Stories about Armenia from September, 2008
Armenia: Cultural Control
Unzipped says that there is a link between the decision to remove the screening of a film by well known director Tigran Khzmalyan from the programme at Yerevan's main cinema and his political activities. The blog also says that Khzmalyan and other academics have also been dismissed from their positions...
Armenia: Victor Hambartsumian Remembered
Armenian Higher Education & Sciences comments on government plans to commemorate the work of leading scientist and astrophysicist Victor Hambartsumian who died in 1996. The blog notes that the traditional way of remembering prominent Armenians has now given way to some more interesting ideas which should promote the scientific potential...
Armenia: Pro-Government Youth Group Formed
Unzipped comments on stumbling upon what looks like the start of a series of anti-smoking actions staged by a new pro-government youth movement. The blog says that Miasin appears to be poorly organized and lacked the creativity of other youth movements which have emerged in Armenia in the past year...
Armenia: Turkish Visitors
Unzipped quotes news reports saying that 300 Turkish citizens visited the Genocide Memorial and Museum in Yerevan on the sidelines of this month's World Cup qualifying football match between Armenia and Turkey. However, as one comment says, it is unclear how many were ethnic Armenians or ethnic Turks. Nevertheless, the...
Armenia: Competing Opposition Ideologies
Unzipped comments on statements from the leader of the Marxist party in Armenia that God and Russia are considered to be the solution to the problems faced by most of the population. The blog says such statements are embarrasing for the opposition and raises questions about the conflicting positions of...
Turkey: Genocide Stories
Project Common Humanity, a new blog established by researcher and writer Ziya Meral, asks its readers to submit stories of Turks who saved their Armenian neighbors during the 1915 Genocide.
Armenia: Opposition Momentum Declining
The Armenian Observer comments on yesterday's opposition rally in Yerevan and says that it was the smallest gathering yet.
Turkey: “Armenian Istanbul”
Sundry Translations and Other Tangentialia translates Mark Grigorian's LJ entries (RUS – here, here, here) on Istanbul's Armenian dimension.
Georgia: Travelogue
Michael J. Totten's Middle East Journal recounts a recent trip from Azerbaijan to post-conflict Georgia. Traveling with veteran Caucasus journalist Thomas Goltz, Totten details an attempt to visit Russian-occupied Gori and an unfortunate encounter with Azerbaijani customs officials on his return to Baku. The problem? The Lonely Planet Guide to...
Armenia: Relations with Turkey — What Next?
After the historic visit by Turkish president Abdullah Gul to Yerevan at the weekend to watch an Armenia-Turkey World Cup qualifying match with his local counterpart, Serge Sargsyan, Security in the Caucasus examines the question of what next for the two estranged neighboring countries.
Turkey: Armenian Sport in the Ottoman Empire
“For the first time in the history of Turkish Olympic Games, two Armenian sportsmen Vahram Papazian and Mkrtich Mkryan represented Ottoman Turkey in the Fifth International Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912,” writes Turkish blogger, Mavi Boncuk, as he announces an exhibit at the Armenian Genocide Museum on “Armenian Sport...
Armenia: Local Elections Marred by Violence
Unzipped comments on the possible appointment of a notorious government official to the position of Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly. The blog also reports that local elections held in Yerevan yesterday were marred by reports of violence, vote buying and other irregularities.
Armenia: Football Diplomacy & Relations with Turkey
A number of World Cup qualifying matches were played worldwide on Saturday, but many were interested in what might instead prove to be a historic political rather than sporting event. Without diplomatic relations or an open border, Armenia played against Turkey in its capital, Yerevan. Despite historical grievances, Turkish President Abdullah Gul arrived to watch the match with his Armenian counterpart in what many referred to as “football diplomacy.”
Turkey: Diplomacy Via Sports?
Talk Turkey remarks on the historic World Cup qualifier match that will be held between Turkey and Armenia: “Although there have been opposition in Turkey about this historic visit, and no doubt the same on the Armenian side, this visit couldn't have come at a better time.
Armenia: Remembering Meline's
Unzipped: Gay Armenia posts photographs and remembers Meline's, Yerevan's only gay bar which recently closed because of financial problems and construction work in the city center.
Armenia: An Unprecedented Football Match
A Fistful of Euros comments on this weekend's World Cup qualifying match between Armenia and Turkey in Yerevan. Although there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries, and as the border remains closed, the blog considers the event, which will also be attended by the Turkish President, Abdullah Gul,...
Armenia: Nagorno Karabakh Independence Marked, Anti-Turkish Protests Planned
While the international media concerns itself with the two breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia, bloggers reminds their readers that yesterday marked the 17th anniversary of the declaration of independence by another self-declared republic in the South Caucasus — Nagorno Karabakh. Marking the occasion in Yerevan also gave one political party the opportunity to declare its intention to stage street protests when the Turkish president arrives in Armenia this weekend.
