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Tbilisi Armenians Pray for Gyumri Victims

Tbilisi Armenians Pray for Gyumri Victims

19 January 2015
Shock at the cold-bloodied murder of an Armenian family in Gyumri by a renegade Russian soldier continues to resonate among Armenian communities throughout the world.  Joseph Alexander Smith reports from Tbilisi for commonspace.eu on how the community in the Georgian capital have reacted to the tragedy. The Armenian community in Tbilisi gathered on Sunday 18 January to commemorate the six family members who were killed in the northern Armenian city of Gyumri a week ago. Faithful of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Tbilisi attended a packed Sunday morning Liturgy, which was followed by a traditional memorial service for the six members of the Avetisyan family who were killed, apparently in cold blood, on Monday 12 January. The suspected killer, Valery Permyakov, is a Russian soldier who was serving at the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri. His handover to Russian military authorities, who are investigating the case, has sparked outrage in Armenia, with sustained protests in both Gyumri and the Armenian capital Yerevan demanding that he be handed over to Armenian law enforcement agencies. The memorial service was held at Tbilisi's St Etchmiadzin Church in Avlabari, during which Bishop Vazgen, leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church's diocese in Georgia, spoke about the importance of praying for the souls of those who were killed. In a case which has shocked Armenian communities around the word, Seryozha Avetisyan was killed along with his wife, son, daughter-in-law, daughter and 2 year-old granddaughter. A six month-old baby boy was also recovered from the murder scene with severe stab wounds and was taken to hospital in a critical condition. "We're here to commemorate what happened in Gyumri - the murder of a family by a Russian serviceman - by holding a memorial service after Holy Liturgy" Father Narek, a priest serving at the church, told Commonspace.eu. "Memorial services have already been held in Armenia and we decided to hold one on Sunday when there would be more of the local faithful present." On Saturday, up to 60 Georgians and local Armenians attended a memorial demonstration outside the Armenian Embassy in Tbilisi, lighting candles and laying floral tributes. The demonstration was organized on Facebook by social sciences student Giorgi Chinchaladze and was attended by a small number of public figures, including Sergo Ratiani, an MP for the opposition UNM party. Georgia's deputy Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Davit Jalagania, delivered a statement of condolence on Saturday, after the "shocking and terrible" attack. "... In the 21st century, many tragic incidents have occurred, but since we are a neighboring, friendly country, a tragedy of this cruelty is probably one of the most remarkable" Jalagania said.   "We sincerely express our condolences to the families and their loved ones. We also believe that the offender will be prosecuted and appropriate legal measures will be implemented. We are confident that justice will prevail and the offender will be punished accordingly." The issue of how Permyakov will be tried and under which jurisdiction has been the subject of intense debate in Armenia, straining relations with its ally Russia. Ever since Permyakov's handover to Russian military authorities, there have been protests outside Armenian and Russian institutions in Gyumri demanding that the Russian soldier be handed over to Armenian prosecutors. According to eyewitnesses, protesters in Gyumri threw coins at the Prosecutor's Office there, implying that the Armenian government had 'sold' its internal sovereignty to the Russians. "The Armenian government should be the one to undertake this process, not the Russian government" said Hasmik Tonapetyan, a native of Gyumri studying in Tbilisi who also attended the memorial service at St Etchmiadzin church. "The people want the government to take responsibility and to judge this soldier according to Armenian law." "The image of a soldier is of one who protects not of one who murders. Also they still haven't found out why the members of this family and why this solider. Who kills people who are asleep in bed? This is really shocking." The long-term ramifications of the case are hard to predict. While Armenia, which recently entered the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union, is unlikely to radically re-negotiate relations with its powerful military ally, the Armenian authorities are facing a level of public outrage which has rarely been seen since independence from the Soviet Union. There may also be a question mark over the future of Russia's military presence in Armenia. In a similar case in 1999, two Russian soldiers from the base went on a drunken killing spree in Gyumri. In 2013, two local youths were killed by a landmine at a shooting range used by the base. "The fact is that this has broken not the friendship between our countries, but the trust" says Tonapetyan. "This base is supposed to protect the civilians living there but this is the second time a soldier has killed peaceful civilians ... it's just repeating itself 16 years later!" source: Joseph Alexander Smith filed this report from Tbilisi for commonspace.eu photo: The memorial service for the murdered family in Gyumri held at the St Etchmiadzin Church in the Avlabari district of Tbilisi on Sunday, 16 January 2015. (picture credit: Helen Osborne)          

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Monday Commentary: PEACE IN OUR TIME?
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Monday Commentary: PEACE IN OUR TIME?

19 October 2026
Making peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan was never going to be simple, nor easy, nor quick. It is taking time, writes Dennis Sammut in this Monday Commentary. “There is a sense of realism coming from the leaders of the two countries – President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and prime minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia, that frankly, is necessary and welcome”, he writes. At a time when conflicts are raging all over the world – from Ukraine to the Gulf, from Africa to South Asia, the prospect that Armenia and Azerbaijan had finally, after decades of conflict that left thousands of dead and many more displaced, decided on embarking on a journey of peace was welcomed. Peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan can be top-down up to a point. Both leaders have spent political capital preparing for a peace deal. But both are aware that their people are not ready for peace yet. In fact, in Armenia, most of the elite are negative toward a peace deal with Azerbaijan. Pashinyan needs time to persuade his countryfolk. That is why 2031 is realistic. Ilham Aliyev runs a tighter shop, but he is also not immune to public opinion. Every time someone hits a landmine in Karabakh, which unfortunately happens often, peace comes into question. Which is why Aliyev chooses to sound hardline, more often than not. In pursuing the peace agenda, both Aliyev and Pashinyan need to proceed cautiously. But they are right in making peace the central issue in their agenda. It is the main issue, and the one that will define them in history. So forward, cautiously but resolutely! In pursuing the peace agenda, Aliyev and Pashinyan need to be supported clearly and unambiguously. There are too many people in Baku and Yerevan who are sitting on the sides, waiting. The international community is not doing enough. It is time to be counted. Otherwise, the spoilers will win, and the region will go back to its bad habits. (Click the image to read the full commentary).
Dennis Sammut
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European Union and Canada agree on "Alliance for the future" at milestone Montreal summit
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European Union and Canada agree on "Alliance for the future" at milestone Montreal summit

31 October 2026
António Costa, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, represented the EU at the 21st EU-Canada summit, which took place in Montreal on 29 and 30 October 2026. Prime Minister Mark Carney represented Canada. The summit marked a major milestone in EU-Canada relations, paving the way for an even broader and deeper political partnership. Leaders took stock of progress made since the previous EU-Canada summit and issued a joint statement launching an Alliance for the Future. Building on their longstanding strategic partnership, the alliance aims to deepen cooperation and create a common prosperity and economic security space. This is a moment to act with clarity and ambition. By aligning more closely – economically, technologically and strategically – Canada and the EU are building an Alliance for the Future based on trust and shared values that meets the scale of today's challenges and opportunities and will reinforce the freedom, prosperity and safety our citizens expect and deserve. We are stronger together. Building on their existing Strategic Partnership Agreement, the EU and Canada will deepen political engagement and coordination on shared priorities. Leaders welcomed the increasingly frequent exchanges with Canadian ministers at relevant Council and ministerial meetings. The EU and Canada will build on these exchanges through regular summits, joint ministerial meetings and cooperation committees. The partners will work to define the concept of an ever-closer association of Canada to the EU, short of full membership, by the 2027 EU-Canada summit. (click image to read more)

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Monday Commentary: European-Azerbaijan relations need an intensive and multifaceted dialogue that is frank and honest
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Monday Commentary: European-Azerbaijan relations need an intensive and multifaceted dialogue that is frank and honest

7 September 2026
Last week I visited Baku, Azerbaijan. My visit was relatively short, but very intensive, and had many meetings with stakeholders and colleagues. When I arrived in Baku first time in 1996,  Azerbaijan was a different country: weak, poor, and shaken by defeat in war. For thirty year the Karabakh issue dominated the agenda: the political agenda but also the popular mindset. Now, thirty years later, Azerbaijan has returned to Karabakh, and peace with Armenia is on the horizon. It is a new era for Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, for the South Caucasus, but also for Europe.  But we cannot be complacent: the Peace agreement has been initialed but not signed; borders remain closed; TRIPP is ambitious but remains an idea; and there are spoilers who want to turn the clock back. We must not allow them, and in this Europe and Azerbaijan must work together. Europe’ vanguard organization is the European Union – it is a free union of 27 member states; it is a strong global economic force, and increasingly a diplomatic and military force too. But it remains “work in progress” and can often appear dysfunctional. It often lacks collective and institutional memory. In its dealings with Azerbaijan the EU has made many mistakes – not least opening the delegation here late – in 2008. It sometimes appears condescending. Some utterances from the European Parliament and from some quarters in some member states are not understandable even for me. They irritate the Azerbaijanis, but serve no other purpose But Azerbaijan has also not handled relations with the EU well. It has failed to respond when the hand of friendship reached out; and it confused irritating actions, sometimes by well-meaning people; sometimes by outright spoilers, with strategic action. In short, EU-Azerbaijan relations have suffered from a lack of proper dialogue. This dialogue must be frank, honest and multi-faceted involving different segments of society on both sides.   Is Azerbaijan Europe? When Azerbaijan applied to join the Council of Europe in the 1990s, there were some who opposed, saying this was not Europe. I was one of the people who argued that Armenia and Azerbaijan may be on the periphery of the continent geographically, but were European in essence. Certainly their elites. During the discussion on 4 September in Baku, my friend Farhad Mammedov, mentioned that Azerbaijan is not interested in joining the EU, and was now close to the Central Asian countries in the 5 plus 1 format. Neither things mean that Azerbaijan is not Europe. There are several European countries that are not in the EU, and do not want to be, for example Norway and Switzerland. Iceland has recently voted to stay out of the EU. The UK was a member and left. Europe is bigger than the EU, and the holding of the European Political Community summit in Baku in 2027 proves that. Despite all the rhetoric, I never heard the president of Azerbaijan  saying that Azerbaijan is not Europe, nor have I heard any European president say it either. Not wanting to join the EU and forging close relations with neighbouring regions does not make Azerbaijan any less European. It is only logical that when Europeans talk to Azerbaijan they talk like family. The conversation is often frank. It must also be honest, and Europeans need always to remember this too. A frank, honest and multi-faceted dialogue A frank, honest and multifaceted dialogue will contribute to relations between Azerbaijan and the rest of Europe: it will avoid misperception, which unfortunately is very common on both sides; it will provide a forum where problems can be discussed and resolved, and it will increase mutual trust, so that together common problems can be addressed. (click image to read the full Monday Commentary)
Dennis Sammut
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Monday Commentary: “The barren rocks of Aden” and “These lands of Yemen are so ruthless”
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Monday Commentary: “The barren rocks of Aden” and “These lands of Yemen are so ruthless”

21 September 2026
There are two early 20th-century tunes that mark foreign attempts to occupy and “pacify” Yemen. The Scottish tune “The barren rocks of Aden” marks the mobilisation of Highland soldiers, enlisted to be deployed to the Yemeni port of Aden, that in 1837 became the last colony to be incorporated into the British Empire. The tune talks of the harshness of the terrain, but is celebratory, It was even played as a farewell tune to Sir William Luce at the parade in Sharjah celebrating his end as “British Viceroy” in the Middle East in 1966. The second tune is an Anatolian lament. As Ilker Sezer reminded us this weekend, in his weekly feature on “Turkiye Today”, it “mourns the tragic fate of Ottoman soldiers dispatched to the harsh, remote deserts of Yemen during the fall of the empire, young men who marched away from their villages and never returned home. Most of their names, and numbers, were never recorded. Yet, their fate left a mark on the Turkish psyche.” Subsequent invaders have discovered that Yemen is a grave that cannot be overcome by the strength of modern technology, and that whilst Yemeni society is splintered and divided, building a reliable alliance with Yemeni factions is difficult. These are the harsh lessons facing Saudi Arabia, as the Kingdom faces its biggest challenge in its modern history. The leadership of the Kingdom now has to respond decisively. At stake is their very credibility. This is likely to be a long and messy conflict. Saudi military objectives need to be focused: to box in the Houthis rather than destroy them. This is likely to include: (a) regaining territory lost on the Red Sea coast; (b) control over Bab el Mandeb Strait; (c) some kind of cordon sanitaire on the Saudi-Yemeni border; and if things go well (d) the capture of Sanaa. All this would not eliminate the Houthi problem, but it will contain it. In the end the Saudis will have to continue managing Yemen with a mixture of carrot and stick. For the moment, the stick is likely, but the carrot cannot be forgotten either. (click the image to read the Monday Commentary in full)
Dennis Sammut