The Region in Brief

Armenia

Armenia has sent rescue squads and humanitarian assistance to Turkey and Syria in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. At least 11,600 people have died after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck northern Syria and southeastern Turkey on February 6. During a phone call with Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “noted that the Turkish government highly values Armenia’s support, emphasizing that step also from the point of view of further deepening the dialogue between the two countries.” While discussing the aid package to Turkey, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan reiterated Armenia’s readiness to establish diplomatic ties with Turkey “as quickly as possible.”

Pashinyan also held a phone call with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and pledged to send humanitarian aid. Armenia is the only South Caucasus country to send aid or rescue workers to Syria after the earthquake. Azerbaijan has sent emergency workers, including military and civilian medical personnel, to Turkey. It also sent a mobile field hospital and allocated hospital beds in Nakhichevan and Baku for wounded people. Georgia sent firefighters and emergency workers, as well as rescue gear and machinery, to Turkey.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani authorities threatened this week to file lawsuits against media outlets that do not comply with a newly-created government registry. A law adopted in December 2021 created a state registry for media outlets to submit a list of their reporters, along with their addresses and identification numbers. Media outlets technically are not mandated to register with the government. However, on February 6, Ahmad Ismayilov, the executive director of the Media Development Agency (MEDIA), said his department would file suits against media outlets that do not register. Ismayilov added that the “court will rule that they must terminate their activities,” according to pro-government media outlet Trend.az, yet that quote was later deleted from its article. MEDIA has also refused to register some outlets, barring them from attending parliamentary sessions.

Georgia

A new set of rules regulating the conduct of reporters covering the Georgian parliament went into effect on Tuesday. According to the decree, journalists must end an interview if a member of parliament refuses to answer questions. Journalists can be suspended from parliament for one month for violating the rules and six months for repeated offenses. If a journalist’s accreditation is revoked, they cannot be replaced by another reporter from the same media outlet. Reporters and press freedom groups have criticized the decree as the latest attempt by the ruling Georgian Dream party to crack down on critical media outlets.

The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information said that the ban on replacing a sanctioned journalist is an attempt to remove opposition media outlets from parliament.

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Lillian Avedian

Lillian Avedian is the assistant editor of the Armenian Weekly. She reports on international women's rights, South Caucasus politics, and diasporic identity. Her writing has also been published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Democracy in Exile, and Girls on Key Press. She holds master's degrees in journalism and Near Eastern studies from New York University.