The Region in Brief

Armenia

Armenian lawyers went on strike on Monday to protest police violence against attorneys. Armenia’s Chamber of Advocates, a national bar association, organized the strike after Karen Alaverdyan was charged with hooliganism and obstruction of police activity. Alaverdyan said he was subjected to “undue physical force” after trying to prevent police officers from beating his client. The National Security Service is investigating the case. Two other lawyers said they were physically abused by the police in February. Disciplinary action has not been taken against any of the officers involved in the beatings.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations during a phone call on June 28. Pashinyan congratulated Erdogan on Eid al-Adha, while Erdogan congratulated Pashinyan on the coming Vardavar. The leaders discussed the “agreement on the opening of the land border for the holders of diplomatic passports and citizens of third countries,” according to Pashinyan’s office. Erdogan said that “significant confidence building measures have been taken during the process for normalization of ties between Turkey and Armenia, and that it should continue,” according to Turkish news outlets.

Azerbaijan

The EU has condemned a tweet by Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the EU Vaqif Sadiqov threatening members of the European Parliament. “They know what they are doing to protect themselves. The Istiglal IST-14.5 anti-materiel sniper rifle produced in Azerbaijan has the effective firing range of about 3,000 m. Guys, keep clear of Azerbaijani state border,” Sadiqov tweeted on June 23. Sadiqov posted in a thread responding to a tweet by Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan about a visit by a delegation of MEPs to Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan. “We condemn such behavior, which is totally unacceptable for an Ambassador accredited to the EU,” an EU spokesperson told OC Media.

Three feminist activists and one journalist were detained after a protest at the US Embassy in Baku during an Independence Day celebration. Activists Gulnara Mehdiyeva, Sanubar Heydarova and Narmin Shahmarzade painted black hands on their necks to protest against the government crackdown on demonstrations against the environmental harms of gold mining by residents of Soyudlu village. US Embassy guards detained the activists, as well as journalist Ulvi Hasanli who was filming a live broadcast of the protest, and handed them over to the Azerbaijani police. At least ten Azerbaijani political figures left the event in solidarity with the detainees. “The embassy of a country that talks about democracy, human rights and freedom of the press should not have behaved like this,” Hasanli told reporters.

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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.