Vardanyan’s wife found out what “yola vermyak” means in Armenian

Veronika Zonabend continues her efforts to organize what she describes as a “humanitarian trip to Baku.” For weeks, she has been addressing Prime Minister Pashinyan and Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs with repeated appeals and requests for meetings, assistance, and the appointment of a designated official to handle the matter.

It appears that Zonabend is also seeking to give her initiative some form of official status. We recently met with her, and she described the meeting as one “with representatives of the Armenian authorities.” In reality, however, the Armenian side was represented by an NGO employee and a relatively junior Foreign Ministry official.

The meeting therefore appeared to be more of a working-level and informal engagement than an official meeting with Armenian authorities at the level Zonabend’s description might suggest.

Still, every meeting is an opportunity to learn something new. Perhaps Zonabend also learned how to say “yola vermek” in Armenian.