Day: January 9, 2024

French spies in Azerbaijan

The scandal with “French spies” is gaining momentum in Azerbaijan. At the end of last year, pro-government media reported about the detention in Baku of a group of persons engaged in espionage in favor of France. Yesterday again pro-government media wrote about the identity of one of the detainees with reference to a French journalist of Armenian origin. But there were no official comments on this issue. And today Azerbaijani Ambassador to France Leyla Abdullayeva spoke about the incident.

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According to pro-government media, one of the “French spies” arrested in Baku in December 2023 turned out to be Martin Ryan, one of the heads of the private company Merkorama.

Martin Ryan

It is noteworthy that pro-government media point to the publication of French journalist of Armenian origin Leo Nikolian in social network “X” as the source of this information.

He noted that General Director of Merkorama LLC Martin Ryan was arrested in Baku on December 4 on charges of espionage. He was recruited by two French foreign intelligence agents, who were later expelled from Baku.

“According to information previously circulated in the Western press, as a result of a successful operation by the special services of Azerbaijan, a wide agent network of the French intelligence services was uncovered. Their activities extended to Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, a number of countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia.

Dozens of French spies were identified in a short period of time, some of whom worked in Azerbaijan at one time or another, and some of whom are currently working in a number of neighboring countries and international organizations,” pro-government agency Report says.

According to Turan Agency, a small company Merkorama has been based in Baku since October 2020 and specializes in the import of food products and raw materials. Judging by the data in social networks, this company had no more than 10 employees, mostly citizens of Azerbaijan.

The company was also engaged in consulting foreign companies on export and establishment of enterprises in Azerbaijan, as well as providing IT, accounting, legal and translation services.

As for Martin Ryan, very little is known about him. In an interview with the French publication Caucasefrance.com in 2021, he criticized the policy of President Macron’s government towards Azerbaijan.

In particular, he said that the diplomatic crisis in relations between Baku and Paris had deprived French companies of the opportunity to participate in major projects in the liberated territories in Karabakh. He also noted that President Macron, unlike his predecessors, has never visited Azerbaijan since coming to power in 2017.

“Countries that, unlike us, gave even restrained support to Azerbaijan during the conflict are already well positioned and are strengthening their presence in the country every day,” Ryan said.

“He also called on the Pashinyan government to start a direct dialogue with Baku and sign a peace treaty, recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, and open the borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey, which will become Armenia’s investors and leading trading partners. Ryan noted that all this will solve the problem of Armenia’s regional isolation and free it from dependence on foreign diaspora,” “Turan” reports.

Azerbaijan’s State Security Service has not reported anything on the matter. The French Embassy in Baku also did not make any statements after the accusations of espionage against its citizens.

But today Azerbaijan’s ambassador to France Leyla Abdullayeva spoke about the incident.

“A French citizen accused of espionage, detained in December 2023 in Baku, has been arrested for four months by court decision,” she told AFP.

She said the French embassy in Baku had been informed of this and that he would be detained for four months by the court decision.

AFP reported that Ryan’s father Richard noted that the family had had the opportunity to speak to him by phone.

“We spoke to him four times, for two minutes each time. He says he is being treated well and that he is able to communicate with his lawyer,” he said.

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Fire at the perinatal center

Four babies have died in a fire at the Republican Perinatal Center in Baku. “We need time for a thorough investigation. The perpetrators will be brought to justice,” Azerbaijan‘s Prosecutor General told reporters.

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At 3 a.m. on January 9, a fire broke out in the Republican Perinatal Center. In the first official statement on the incident it was noted that the fire was extinguished in a short time, all those who were in the hospital were evacuated, there were no casualties. But about an hour later, another official statement came, saying that the bodies of four infants had been found.

“With the participation of senior officials of the General Prosecutor’s Office, the scene of the incident was inspected and necessary and urgent investigative actions were carried out. During the preliminary investigation it was established that 3 people were hospitalized in the toxicology department of the Clinical Medical Center in connection with smoke poisoning, they were provided with the necessary medical care, their condition is stable and they are planned to be discharged home for outpatient treatment.

We regret to note that the bodies of 4 infants were found dead, who were being treated in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit,” reads the general statement of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Medical Territorial Units Management Association (TƏBİB).

It is also noted that the Investigation Department of the General Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal case on the fact under Articles 225.3 (violation of fire safety rules resulting in the death of two or more people by negligence) and 314.3 (negligence resulting in the death of two or more people) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. Investigative and operational activities are currently ongoing.

“The public will be regularly informed about the progress and results of the investigation,” the joint statement reads.

Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev, answering journalists’ questions, said that the perpetrators will be brought to justice as soon as possible:

“Unfortunately, the lives of four infants could not be saved. They were in the intensive care unit, in the barocamera. We need time for a thorough investigation. The perpetrators will be brought to justice,” the Prosecutor General said.

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O’Connor, known for her stirring voice, outspoken views and 1990 chart-topping hit “Nothing Compares 2 U,” was pronounced dead at the scene. Police had said her death, at the age of 56, was not being treated as suspicious. 

The coroner’s court said at the time that an autopsy would be conducted before a decision was made on whether to hold an inquest. 

“This is to confirm that Ms O’Connor died of natural causes. The coroner has therefore ceased their involvement in her death,” London Inner South Coroner’s Court said in a statement. 

Artists around the world reacted to the news of her death last year, with REM frontman Michael Stipe and U.S. musician Tori Amos among those who paid tribute to O’Connor’s fierce honesty, intense presence and uncompromising spirit. 

Thousands gathered outside O’Connor’s former seaside home to bid farewell to her when her funeral was held in August, some singing along to hits blasted from a vintage Volkswagen camper van and others showering her hearse with flowers. 

Narine Arakelian is proud to bring “Metamorphosis of Aphrodite’s Stones” to Armenia for the first time. The exhibit will open on January 25 and run through March 3.

The new exhibit, gracing the Armenian Modern Art Museum in Yerevan, Armenia, is said to include many forms of art from Arakelian, including large-scale paintings, sculptures and video art. Additionally, there are plans to collaborate with Decentraland for a piece for the Metaverse. Her combination of digital and physical art focuses on Aphrodite’s Stones, which transcend time and space. Throughout the work, Arakelian showcases transformation.

Through the work, viewers are challenged to reflect on the emerging power of “myth” as Arakelian tackles topics like social justice and gender identity. The exhibit portrays raw feminism with the combination of the earth and its fertility. Yet the work is also personal for the artist. Through the “Happening,” a part of the exhibit in which Arakelian includes herself in the artwork, she shares that the feelings she experienced were unlike any she had ever felt before, and her goal was to express those feelings as best as she could.

Arakelian takes pride in being an Armenian pioneer in the world of digital art using new technology. “I believe that this is a huge opportunity for the artist to explore society to address social issues such as loneliness, feelings of dissatisfaction or difficulties of self-identification. It gives me a reason to expand the opportunity to convey to people my artistic opinion of human development in the future and transition to a new level of consciousness. I do not pretend to be in the role of translating what I see, feel, to be more scaled and visually more understandable to the viewer. It is precisely with the emergence of new technologies that we can develop in constant communication and interaction with people, which gives me inspiration for further creativity,” Arakelian said.

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Guest contributions to the Armenian Weekly are informative articles or press releases written and submitted by members of the community.

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NEW YORK—Atamian Hovsepian Curatorial Practice, in conjunction with the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center, is pleased to announce Meghan Arlen’s Obscured Geographies, her first show at a major New York gallery. The work currently on exhibit was born out of the artist’s curiosity about land use and the monumental changes observed in the span of just one or two generations. Arlen was struck by the new and often surreal aerial geographies created by landscape alterations brought about by modern industrial agricultural farming, natural gas extraction and large-scale residential developments. These changes of course are now visible to all simply by using Google Earth or from the seat of a passenger airplane flying overhead. Arlen’s uneasiness about the large-scale processes that have produced these unnatural landscapes was at odds with the awe she felt about the eerily beautiful curves, colors and compositions they created.

This collection of work—textural explorations of obscured aerial landforms—plays with movement and tactility. Obscured Geographies is also an ode to the medium of Venetian plaster and Arlen’s desire to use this material in new and creative ways. To observe the interplay of plaster with other materials, she incorporates charcoal, liquid iron, copper paint, gauze, fabric and other found textured and corrugated media. The results are beautifully intricate and wholly original.

Based in Brooklyn, Arlen studied fine arts as an undergraduate but has in recent years focused her energy on learning skilled trades. These include Venetian wall plaster application techniques, high-end interior design, specialty installation and fabrication, and sculptural wood furniture. Beginning in 2015, Arlen apprenticed for several years under Justino Guerrero, a Los Angeles master Venetian plasterer. She concurrently worked for L.A.-based designer Andrea Michaelson, a savant in innovative material design, including metal, wood, glass, plaster, plastic, stingray skin, leather and fabric. In 2021 Arlen moved to New York, where she undertook training in carpentry, learning to build sculptural, solid wood furniture from milling to finishing. She approaches her art practice as an artisan, submitting to the sometimes physically strenuous efforts that her material demands. Her recent work conveys her love for the historically two-dimensional medium of painting and a desire to explore its capabilities and create works where the wall plaster steps off the wall or canvas becomes more relief than flat.

MEGHAN ARLEN

Obscured Geographies

Opening reception: Thursday, January 18, 6-8 p.m.

January 18-February 24, 2024

227 E 24th St., New York, NY 10010

Atamian Hovsepian Curatorial Practice (Est. 2022) is a project-based curatorial initiative located in New York City. We invest in long-term collaborations with artists, nurturing and developing rigorous and experimental practices, to bring vital new voices to the public. We recognize art as a transformative force and a vehicle for social change. Through our creative curatorial focus, AHCP mobilizes art’s unique ability to address the state of our global reality today and our future. We are committed to affirming, developing and supporting the many underrepresented voices creating outstanding art. This includes women, LGBTQ+ and artists of color, practices whose methods, forms and expressions have been unrecognized or marginalized. We collaborate with universities, museums and other public institutions to curate challenging and inclusive art exhibitions, workshops, readings and film screenings.

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Guest contributions to the Armenian Weekly are informative articles or press releases written and submitted by members of the community.

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The post Atamian Hovsepian Curatorial Practice presents Meghan Arlen’s Obscured Geographies appeared first on The Armenian Weekly.