Day: January 15, 2024

Investigative researcher Simon Maghakyan will speak in a virtual presentation on “Heritage in Peril: Artsakh’s Cultural Monuments in the Aftermath of Invasion” at 7 p.m. on Monday, January 29, 2024. The Zoom registration link is: https://bit.ly/armenianstudiessimonmaghakyan. The event is the first in the Armenian Studies Program Spring 2024 Lecture Series and is supported by the Leon S. Peters Foundation Fund.

The last Armenian prayer in Artsakh was held at Dadivank on October 1, 2023, following Azerbaijan’s invasion and ethnic cleansing of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh. What happens to the monuments that Armenians had to leave behind? What can stakeholders do to prevent the scenario of Nakhichevan, where from 1997-2006 Azerbaijan eradicated the entire known inventory of Armenian Christian heritage? The talk will discuss current monitoring efforts and explore pathways for raising the cost of destruction to Azerbaijan and creating sustainable incentives for preserving Artsakh’s cultural monuments.

Maghakyan is an investigative researcher and cultural heritage defender. He is a doctoral candidate in heritage crime at Great Britain’s Defense Academy (Cranfield University), a community scholar at the University of Denver, a visiting scholar at Tufts University, and an incoming postdoctoral fellow at Oxford University’s Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. Maghakyan’s investigative exposés on Azerbaijan’s state-sponsored erasure of Armenian cultural heritage have been cited at the International Court of Justice and praised as “rock solid” by The Guardian. His writing has been featured in numerous news outlets, including Time, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, and he has appeared on Democracy Now! and the BBC, among other outlets. Maghakyan’s recent collaborative investigation in New Lines Magazine exposed the secret Azerbaijani facility that served as a basis for “concentration camp” fears in Artsakh in 2023.

For information about upcoming Armenian Studies Program presentations, please follow us on Facebook or the program website.

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Georgian opposition journalist Nika Gvaramia, founder of the popular channel “Mtavari Arkhi,” announced his entry into politics in a statement posted on social media on January 15. He called for the establishment of a comprehensive political coalition aimed at securing success in the pivotal parliamentary elections scheduled for October 2024.

Opposition member of parliament and former leader of the opposition parliamentary faction “National Movement,” Khatia Dekanoidze, confirmed in an interview with journalists that she is in consultations with both Nika Gvaramia and the former chairman of the “National Movement,” Nika Melia.

Melia is also set to establish a new party in February.

In an announcement on December 30, 2023, Nika Gvaramia disclosed ongoing discussions regarding political collaboration with the former chairman of the National Movement. However, members of Melia’s team have not verified negotiations with other political parties, emphasizing that, at this stage, consultations are solely underway with specific individuals.

Statement by Nika Gvaramia

Nika Gvaramia is entering politics

“Many media outlets have reached out to me regarding potential future political scenarios. As I am unavailable for interviews, I’ll share my thoughts here:

Overcoming the 5% barrier, a parliamentary faction of ten or twenty people is completely uninteresting to me. Personally, I am prepared to make various concessions to achieve unity, including unilateral ones, if others lack the courage, prudence, and awareness of common interests.

My interest lies in change and progress. Having held positions and wielded influence, I don’t need to return to politics for personal gain. I am entering politics to collectively bring about positive change. My goal is for democracy and freedom to become irreversible once and for all.

I am entering politics to pave the way for new leaders to govern the country and expedite the turnover of generations in the political elite as much as possible.

I am entering politics because I believe it is necessary here and now.

I am entering politics to fortify our collective struggle.”

• Life after prison: What will Nika Gvaramia do now?
• “Saakashvili is an outgoing figure in Georgian politics.” Experts on split in National Movement party

In May 2022, Nika Gvaramia was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for using a company car for personal family use.

On June 22, 2023, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili signed a pardon for Nika Gvaramia.

The case involving Nika Gvaramia was featured in the recent report by the US State Department on political prisoners and freedom of speech.

Citing international human rights organization Amnesty International, the White House reports that the Gvaramia case exposes the “growing influence of the [Georgian] government over the courts in several instances,” with the intention of suppressing critics and opponents.

On June 29, 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists honored Nika Gvaramia with the International Press Freedom Award. Gvaramia was one of the four laureates for this annual recognition.