JAMnews. Top stories in local media
Tuesday, August 5, Armenia.
● The Prime Minister’s office has neither denied nor confirmed information about Nikol Pashinyan’s planned visit to the U.S. on August 8 and a possible meeting there with the President of Azerbaijan. Armenian media reported this news citing Kyiv Post and Foreign Press correspondent Alex Raufoglu. He stated that the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan are ready to announce their intention to conclude a peace agreement as early as this week, and that they will be received in Washington by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“We ask that information about the visit be considered confirmed only after an official announcement,” the Prime Minister’s office responded to an inquiry from Armenpress.
After this statement, Alex Raufoglu published new details about the meeting at the White House scheduled for this Friday. He wrote on social media that Trump would first hold a bilateral meeting with the Armenian Prime Minister, then with the President of Azerbaijan, after which all three would make a joint statement. In Armenian expert circles, there is skepticism about the possibility of signing a peace agreement. They believe that even if the meeting takes place, in the end it will most likely be only “a verbal declaration of intent to move forward in the peace process.”
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● On August 4 at 13:10, Azerbaijani forces fired on an excavator that was performing construction work on roads between military positions of the two countries in the Syunik region. No casualties were reported. “We call on Azerbaijan to investigate the incident and provide public explanations,” the Ministry of Defense stated.
● The EU civilian monitoring mission, which observes the border with Azerbaijan from the Armenian side, conducted its 6,000th patrol. “This achievement reflects our unwavering and steadfast commitment to peace and stability in the region. We remain firmly determined to cooperate with local communities in Armenia,” the mission said in a statement on social network X.
● “Any transport route must be implemented in accordance with internationally recognized borders and must not violate the territorial integrity of any state,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei in an interview with Armenpress, commenting on the recent surge of discussion about unblocking regional communications. He stated that Iran supports the Armenian government’s Crossroads of Peace initiative and believes its implementation will benefit all countries in the region.
● President Vahagn Khachaturyan is in Turkmenistan, where he will participate in the 3rd International Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (pictured below). The event is held under the auspices of the UN once every ten years to review completed programs and define new priorities.
● “In 2024, about 180,000 Iranian tourists visited Armenia, which is 30,000 more than the previous year. Compared to 2021, the number of Iranian tourists who visited Armenia has doubled,” said Lusine Gevorgyan, Chair of the Tourism Committee.
● On social media and in local media, people continue to discuss the concert by American singer Jennifer Lopez on Sunday at the Republican Stadium in Yerevan, where 30,000 people gathered. Everyone who sang and danced with J.Lo for several hours has been posting enthusiastic reviews of the show. The debate over the $6 million allocated by the government to organize it also continues. This time, Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan responded to critics who called the spending “an unjustified waste of budget funds.” “In connection with the concert, 15,000 tourists visited Armenia. It can be said that thanks to the $6 million spent on this event, we received more than $13.3 million,” he stated.
Tuesday, August 5, Azerbaijan.
● “U.S. President Trump is on the verge of brokering a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” writes U.S. Senator Steve Daines, a Republican, in The Wall Street Journal. “Many attempts by third countries or organizations to establish peace have been ineffective or short-sighted. Previous U.S. administrations did not prioritize the region or the peace negotiations. Trump is fostering growth and stability in the region and beyond,” Daines writes.
● The upcoming meeting of the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Washington on Friday, August 8, together with President Donald Trump, was reported on X by U.S. State Department correspondent Alekper Raufoglu. Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan “are preparing to announce their peaceful intentions,” Raufoglu wrote. He noted that the U.S. president will hold separate meetings with Pashinyan and Aliyev, after which the three leaders will make a joint statement.
● A Moscow court has ordered the arrest in absentia of Shahin Shykhlinski, head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in the Urals (Russia). According to local media, he has been charged with murder and violence against a law enforcement officer. Shykhlinski denies any guilt. He was declared wanted in mid-July after his son Mutvaly was arrested. All this time, Shykhlinski was reportedly hiding in the Azerbaijani embassy in Moscow. The arrest is the result of events in Yekaterinburg at the end of June, when Russian special forces used violence to detain ethnic Azerbaijanis, killing two of them. The events in Yekaterinburg have led to a serious escalation in relations between Azerbaijan and Russia. Baku has opened a criminal case against Moscow. More details here
● “Azerbaijan is pursuing a policy in the South Caucasus that is hostile to Russia’s interests,” said Konstantin Zatulin, Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, commenting on the escalation in relations between the two countries. “Russia was not the initiator of this deterioration in relations, and the question of normalization could be resolved at any moment. But we should by no means rely on the illusion that ‘Azerbaijan is an ally of Russia,’ because it is not. We must be clear about this and counteract it. We support normalization, but there must be no return to the times when people in our information agencies and elsewhere misled the country’s leadership by telling fairy tales about an alliance with Azerbaijan. It would be right to find out who did this out of naivety and who did it out of self-interest,” Zatulin said.
● The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry expressed indignation over a statement by Iran’s Foreign Ministry about poor treatment of Iranian prisoners in Azerbaijani prisons, calling the claim “completely groundless” and issuing counter-accusations. “The rights, legitimate interests, and personal safety of convicted and detained Iranian citizens are protected, and they are provided with necessary material and living conditions. In contrast, Iran refuses to provide Azerbaijani diplomatic missions with information about most Azerbaijani citizens detained and arrested there,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada. “In most cases, Azerbaijani citizens are not allowed to meet or communicate by phone with diplomats or family members, nor are they allowed to apply to serve the remainder of their sentences in Azerbaijan, as provided under the intergovernmental agreement of February 21, 1998,” Hajizada added.
● Moldova is interested in attracting Azerbaijani companies as potential suppliers, said Moldovan Energy Minister Dorin Junguietu in an interview with the pro-government outlet Report. The board of Moldova’s National Energy Regulatory Agency has approved a decision to revoke the gas supply license of Moldovagaz, which belonged to Russia’s Gazprom. From September 1, the functions of the supplier will officially transfer to the Moldovan state-owned company Energocom.
● The Ministry of Defense denied as “not consistent with reality” the claim by Armenia’s Ministry of Defense that Azerbaijani army units allegedly fired on an excavator carrying out road construction between combat positions in the Syunik region.
● Prime Minister Ali Asadov is on a working visit to Turkmenistan.
● Another 30 Ukrainian children affected by the war have arrived in Azerbaijan as part of a medical and psychosocial support program. They will spend 10 days at the Gabala Children’s Rehabilitation Center, where they will receive individual consultations with professional psychologists, group therapy, yoga, and dance therapy sessions. Excursions will also be organized. In total, 222 Ukrainian children have already received rest and treatment in Azerbaijan under this support program.
● The trial of a group of former leaders of the former unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) continued. They are accused of war crimes, terrorism, attempts to overthrow the government, and other serious offenses. According to the state agency AZERTAC, at the hearing victims of attacks by Armenian armed forces, landmine victims, and individuals who were tortured in captivity gave testimony. The trial will continue on August 7.
Monday, August 4, Georgia. Today, a verdict will be announced in the case of Mzia Amaghlobeli
● Today, a verdict will be announced in the case of Mzia Amaghlobeli, founder and director of the popular media outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti. She has been in pretrial detention for six months after slapping the head of the Batumi city police, who had allegedly insulted her. Mzia is charged with assaulting a police officer and faces 4 to 7 years in prison.
Human rights activists argue that the slap, which caused no harm, does not constitute assault and should not be criminally punishable at all. Leading international press freedom organizations have united in support of Mzia Amaghlobeli. A resolution of the European Parliament demands her “immediate and unconditional release and the dropping of all politically motivated charges.” The European Parliament also expressed “deep concern over Mzia Amaghlobeli’s severe vision deterioration in custody” and called for her to receive “immediate access to medical care.” The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has also accepted the case for review.
Hundreds of activists, journalists, and concerned citizens from Tbilisi and other cities are expected to travel to Batumi today to show their support. All the details on Mzia Amaghlobeli’s case here
● August 3 marked two years since the tragic landslide that struck the mountain resort of Shovi in Georgia. 33 people died, and the bodies of many victims were searched for over several weeks. One teenager’s body remains missing. The resort of Shovi no longer exists.
Here is a report from the site, one year after the tragedy.
● Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze of the Georgian Dream party announced that Georgian experts, in collaboration with a Swiss company, are studying glaciers and erosion processes across the country to prevent the risk of similar disasters. He spoke to journalists while visiting Shovi. Kobakhidze noted that there had been no previous precedents involving glacial mass collapse in Georgia, and thus no such studies had been conducted before.
● Today, the final session will be held of the temporary parliamentary commission created by the Georgian Dream party to investigate the actions of the previous government during the presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili (2003–2012). The session will approve the commission’s draft conclusion on the actions of specific individuals who held political positions under that regime – and also includes a review of the actions of former officials currently in opposition. The final report will be reviewed at the plenary session of the Georgian Dream-led parliament in September. Six opposition leaders refused to cooperate with the commission and were each sentenced to several months in prison, read more here
● Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze of the ruling “Georgian Dream” party made another statement against the opposition, once again calling them “foreign agents.” “They are trying to undermine state institutions, and this is a direct order coming from outside. This includes efforts to discredit law enforcement agencies and the Central Election Commission. They do this despite sociological studies confirming that the approval rating of all state institutions exceeds 50%. The majority of the population’s trust in the CEC significantly exceeds 60%. This proves that the opposition’s campaigns are ineffective,” Kobakhidze told journalists.
● Representatives of the ruling “Georgian Dream” party claimed that German Ambassador Peter Fischer, who has been openly critical of the Georgian authorities, is renting an apartment in Tbilisi owned by the family of opposition leader Mamuka Khazaradze. “This indicates the ambassador’s corruption,” Georgian Dream stated.
● Grigol Gegelia, a leader of the Lelo – Strong Georgia alliance (co-founded by Mamuka Khazaradze), protested against these accusations, saying: “The authorities continue their campaign against ambassadors from Georgia’s friendly countries. They are seeking to expel the German ambassador from his residence – and even from the country. It’s unclear what they even want. There is a rental agreement in place. Khazaradze’s family and the businesses he founded pay hundreds of millions of lari in taxes annually. It’s absurd that the Prime Minister believes Germany’s foreign policy is determined by the lease agreement of its ambassador’s apartment,” Gegelia said.
