Richard Giragosian

Always a pleasure to return to @France24_en f24.my/Btxm

📌@TheEconomist’in CHP’ye yönelik “mutlak butlan” kararını ve Türkiye’de muhalefetin daralan siyasal alanını ele aldığı analizine katkı sundum. Yorumumda da vurguladığım gibi, bu süreç CHP’yi kısa vadede zayıflatmanın çok ötesinde, muhalefeti bölerek, iç çekişmeye hapsederek ve seçim kazanma kapasitesini yapısal olarak törpüleyerek siyasal rekabeti fiilen ortadan kaldırma girişimi. Türkiye’de otoriterleşme artık yeni bir safhada, seçimlerin anlamı, muhalefetin meşruiyeti ve iktidar alternatifi olma gücü sistematik olarak yeniden tanımlanıyor. economist.com/europe/2026/05…

Turkey’s president has already squeezed much of the life out of his country’s democracy. At this rate, Turks may soon have no genuine opposition to vote for econ.st/4tQ6HWk Photo: Getty Images

Today’s IRI Armenia polling again shows solid numbers for Pashinyan going into June 7 election iri.org/resources/publ…

Türkiye’s Ministry of Trade announced that Armenia will henceforth be recorded as the terminal country in Turkish export declarations. Until now, because goods physically crossed the Turkish-Georgian border, they were often labeled as exports to Georgia. T his was a labeling issue rather than an absence of trade, because Turkish companies were already exporting to Armenia, although the official data did not capture it. The change is modest but meaningful: it is one of the most concrete outcomes of the diplomatic normalization process that has been underway since 2022.

A Turkish court removed the leader of the country’s main opposition party in a landmark ruling that could strengthen President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s grip on power while risking political unrest and renewed market turmoil bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Turkish state lenders sold about $6 billion to defend the lira on Thursday, about half shortly after a court decision that removed the main opposition party’s leadership, according to traders familiar with the transactions. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

On top of this, bank accounts of 18 people, including jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu’s son, have been frozen. All this is happening as Turkey’s finance minister Mehmet Simsek is in London trying to convince investors that Turkey is a safe place to put their money.

Grabbing him by the “Beard”: The Insider identifies the FSB, GRU, and SVR agents Russia sent to Armenia to take on PM Nikol Pashinyan — The Insider theins.press/en/inv/292740

L’Institut kurde de Paris et l’Institut - Musée Komitas ont le plaisir de vous inviter à une conférence sur « Komitas et la musique kurde » le vendredi 29 mai 2026 à 18h00 à l’Auditorium de l’Hôtel de Ville de Paris. Au cours de ses longs voyages en Orient, parallèlement à son immense travail de collecte et de préservation du patrimoine musical populaire et classique arménien, le père Komitas recueillit treize chants populaires kurdes. En retranscrivant ces mélodies populaires, le père Komitas adopta une approche particulièrement rigoureuse et sensible. En respectant fidèlement la structure mélodique kurde, il parvint à restituer une forme musicale authentique, préservée des superpositions et des influences des cultures voisines. Ces transcriptions furent publiées pour la première fois en décembre 1903 par la maison d’édition P. Jurgenson à Moscou, sous l’égide de l’Institut Lazarev. Longtemps négligé, ce travail constitue pourtant un témoignage précieux et un jalon essentiel pour une première approche de la musique kurde, mais aussi une source d’étude sérieuse pour mieux comprendre les liens musicaux et culturels entre les peuples de la région. La conférence a pour objet d’explorer les liens et les échanges entre musiques populaires arménienne et kurde. Vous pourrez également visiter dans le foyer de l’auditorium l’exposition collective éphémère des artistes arméniens Gago, Arman Tadevosyan et Herminé Demiro. Entrée libre dans la mesure des places disponibles. Inscription obligatoire : institutkurde.org/inscription/in… @KomitasMuseum

Le immagini del ministro israeliano Ben Gvir sono inaccettabili. È inammissibile che questi manifestanti, fra cui molti cittadini italiani, vengano sottoposti a questo trattamento lesivo della dignità della persona. Il Governo italiano sta immediatamente compiendo, ai più alti livelli istituzionali, tutti i passi necessari per ottenere la liberazione immediata dei cittadini italiani coinvolti. L’Italia pretende inoltre le scuse per il trattamento riservato a questi manifestanti e per il totale disprezzo dimostrato nei confronti delle esplicite richieste del Governo italiano. Per questi motivi, il Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale convocherà immediatamente l’ambasciatore israeliano per chiedere chiarimenti formali su quanto accaduto.

You knowingly caused harm to our State in this disgraceful display - and not for the first time. You have undone tremendous, professional, and successful efforts made by so many people - from IDF soldiers to Foreign Ministry staff and many others. No, you are not the face of Israel.

Support to my friend and colleague @steveswerdlow, a person who has studied, loved, and defended #CentralAsia for decades now facing unjust (and unexplained) challenges to enter the region. #Kyrgyzstan 24.kg/english/374423…

At Manas international airport, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, the authorities detained US citizen and USC professor, prominent Central Asia scholar Steve Swerdlow @steveswerdlow upon his arrival today. This is a dangerous precedent. 24.kg/english/374423…

“The Canada-led NATO brigade in Latvia has moved beyond its original “tripwire” deterrence posture and is now focused on mounting a credible defense of the Baltic country bordering Russia, according to its commander, Col. Kris Reeves. Reeves said the shift towards what he described as “tactical credibility” has meant establishing forward locations and stationing troops near Latvia’s eastern border, in the terrain where they would actually fight in the event of a conflict, the Canadian commander told Defense News.” defensenews.com/global/europe/…

The pretext for a Russian action of some type in the Baltics is slowly building.

Şimdi soru şu: Dışişleri Bakanı Hakan Fidan, Azerbaycan büyükelçisinin bakanlığa çağrılıp uyarılması için talimat verecek mi?

Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Ankara says Turkey-Armenia border will open after Armenia’s June elections, once constitutional amendments are made. Over the years, I’ve increasingly heard Turkish diplomats complain about how “difficult” Azerbaijan is and how much it tries to dictate terms to Ankara. But an Azerbaijani ambassador publicly declaring when and under what conditions the Turkey-Armenia border will open takes things to a new level. cumhuriyet.com.tr/turkiye/azerba…

Ankara’’daki resmî çevrelerin, Azerbaycan’ın İsrail’le olan stratejik ilişkileri konusunda Bakü’yü hedef alan beyanlardan kaçındığı bir dönemde Azerbaycan Büyükelçisinin Türkiye-Ermenistan ilişkilerinin normalleşmesi süreci için bu tür bir yorumda bulunması en azından talihsiz olmuştur. Bu, haddini bilmemektir. Türkiye Cumhuriyeti devleti kararlarında egemendir ve dış politika tercihleri egemen Türk Devletinin inhisarındadır. Bu kararlara ne Bakü’nün ne de Erivan’ın etki yapmasına izin verilemez ve bu konuda o başkentler ve temsilcileri alenen yorum yapmaya yetkili değildir. cumhuriyet.com.tr/turkiye/azerba…

Can you "win" a trade war? Journalist and author @SoumayaKeynes on the takeaways from Pres. Trump's China trip and her book "How to Win a Trade War"

Déjà vu. Next up: Cuba. No doubt in my mind. Bogus intel being leaked to sympathetic reporters. An indictment against Castro. A new talking point about “imminence.” Trump needs a headline. (Also as someone who dealt with mass migration from Cuba, can we think about day 2).