens,' Peskov told reporters on Friday. Karapetyan was taken into custody on Tuesday hours after he voiced his support for the Armenian Apostolic Church in its standoff with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. 'I have always been on the side of the Armenian Church and the Armenian people. If the politicians fail, we will intervene in the campaign against the Church in our own way,' he said. Shortly after the billionaire's remarks, Pashinyan took to Facebook vowing to retaliate and shut down the businessman's operations in the country 'for good.' Just a few hours later, Karapetyan's residence in Yerevan was raided by police. The case against Karapetyan has received condemnation from different figures in the Armenian diaspora and the Orthodox community. 'From the information we have, the arrest is likely related to the escalation of the conflict between the church and the government of Armenia… Freedom of speech is sacred, and persecution of a person for personal views is unacceptable unless martial law is declared,' Vikan Tosunyan, a spokesman for Lebanon's Armenian Democratic Liberal Party, told Sputnik Arabic. The arrest of Karapetyan is a part of a broader attack on Eastern Christianity, renowned Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica has suggested, drawing parallels between the actions of Pashinyan and politicians in other countries. '[Vladimir] Zelensky is doing this in Ukraine, they tried to do this in Montenegro, but the people there rose up, and Belgrade was able to defend the church, so we can only believe that we, the Orthodox, have protection and seek it in our brotherly Russia,' Kusturica told RIA Novosti. In recent weeks, Pashinyan has repeatedly attacked the church, accusing it of various violations and corruption, as well as personally targeting Catholicos Garegin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, claiming he had breached his vow of celibacy and urging him to step down. The church has firmly rejected the allegations, suggesting the prime minister himself has been acting on behalf of foreign 'Armenophobic' forces.
CTV News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Armenian billionaire appears in court accused of calling for regime change as church feud spirals
An Armenian priest walks inside the Dadivank, an Armenian Apostolic Church under Russian peacekeepers' guard, outside Nagorno-Karabakh, near Kalbajar, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel) YEREVAN, Armenia — One of richest men in Armenia has been arrested on charges of making public calls to seize power in the country illegally, his lawyer said Wednesday, as a feud between Armenia's prime minister and the nation's dominant church intensified. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has long had a tumultuous relationship with the Armenian Apostolic Church and billionaire Samvel Karapetyan now seems to have been caught up in it. Karapetyan, 59, was detained late on Tuesday night and appeared in front of a court in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on Wednesday, according to Armen Feroyan, his attorney. The lawyer said Karapetyan denied the charges against him. Karapetyan, who also holds Russian citizenship, owns the Tashir Group, a conglomerate that operates residential and commercial real estate as well as the Electric Networks of Armenia. Pashinyan, the prime minister, told journalists on Wednesday that the power company would be nationalized 'soon' following Karapetyan's arrest. Before his arrest, Karapetyan said in video released Tuesday, that 'a small group of people who have forgotten the thousand-year history of Armenia and the church' were attacking the religious institution. 'I have always stood with the Armenian Church and the Armenian people,' the billionaire said. 'If the politicians do not succeed, we will intervene in our own way in this campaign against the church.' The remarks were seen as a jab at Pashinyan, who on June 8 called for the head of Armenia's church, Catholicos Karekin II, to resign after accusing him of fathering a child while under a vow of celibacy. At the time, the church released a statement accusing Pashinyan of undermining Armenia's 'spiritual unity' but did not address the claim about the child. Pashinyan responded, promising on Facebook to crack down on 'depraved' members of the clergy and their benefactors. 'He says 'we will intervene in our own way',' Pashinyan wrote, apparently citing Karapetyan. 'Now I will intervene in my own way.' Earlier on Wednesday, the prime minister dismissed the head of the country's national security service, Armen Abazyan. When asked by journalists if the move was linked to the billionaire's arrest, Pashinyan only said the security chief 'deserved to rest a little' after a difficult tenure. Avet Demourian, The Associated Press
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Armenian billionaire appears in court accused of calling for regime change as church feud spirals
YEREVAN, Armenia — One of richest men in Armenia has been arrested on charges of making public calls to seize power in the country illegally, his lawyer said Wednesday, as a feud between Armenia's prime minister and the nation's dominant church intensified. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has long had a tumultuous relationship with the Armenian Apostolic Church and billionaire Samvel Karapetyan now seems to have been caught up in it.
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Armenian billionaire appears in court accused of calling for regime change as church feud spirals
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — One of richest men in Armenia has been arrested on charges of making public calls to seize power in the country illegally, his lawyer said Wednesday, as a feud between Armenia's prime minister and the nation's dominant church intensified. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has long had a tumultuous relationship with the Armenian Apostolic Church and billionaire Samvel Karapetyan now seems to have been caught up in it. Karapetyan, 59, was detained late on Tuesday night and appeared in front of a court in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on Wednesday, according to Armen Feroyan, his attorney. The lawyer said Karapetyan denied the charges against him. Karapetyan, who also holds Russian citizenship, owns the Tashir Group, a conglomerate that operates residential and commercial real estate as well as the Electric Networks of Armenia. Pashinyan, the prime minister, told journalists on Wednesday that the power company would be nationalized 'soon' following Karapetyan's arrest. Before his arrest, Karapetyan said in video released Tuesday, that 'a small group of people who have forgotten the thousand-year history of Armenia and the church' were attacking the religious institution. 'I have always stood with the Armenian Church and the Armenian people,' the billionaire said. 'If the politicians do not succeed, we will intervene in our own way in this campaign against the church.' The remarks were seen as a jab at Pashinyan, who on June 8 called for the head of Armenia's church, Catholicos Karekin II, to resign after accusing him of fathering a child while under a vow of celibacy. At the time, the church released a statement accusing Pashinyan of undermining Armenia's 'spiritual unity' but did not address the claim about the child. Pashinyan responded, promising on Facebook to crack down on 'depraved' members of the clergy and their benefactors. 'He says 'we will intervene in our own way',' Pashinyan wrote, apparently citing Karapetyan. 'Now I will intervene in my own way.' Earlier on Wednesday, the prime minister dismissed the head of the country's national security service, Armen Abazyan. When asked by journalists if the move was linked to the billionaire's arrest, Pashinyan only said the security chief 'deserved to rest a little' after a difficult tenure.
