Podcast | Earthquake diplomacy and a new ‘code of conduct’ for journalists in Georgia’s parliament

8 February 2023

Ani Avetisyan discusses how the South Caucasus responded to the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria. She breaks down how Armenia’s offer of assistance to Turkey could reflect on the normalisation of relations between the two countries.

The South Caucasus sends aid following deadly quake

Tata Shoshiashvili discusses reactions to the Georgian Parliament’s newly introduced ‘code of ethics’ which would allow the authorities to ban journalists for questioning MPs.

New accreditation rules threaten to ban media outlets from parliament

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Four Azerbaijani students who were killed in the earthquake in Turkey. Image via Azertag.

2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake

Azerbaijanis killed in Turkey quake ‘could have survived if border was open’

Ismi Aghayev

••2 min read

An Azerbaijani studying in Turkey has claimed that four other students who died in the Turkey–Syria earthquake would have been at home in Azerbaijan when the quake struck, had the country’s land borders not still been closed ‘due to COVID-19’. In a post on Facebook on Wednesday, Ibrahim Ibrahimov, a student at the Malatya Inonu University, blamed both the ongoing border closure and the ‘outragous’ prices of the country’s national carrier for their deaths. On 14 February, the bodies of Nazarz

Armenian and Turkish flags flying in Ankara on Wednesday. Photo: Armenpress.am

2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake

Armenia’s Foreign Minister makes ‘historic’ visit to Turkey

Ani Avetisyan

••3 min read

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan visited Ankara on Wednesday to meet his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. The visit came just over a week after Armenia sent humanitarian aid to Turkey via land borders that had been closed for thirty years. Mirzoyan arrived in Ankara on Wednesday morning, along with deputy minister Vahan Kostanyan, and Armenia’s special envoy for the normalisation of relations with Turkey, Ruben Rubinyan. ‘I consider it symbolic that on Saturday, the Armenian

A collapsed 14-storey building in Adana, Turkey. Image via Anadolu Agency.

2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake

The South Caucasus sends aid following deadly quake

Ani Avetisyan

••3 min read

The South Caucasus has offered messages of support and offers of assistance after a deadly earthquake hit Turkey and Syria on Monday. But despite parts of both countries being devastated by the quake, only Armenia offered aid to Syria. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit at around 04:17 on 6 February and was followed by aftershocks that devastated south-eastern Turkey and northern Syria. Official death tolls from Turkey and Syria number over 5,000 so far, with tens of thousands more wounded or st