· March, 2012

Stories about Central Asia & Caucasus from March, 2012

Georgia: Tongue-in-cheek development forecast

  31 March 2012

A satirical video posted on YouTube takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the development of Georgia ahead of parliamentary elections later this year and a presidential vote in 2013. With the current president, Milhail Saakashvili, unable to run for a third term in office it foresees him following in the footsteps...

Azerbaijan: Novruz comes to an end

  30 March 2012

Novruz, the Persian New Year which is also celebrated in Azerbaijan, has come to an end and, using the example of the oil-rich country, Eastbook says that during the holiday it can often be difficult to conduct business or arrange meetings. Nevertheless, it notes that Azerbaijan's Embassy in Georgia was...

Armenia: US Ambassador urges free, fair and credible elections

  28 March 2012

Ambassador Heffern's Video Blog's comments on the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia. Posted on the U.S. Embassy's YouTube Channel, the American diplomat stresses the need for free and fair elections, details some of the changes introduced in the electoral code, and urges the government, opposition and civil society to ensure...

Georgia: Anti-discriminatory legislation ahead of Armenia, Azerbaijan

  27 March 2012

Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on the passage of legislation in Georgia outlawing discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, age, and political as well as religious views. The blog notes that the inclusion of sexual orientation makes Georgia “clearly the most advanced country in the South Caucasus in terms of legislative provisions...

Armenia: Ushahidi deployed for parliamentary elections

  27 March 2012

Georgia was the first country in the South Caucasus to deploy a bespoke crowd-sourcing and crisis mapping platform for its local elections in May 2010, but Armenia will be the first to use Ushahidi to monitor the conduct of national elections in the form of the upcoming May 2012 parliamentary...

Azerbaijan: Novruz Bayram

  23 March 2012

Alongside Iran and elsewhere, Azerbaijan once again celebrated Novruz, the Zoroastrian or Persian New Year. One of the most important dates in the country's calendar, foreigners blogging from Azerbaijan, as well as Azerbaijanis themselves, naturally introduced the holiday to their readers.

Armenia: Parliamentary elections

  16 March 2012

Writing on Ararat Magazine, Global Voices’ Caucasus Regional Editor interviews analyst Richard Giragosian and examines the political situation in Armenia ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for 6 May 2012. Following the disputed 2008 presidential election which left 10 people dead, Giragosian argues that the authorities must learn to govern and...

Georgia: Bloggers assaulted

  14 March 2012

Shota tweets that two bloggers were physically assaulted allegedly by representatives of Tbilisi University's Student Union, itself reportedly controlled by the ruling party of power in the country. News of the alleged attack [GE] was spread on Facebook and in the form of a video report by Net Gazeti on...

Armenia: Bridging the divide?

  14 March 2012

Global Chaos comments on the launch of a new web site by the Armenian Ministry of Diaspora. Charged with the task of bridging the divide between Armenians in Armenia and communities abroad, the blog explains why the site fails on so many levels.

Kyrgyzstan: Local elections in the uneasy southern province

  14 March 2012

Nathan Hamm writes about the last week’s municipal elections in Osh, where nationalist opposition parties seem to get a significant share in the city council, analyzes the southern city's electorate, and reminds that Kyrgyzstan is often characterized as politically divided between north and south.

Azerbaijan: Pyrrhic victory

  14 March 2012

Again writing on Facebook, journalist Khadija Ismayil, recently under pressure with an alleged threat of blackmail, provides five reasons why the Eurovision Song Contest to be staged this May in Baku might prove to be a Pyrrhic victory for Azerbaijan.

Armenia: Eurovision withdrawal a wasted opportunity

  14 March 2012

Cilicia.com comments on recent news that Armenia has withdrawn from the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, capital of neighboring Azerbaijan. Taking a pro-Armenian line on the matter, the blog says that Azerbaijan had no choice but to allow Armenia to participate, and to provide guarantees that Armenians could visit Azerbaijan...

Barbados: Media Ownership

  13 March 2012

Veteran Caribbean journalist Julius Gittens touches on issues of media ownership and calls for reflections on the adequacy of the existing structures and for ideas to spawn new ones…he is also sceptical of the notion that technology has reduced the need for conventional journalism: “Already in the Caribbean…so-called social media have made traditional...

Armenia: International Women's Day

  13 March 2012

Marking International Women's Day, Ianyan features guest posts on gender in Armenia. In the first, three writers take a glimpse into the lives of women in the post-Soviet country, while a second examines the issues of patriarchy and discrimination. The third post takes the form of an interview with a...

Armenia: Homophobic Online Media

  13 March 2012

Unzipped: Gay Armenia adds another Armenian media outlet to its Homophobia Hall of Fame. This time it's the turn of Internet TV Slaq.am. The blog that reports on LGBT and related issues in the South Caucasus explains why.

Afghanistan: US army missing well-equipped SUVs

  10 March 2012

Nick Fielding digged out an amazing story about the US Army offering a $10,000 reward for any information as to the whereabouts of two SUVs equipped with classified technology used to jam roadside bombs that had been stolen from a military base in Kabul.

About our Central Asia & Caucasus coverage

Nurbek Bekmurzaev
Nurbek Bekmurzaev is the Central Asia editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.

Arzu Geybullayeva
Arzu Geybullayeva is the South Caucasus editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.