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ARMENIA AS A BRIDGE OF CIVILIZATION

If we think of the book about Musa Dagh, we come to the topics of medium and memory. Anything can become a medium, but this does not make it arbitrary in terms of its content. The countless possibilities of the interrelated existence of signs find their limit(s) in the need for action that interrupts the process. Constellations (Walter Benjamin) form a series from an Armenian internal perspective that promises the eternal return of the same.

Where everything has the same effect, the question of the origin of the single event becomes interesting. However, the origin is not to be sought in an absolute beginning. Rather, the event has its own origin, which can be found in (individual) thinking and its (collective) preconditions.

The question of the origin of an event can be discussed using the example of Artsakh by asking what echo (Walter Benjamin) the loss of Artsakh has in Armenian government policy. To this end, a number of commemorative rituals and events are described against the background of and as signs of a transformation. The change in the current politics of remembrance will be questioned using a systems theory approach with regard to possible destabilization of the social system.

THE NEW WORLD ORDER AND THE OLD TURKEY

The current publication reveals the political blackmail techniques employed by R. Erdoğan nearly a decade ago toward the leadership of China, and later Russia, and compares them with Ankara’s recent attempts to exploit the contradictions among global superpowers.

Let us recall that for years, R. Erdoğan had accused China of committing genocide in Xinjiang. However, in 2017, he managed to reach an understanding with Beijing—sacrificing his “Uyghur brothers” in the process. Prior to that, after downing a Russian military aircraft near the Syrian border, Erdoğan secured profitable gas deals with Russia while simultaneously reinforcing “Brother Ilham’s” position in the South Caucasus.

Now, after years of strained relations with the United States, Erdoğan is moving toward legitimizing the genocidal regime of “Brother al-Sharaa” in Syria. At the same time, he is attempting to bargain for a “Zangezur corridor” in exchange for accepting the Russian status of Crimea.

The publication demonstrates that Erdoğan, who has long played on the weaknesses of global powers, is now trying to skillfully take advantage of the clear utilitarianism of the new U.S. administration—something directly related to efforts to contain U.S. national debt and prevent dollar depreciation.

In early 2025, before the Trump administration had clarified its position on U.S.-China relations, Turkey’s president used Ilham Aliyev’s April 22 visit to China to remind official Beijing—on Azerbaijan’s behalf—of the mutual obligations outlined in the 2017 Turkish-Chinese agreement, thereby making Azerbaijan a party to them as well.

Taking into account the inevitable improvement in Russian-American relations and the potential formation of a “Entente-2”, Turkey has sought certain security guarantees from China concerning its territorial integrity. It is now clear that, by drawing Azerbaijan into the game, these guarantees will be used to transform China into a trench-digging instrument in the South Caucasus.

In conclusion, the publication suggests that Turkey’s hopes for a restoration of a bipolar world order currently lack serious foundations, as today’s global competition revolves not around quantity, but around qualitative resources—the majority of which remain under U.S. control. Moreover, Turkey’s multi-vector games have already begun to raise concerns among its patron, the United Kingdom. Hence, having been informed in advance about the upcoming resignation of his old friend—the head of British intelligence Richard Moore—Erdoğan began taking steps toward resolving the Kurdish issue as early as the end of last year.

PHILOSOPHICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PERCEPTIONS

Of prediction in Ghazaros Achayan’s novel “Two sisters” and his folklore process

Dreams and visions have their unique place in the novel “Two Sisters” and folklore processes by one of the important authors of Armenian classical literature – Ghazaros Aghayan. The author often fills his stories with various dream allegories and tricks, thus, on one hand, sharpening the reader’s interest, adding mystery to the plot, and giving information about future developments and, on the other hand, opening the doors to the dreamland. This trick allows the heroes to move freely beyond the space-time boundaries in a world where life does not follow any set laws. The topic of the given study is the examination and interpretation of the boundaries of real and imaginary in the works by Ghazaros Aghayan.

The choice of Aghayan’s works is not accidental, as his legacy is distinguished by authorial and artistic tricks, realistic, magical, and allegorical images, etc. Aghayan’s literary works allow us to form a deep comprehension of the manifestations of boundaries between the real and imaginary within the framework of the artistic text. The aim of the study is to examine the boundaries of the real and imaginary in Aghayan’s novel “Two Sisters” and folklore processes.

The objective of the study is to reveal what relationship the dream, as a predicative trick of plot, a manifestation of the imaginary and literary device, has with the real world. The objective of the study also is to examine through which philosophical manifestations it reveals the psychology of the characters of Aghayan’s above-mentioned novel and fairy tales and by what means the author prepares the reader for the further developments in the plot of the given works.

The modernity of the study is due to its interdisciplinarity: it was carried out as a result of interpretive examination processes of different disciplines, namely, literary studies, philosophy, and psychology. The scientific novelty of the study is that in Aghayan’s novel “Two Sisters” and folklore processes the dream is considered as a special structural element of the work, which enriches the plot with mystery, as well as provides an opportunity to analyze and reveal the reflections of dream in folklore notions and Armenian culture. Structural, hermeneutic, meta-critical, and historical-comparative methods were used.

HISTORY OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE WESTERN DIOCESE OF THE ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH IN THE USA

Based on Handwritten Documents

The Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in America was founded in 1898. On this occasion, the Catholicos of All Armenians, Mkrtich A. Khrimyan, mentioned in his “Kondak” that “the free flow of Armenians has not yet reached far to America, but in recent years this place has also been filled with Armenians. Therefore, it is necessary to have an independent diocesan organization.”

At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of Armenians increased in the western states of the USA, primarily in California. Influenced by various factors within this growing and economically developing community, the idea of creating a separate diocese gradually gained momentum. The Western Diocese of America was officially founded in 1927.

This publication recounts the first meetings, programs, and other foundational steps of the diocese to highlight the path the Western Diocese took during two to three decades before its formal establishment. This article is based on handwritten documents of the Western Diocese and press publications from the 1900s–1920s.

Among these documents, the protocol of the first deputy assembly holds great historical and significant importance. The protocol notebook measures 22×32 cm, has 140 pages, and is written in fine handwriting. This document is an important testimony to the formation of the Armenian community and church in California.

Another document is a letter from the Armenians of California to the Armenian Catholicos, in which six points outline the arguments for establishing a new diocese. These points can be briefly formulated as follows: the Armenians of California seek to have an independent diocese in order to:
a) stop the “hunt” by missionaries of foreign and wealthy churches,
b) have the opportunity to train clergy,
c) manage the establishment of schools,
d) resolve complex marital issues,
e) clarify rules consistent with the traditions of the Armenian Church and national customs,
f) unite the dispersed Armenians of the colony.

The protocol notebook is preserved in the office of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the USA, which we accessed with the permission of Primate Archbishop Hovnan Derderian. The documents are being published for the first time.

ARMENIAN ORAL LITERATURE

Armenian Folklore in the Russian-language “Collection of Materials Describing Places and Tribes of the Caucasus”

The collection comprises texts from the Armenian folklore heritage, originally published in the Russian-language multi-volume “Collection of Materials for Describing Places and Tribes of the Caucasus” (1881-1915). The collection include texts of Armenian folklore texts, including prose, lyrical, and paremiological pieces, collected from Zangezur, Nakhichevan, and Echmiadzin districts (uezd) The Elizavetpol, Tiflis, Erivan Governorates of The Tsarist Russian Empire. The presented materials offer insights into both national and historical-geographic characteristics, as well as universal themes, making them valuable for comparative academic research. The texts within the collection have remained largely unaltered, faithfully representing the language and content of the original materials, with no additional linguistic or textual modifications. However, the texts were adapted to modern reading standards, considering the contemporary Russian language orthography and punctuation. Furthermore, certain texts are supplemented with scholarly annotations. This collection is intended for philologists, folklorists, ethnographers, as well as individuals with an interest in South Caucasus culture.

THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE ARMENIAN LANGUAGE NOWADAYS

About the book “Modern Armenian Language: Morphology” by Yu. Avetisyan

After the last textbook presenting the morphology of the Modern Armenian language, almost half a century of silence in this field of research was broken by the publication of a new book of the same title. It is also true that morphological changes in language occur slowly, so it is natural that large-scale studies in this dimension can be published intermittently for decades. Yuri Avetisyan’s “The Modern Armenian Language: Morphology” is a worthy work in terms of content and structure – thoughtful, structured, restrained, with an accurate combination of scientific caution and courage, a study that has important scientific and educational value at the present stage of the Armenian language.

The structure, serious content and rich practical material with examples in this book really make it possible to fully use it as a university textbook, since it includes not only extensive theoretical material, from historical views on this morphological reality to the separation and filtering of outdated forms and new combinations, but also tools for conducting practical and research work, for example, the section “Topics of Reports and Essays” presented at the end of the book, or the “Dictionaries” section highlighted in the “Literature” section.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AS A DRIVER FOR IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTEGRATED SOCIAL SERVICES*

Nowadays, there has been a remarkable transformation in the arrangements and functioning of social protection systems due to the use of technology in service delivery systems. Social protection systems and services have courted various digital channels by quite a considerable number of countries around the globe in the hope of increasing the efficiency, availability, management, as well as quality of the services in order to better cater to the needs of the population. This article analyzes the trends of digitalization in social protection systems, with a focus on service delivery mechanisms. It explores the multitude of benefits that have emerged from this digital shift, as well as the challenges and obstacles that are often encountered in the realm of providing these services. The article aims to make a positive contribution to the existing literature regarding digital transformation by exploring its positive impacts and challenges and further localizing the scope of analysis in the Armenian context.

TRANSFORMATION OF TURKEY’S KURDISH POLICY IN 2024

The next Arab-Israeli conflict, which started after the terrorist attack against Israel carried out by the Hamas organization on October 7, 2023, in which Iran also joined, threatens to turn into a big regional war. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan predictably accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians and threatened that one day Turkish troops would enter Israel the same way they entered Libya and Karabakh. And his foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, compared Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Adolf Hitler. Turkish-Israeli relations have never been so strained, and Israel has lost its only regional Muslim ally, joining the Arab-Iranian anti-Israel camp. However, this policy of the Turkish president completely frees Israel’s hands to create a Kurdish state in the middle of the Middle East, which will be a pawn in the hands of Israel and the US, depending equally on Iran, Syria, Iraq and Turkey.

The Turkish elite is aware of all this, which is very well aware that Israel, with the help of the United States, is able to use the Kurds to create serious threats to Turkish statehood, especially since Erdogan has not managed to solve the Kurdish issue both inside the country and abroad in neighboring Syria and Iraq. Moreover, the number of pro-Kurdish deputies increases after each parliamentary election in the National Assembly, and the number of Kurdish mayors increases after each local government election. As for the Syrian and Iraqi Kurdistans, the plans to conquer them in a very short time and suppress the Kurdish liberation movement failed, and Turkish troops continue to suffer losses in those countries for 8 years, causing an economic, social and political crisis in the country. But the worst thing for Erdogan is that he cannot withdraw Turkish troops from those countries, because the Kurds will immediately create an independent state in those territories, which is already the most serious threat to Turkish statehood, because if the power in the Iraqi Kurdish autonomy belongs to Erdogan’s ally Barzani clan, then the master of the situation in Syrian Kurdistan is the structure created by the Kurdish Workers’ Party and under its influence, the Northern Syrian Federal Democracy (SDF). And now, most likely with information that the Israelis will launch the Kurdish issue, Erdogan and his political allies are forced to make concessions, even promising to discuss the issue of Abdullah Ocalan’s release if he calls on his party members to lay down their arms and self-disband. Although Ocalan is considered the president of the PKK, the real power there belongs to other members of the party, who of course will not agree to lay down their arms, because as they believe, another Arab-Israeli conflict, in which Iran is also involved, is a real possibility provides an opportunity to create an independent Kurdish state. In order to prevent all this, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2023-2024 had to go to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar to restore the relations he ruined and bring investments to Turkey, and he is also making unsuccessful attempts to reconcile with Syrian President Bashar Assad, most likely in order to create a united front against the Kurds. On the other hand, he is trying to prevent the Kurds from joint actions with Israel, realizing that this union can become a serious threat to Turkey.

The attack of November 27, 2024 and the subsequent overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s government was the only logical solution to Erdogan’s Kurdish policy in Syria. By effectively extending his influence in Syria and bringing forces loyal to him to power, Erdogan has gained an insurmountable advantage over the Kurds, which allows him to first finally create a 30-kilometer buffer zone, and then, together with Syrian government forces, drown the Kurdish movement in blood.

TERRACED GARDENING IN ARMENIAN CULTURE
(Ethnographic study)

Terraced gardening is one of the important and unique branches of Armenian agriculture. Based on the relief features of the Armenian Highland, the possibilities of using water resources as well as historical and political events, for centuries, the Armenians, in addition to the flat areas, have used the slopes, creating various agricultural terraces. Armenians also created the terraced settlements, where the roof of one house served as a courtyard for the upper house. The panorama of similar settlements resembles an amphitheater․

The development of terrace gardening in some Armenian settlements is connected with conflicts between Armenians and Turks. Armenians, trying to avoid attacks from the Turks, tried to establish their settlements in mountainous, hard-to-reach places, where they also created terrace gardens. Except for this presented reason, the development of terrace gardening is also associated with the efficiency of using slopes. There are many slopes in the Armenian Highlands, and their use was a vital necessity since flat areas did not meet the needs of people. The use of slopes is characteristic of many peoples of the world, and Armenians are no exception in this regard.

Terraced gardening was widespread in many regions of Armenia. It is a typical feature of Alaverdi, Dilijan, Ashtarak, Yerevan, Yeghegnadzor, Goris, Berdzor, Akn, Arabkir, Zeytun, Hachn, Amasia, Ardvin, Meghri, Getashen, Baberd, Arduin, Akhaltsikh and other settlements. To make gardens on the slopes, they have built strong stone retaining walls, sometimes using mortar. The retaining walls collapsed from time to time and needed repair. The walls have a height of 1–3 m and are built with 2‒3 rows of stones. The retaining walls were generally inclined slightly towards the slope. In general, the garden was established in such a place where it was possible to make an irrigation system. Mainly on slopes near river valleys or in places where there are natural sources of water. There are also cases when stone retaining walls were built even in the case of arable land. This means how important was the land for the Armenian peasants.

In Armenian culture, terrace gardening is distinguished by its diversity of manifestations and originality. At the same time, differences in construction techniques, land use methods and forms of labor organization are noticeable between different regions.

ON SOME ISSUES OF DIPHTHONG FORMATION

Linguistics has suggested considerably different approaches with regard to diphthongs all of which can be summed up as follows: 1) A diphthong is the pronunciation of two vowels in one syllable (V1+V2) (N. Trubetzkoy, G. Trager, K. Pike, H. Gleason, A. Reformatsky, etc.) The following is yet another version of this definition – a diphthong is the pronunciation of syllabic sounds within a single syllable with only one component being syllabic (E. Aghayan). 2) A diphthong is the pronunciation of two vowels or a vowel and a semi-vowel (ṷ, i̭) in one syllable. In this case, it is not important whether the sonorant has the syllabic function of or not. (D. Jones, H. Acharyan, G. Ghapantsyan, etc.). 3) A diphthong is the combination of only a vowel and a (semi-vowel) sonorant (V+S / S+V) in one syllable (L. Bloomfield). Some distinguish between true and false diphthongs considering the combination of two vowels with equivalent components to belong to the first group, i.e., with no syllabic sound (L. Shcherba, J.Vahek, R. Budagov, etc.), unlike the three other types in which one of the diphthong components is syllabic (a nucleus of a diphthong). While these approaches regard a diphthong a minimum functional unit – a phoneme, another approach views a two-phoneme (= two-vowel) formation acting as one phonetic whole a diphthong. The components of a two-phoneme diphthong can be divided by a morphemic seam or can relate to adjacent syllables.

The key descriptions of diphthongs provide grounds for a broader understanding of the unit. Hence, a diphthong is the pronunciation of two vowels or a vowel and a syllabic sonorant as a phonetic whole, which phonemically can be equivalent to a complex phoneme uttered in the same syllable or to two phonemes divided by a morphemic seam and (or) two phonemes distributed between adjacent syllables. Based on this interpretation, diphthongs can be stable and non-stable: the former include two-vowel combinations uttered in the same syllable. The latter contain two-phoneme formations uttered in adjacent syllables and/or divided by a morphemic seam. According to the fullness of the sound, there are non-equivalent (with a syllabic component) and equivalent (without a syllabic component) diphthongs.

Following the given interpretation of the formation of diphthongs, the combination of a vowel and a non-syllabic (semi-vowel) sonorant in a single syllable is a diphthongoid rather than a diphthong.