Arshaluis Mghdesyan

Freelance journalist based in Yerevan

Yerevan-based freelance journalist Arshaluis is a presenter on CivilNet, an Armenian online TV channel, and regularly contributes to EurasiaNet and Russia's Kommersant.

Stories by the Author

In Masis, displaced Armenians from Nagorny Karabakh were accommodated in disused kindergarten. The town of 20,000 people in western Armenia has received nearly 11,000 refugees. © Arshaluis Mghdesyan

Nagorny Karabakh: “My Children Don’t Know What Peace Is”

Some 100,000 civilians have fled the disputed region, facing an uncertain future and an unclear legal status.

4 Oct 23

Protesters carry the Nagorny Karabakh flag in central Yerevan after the region's armed forces were defeated by Azerbaijan's military operation of September 19. Thousands called on Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign over the debacle but there seems to be no real alternatives to his government. © Arshaluis Mgdesyan

Nagorny Karabakh Conflict Sparks Political Crisis in Armenia

Rallies called on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign, but the opposition provides no real alternative.

22 Sep 23

Since 1992, the Yerablur military cemetery, on a hilltop in the outskirts of Yerevan, has been the burial place of Armenian soldiers who died in the Nagorny Karabakh wars. © Arshaluis Mghdesyan

Is Armenia Giving up on Nagorny Karabakh?

Statements recognising Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity signal painful decisions may lie ahead.

8 Jun 23

Syria-born Hovik Asmarian reflects on how war has haunted his family for three generations. © Arshaluis Mghdesyan/IWPR

Karabakh Under Siege

As an Azerbaijani blockade continues, a Syrian Armenian in Stepanakert reflects on war and family.

22 Dec 22

On October 18, a delegation of the European Union Technical Assessment Mission visited the settlements of Vardenis, near the border with Azerbaijan. The communities came under shelling during a new fighting outbreak in mid-September. The EU foreign ministers agreed to send a short-term observation mission to work on the border. © Karen Sargsyan

EU to Deploy First Mission along Armenian-Azerbaijani Border

Moscow views peacekeeping efforts as an attempt to oust it from its previous role as sole mediator in the conflict.

21 Oct 22

Armenians took to the street and asked the government to leave the Russia-led security bloc Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) after Yerevan’s calls for assistance in the wake of renewed fighting against Azerbaijan have fallen on deaf ears. © Ashaluis Mghdesyan

Armenians Decry CSTO Inaction

Yerevan’s calls for assistance from the Russia-led security bloc have fallen on deaf ears.

26 Sep 22

Andranik Chvushyan with his children in the family home in Aghavno. The 41-year-old jeweller moved with this family from Lebanon to the village in Nagorny Karabakh in 2017. They are among the residents of the Lachin corridor who are to leave their homes by August 25 as the Azerbaijani forces will regain control of the area. © Arshaluis Mghdesyan

Azerbaijan to Regain Key Route After 30 Years

Armenians living in the Lachin corridor, which will soon be handed over, refuse to leave.

16 Aug 22

A microdistrict with more than 10 three-story buildings is being built in the village of Ivanyan, close to next to the base of Russian peacekeepers. Construction is ongoing to house thousands who have been displaced from the territories that Azerbaijan's armed forces regained control of as a result of the 2020 war. © Arshaluis Mghdesyan

Nagorny Karabakh’s Fearful Calm

Residents of the South Caucasus region feel subject to political maneuvering beyond their control.

18 Jul 22

A recent protest in Yerevan against the government's changing stance on Karabakh.

Armenians Protest Against Government Shift on Karabakh

Anger over potential plans to drop the decades’ long demand for territory’s independence.

3 May 22

VTB Armenia, a subsidiary of VTB Bank, one of Russia's largest financial institutions, is feeling the bite of sanctions introduced against Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions are impacting Armenia's economy, which is tightly interlaced with Russia's. © Arshaluis Mghdesyan

Sanctions Hit Russian Investments in Armenia Hard

Russia accounts for 40 per cent of financial outlay, and some companies are already suffering.

27 Apr 22

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