The Region in Brief

Armenia

An Armenian citizen burned the Azerbaijani flag on stage during the opening ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championship in Yerevan. Designer Aram Nikolyan ran on stage, snatched the Azerbaijani flag from a performer and set it on fire. Azerbaijan withdrew its delegation from the competition following the incident. “It is impossible for Azerbaijani athletes to participate normally in competitions due to psychological pressures in Armenia, where such an atmosphere of hatred prevails and safety is not ensured,” Azerbaijan’s Sports Ministry and National Olympic Committee said in a joint statement. A criminal investigation has been opened against Nikolyan. Armenia’s Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports said that the incident “deserves to be condemned in terms of sports values and universal principles of fair play.”

Artsakh

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev warned Armenian residents to leave Artsakh during a televised interview on April 18. “Karabakh is our internal matter,” Aliyev said. “Armenians living in Karabakh should either accept Azerbaijani citizenship or find another place to live.” Aliyev also said that Armenian leadership had accepted Azerbaijani control over Artsakh when it recognized Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. “Armenia, which used to say that ‘Karabakh is Armenia and full stop,’ must now repeat our words that ‘Karabakh is Azerbaijan and exclamation mark,’” Aliyev said. While addressing parliament on Tuesday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that “Armenia fully recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan” and expects Azerbaijan not to submit territorial claims to Armenia.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani media have been supporting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of Turkey’s elections on May 14. Report.az published an op-ed this week that called Erdogan’s regime the “longest-lived and most decisive” government in the history of the Republic of Turkey, praising its 21-year longevity. The article celebrated Turkey’s support of Azerbaijan during the 2020 Artsakh War. Azerbaijani Public TV has broadcast Erdogan’s campaign speeches, including speeches in which he denigrates his opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Georgia

Former Georgian Defense Minister Davit Kezerashvili has announced that he will transfer half of his stake in a Georgian television news channel to the company’s employees. Kezerashvili, who served under the opposition United National Movement government, said he would transfer the other part of his 51-percent share in TV Formula “after the end of oligarchic rule” in Georgia, in reference to the ruling Georgian Dream party. Kezerashvili made the announcement soon after the publication of a BBC investigation that accused him of running a billion-dollar global scam network. Members of the Georgian Dream party have accused Kezerashvili of trying to hide his connection to the media company. “Free journalism is incompatible with the fact that it is very probable that Davit Kezerashvili finances the activities of the media with money earned through international fraud,” vice speaker of parliament Archil Talakvadze said.

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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.