CIVILNET

Hidden among the fruit orchards of southern Armenia lies the village of Zangakatun, home to one of the country’s greatest literary voices — Paruyr Sevak. In this episode, Christopher Atamian visits the poet’s house museum, where murals, memories, and manuscripts bring his story to life. From his humble beginnings to his mysterious death, Sevak’s legacy remains etched in Armenian identity. Meet the...

CivilNet spends a day with Finnish border officer Mika Kouri and German police officer Swantje Meinke on Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan. They are part of the EU Monitoring Mission conducting daily patrols to record ceasefire violations and refute disinformation in a tense area. #CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ

📍 Armenia’s Defense Ministry receives regular advisory support from France and the United States, Defense Minister Suren Papikyan said at the NATO Parliamentary assembly seminar in Yerevan. He added that Greece also provides systematic assistance in several areas.📍 Housing certificates for families displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh will now be valid until the end of 2028, the Ministry of Labor and...

In the twilight of the Soviet Union, a house was built for an artist the regime couldn’t quite contain: Sergei Parajanov. Join Christopher Atamian at the Parajanov Museum in Yerevan, where collages, costumes, and surreal cinematic fragments reveal the inner world of the Color of Pomegranates director. From censorship and imprisonment to global admiration, Parajanov’s voice still rings strange, def...

📍 Delegations from Azerbaijan and Turkey are taking part in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s 108th Rose-Roth Seminar in Yerevan.📍 Marta Kos, the European Union’s Enlargement Commissioner, told reporters in Yerevan that the EU is open to welcoming new members, including Armenia. While acknowledging that full membership remains a distant goal, she stressed that introducing reforms to align with E...

Step into the world of Lusik Aguletsi — Armenian artist, folklorist, fashion icon, and cultural guardian. Born in a now-destroyed Armenian village in Nakhichevan, Aguletsi spent her life collecting and preserving the textiles, jewelry, recipes, rituals, and oral traditions of a lost world. Christopher Atamian takes us inside her stunning Yerevan home, now a museum that feels less like an archive a...

Joining CivilNet today for an exclusive interview is Varsen Aghabekian, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Palestinian National Authority. This conversation comes ahead of the UN General Assembly session which will discuss the New York Declaration, an outline of a roadmap toward a two-state solution. The meeting coincides with a growing number of countries including the UK, Por...

Step inside the Yerevan home of Yeghishe Charents — poet, revolutionary, nationalist, and cultural rebel. Christopher Atamian explores how the poet flirted with futurism, communism, and forbidden love while forging a poetic voice like no other. From banned manuscripts buried underground to modern musical tributes, the Charents House Museum reveals a writer whose contradictions made him unforgettab...

In September, Armenians celebrate Independence Day and also mourn the anniversary of the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh. CivilNet’s Eric Hacopian and historical sociologist Georgi Derluguian reflect on the loss of Artsakh on September 19, 2023 — what it destroyed for the Second Armenian Republic and why we may now be entering a Third Republic. They then turn to geopolitics, the westward pivot, region...

Two years have passed since September 19, 2023 — the day of the final assault on Artsakh and the ethnic cleansing of 150,000 Armenians from the region. In this episode of Insights, Eric Hacopian confronts the myths and the leadership failures of the past 30 years, examining why Artsakh was truly lost. He also explains what the “Third Armenian Republic” means for the country’s future.#CivilNet #Սիվ...

As an independent, reader-funded media platform, we deliver fact-checked, on the ground reporting from Armenia. CivilNet's coverage from all corners of the country is brought to you in Armenian, Russian, English and French. #CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ

In the past few years—particularly after the deployment of the EU monitoring mission to Armenia’s borders—the spread of disinformation about the European Union has intensified. Who is behind the false narratives targeting Armenia’s European integration, how are they being disseminated, and what measures is the EU taking to counter this propaganda?_This video was produced within the project "A...

📍 Armenia’s Ombudsperson Anahit Manasyan attempted to reach out to her Azerbaijani counterpart to establish communication on humanitarian issues, but has received no response.📍 U.S. President Donald Trump says it was a “great honor” to help broker peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.📍 Moved by Mountains: Armenians Confront Themselves on Ararat https://youtu.be/0Sw_TqbCMiA?si=AtfAj5ZaH9ME02B_ #...

A short documentary on Armenians from Armenia and across the world who have climbed Ararat. The film delves into the grief and the ancestral past that climbers come face to face with on the journey.#CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ

📍 Armenia and Turkey’s special envoys held a historic meeting in Yerevan and pledged to advance normalization of relations.📍 Armenia’s military should not be the country’s primary guarantor of security, said Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.📍 One of the few Armenians who stayed in Karabakh after the 2023 ethnic cleansing was arrested after allegedly attempting to stage an armed attack during an e...

📍 Only 15% of the estimated 600,000 Armenians who are expected to submit mandatory income declarations have done so, signaling strong public opposition to the new filing requirements.📍 A step-by-step guide to Armenia’s new income declaration system: https://shorturl.at/w83Et📍 Armenia’s largest food exporter has suffered more than $2 million in losses, a top executive said, as more than a hundre...

In this episode of Insights with Eric Hacopian, we break down three pressing issues: the Foreign Ministry’s spying scandal and its culture of impunity, new UN data showing Armenia’s surprising demographic growth, and the devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza — including the role of an Armenian figure at its center.#CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #insightswitherichacopian

On September 8, Armenia’s political discourse sank to a new low when Artur Hovhannisyan, secretary of the ruling Civil Contract faction, launched a personal and sexist attack against opposition MP Taguhi Tovmasyan during a press briefing inside the National Assembly. The incident followed Hovhannisyan’s  interruption  of Tovmasyan’s earlier press conference on Armenian prisoners of war held in Bak...

In today's podcast, CivilNet sits down with writer and producer Nyree Abrahamyan to discuss her work documenting stories from Artsakh. The conversation centers on her cookbook, Artsakh: A Taste of Home, which preserves a threatened culture through recipes and personal narratives collected in the wake of the 2023 Karabakh ethnic cleansing. She explains how storytelling, from her award-winning C...

📍 Spayka, Armenia’s largest food exporter, has incurred losses exceeding $2 million after Russian authorities began delaying dozens of its trucks last week.📍 The government plans to enforce new legislation requiring all movie theaters to provide Armenian-language dubbing or subtitles for foreign films starting January. As of now, most cinemas screen foreign films either in the original English w...

📍 A Georgian man who fought for Ukraine against Russia was detained in Armenia last week. He is facing a potential extradition on Moscow’s warrant, and though Armenia might choose to provide him asylum, human rights activists say the situation sets a dangerous precedent.📍 The expected full signing of a peace agreement between Yerevan and Baku would improve Armenia’s economic outlook and attract...

Since Armenia’s loss in the 2020 Karabakh War, the issue of a road through Armenia’s southern Syunik region has been а subject of heated debate. The purpose of this road is to connect mainland Azerbaijan in Armenia’s east with its exclave of Nakhichevan west of Armenia. This short explainer details the nuances of the road and what the implications are for Armenia. Credits: Ruptly

📍 A meeting between special envoys of Armenia and Turkey is expected in Yerevan in the coming days as part of the normalization process, the Armenian foreign ministry announced.📍 Baku’s pressure on Yerevan to change its constitution could prove counterproductive, according to Belgium-based International Crisis Group. Foreign diplomats have warned Baku that its demands could easily backfire, but...

📍 Armenia switched lawyers to Foley Hoag from Arnold & Porter ahead of a $500 million arbitration case over the government’s attempted takeover of the country’s power grid.📍 Russia has reportedly halted over 100 trucks from delivering Armenian fresh produce to the country, marking the latest trade disruption between Moscow and Yerevan.#CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #civilnetbusiness

In this episode, CivilNet is joined by Arevik Vardanyan, co-founder of the inaugural Line Armenian Architecture Biennial. We discuss how her team launched Armenia's first-ever month-long festival dedicated to reimagining architecture and public space. Guided by the theme “Up in the Air,” the event explores the invisible forces, from memory to pollution, that shape urban life. The biennial'...