The Region in Brief

Artsakh

Hayk Ghazaryan, a journalist for Armenian news outlet CivilNet based in Artsakh, was attacked by a group of employees of the Artsakh Ministry of Internal Affairs on July 11 in Stepanakert. The attack took place days after Ghazaryan’s phone was snatched by a police officer while he was filming a protest in Stepanakert in front of the Artsakh National Security Service (NSS). The head of the agency later demanded that Ghazaryan publish a video apologizing to NSS officers. On July 11, Ghazaryan was attacked by a group of people in civilian clothes while he was walking home from work. Artsakh Human Rights Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan condemned the incident and has opened an investigation.

Two children were found dead in a car in Artsakh after their mother left them alone to search for food. The single mother left her children sleeping at home in Aghabekalanj Village to find cooking oil and sugar in the nearby town Martakert. Artsakh is facing severe food shortages due to the ongoing blockade by Azerbaijan. After waking up, three-year-old Leo and six-year-old Gita wandered around the village looking for their mother before falling asleep in an abandoned car. They were found dead of heat exhaustion the next day.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has accused France of promoting colonialism and Orientalism in the South Caucasus. A rift has been growing between Aliyev and French President Emmauel Macron due to what Azerbaijan sees as the latter’s support for Armenia in the Artsakh conflict. During a speech on July 5, Aliyev criticized France’s continuing practice of “neocolonialism” and called French colonial-era atrocities in Algeria a “genocide,” repeating a claim made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2011. Aliyev added that France is “trying to impose the same ill practice” by means of “geopolitical rivalry, foreign military presence and colonial policy of Orientalism” in Artsakh.

Georgia

A festival planned for Tbilisi Pride on July 8 was canceled after the venue was overrun by right-wing protesters. Police officers, who had been informed of the protest in advance, were stationed around the venue. However, police did little to stop thousands of protesters from descending on the site, who proceeded to destroy, burn and loot festival installations. Tbilisi Pride has accused the authorities of collaborating with the protesters, calling the attack a “well-planned operation orchestrated jointly by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Alt-Info,” a right-wing organization. Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili, who has been at odds with the ruling Georgian Dream party, accused the party of “encouraging violence” by “egging on the counter-rallies and failing to condemn hate speech and actions.”

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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.