Stories about Armenia from September, 2010
Armenia: LGBT round table
Pink Armenia reports on a round table on the LGBT community held in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, last week. The blog says that although government ministries accepted invitations to attend, none did.
Armenia: Army forced to act after hazing video circulates online
A video depicting what appears to be evidence of bullying in the military stationed in Nagorno Karabakh, a disputed territory situated within Azerbaijan mainly populated by ethnic Armenians, continues to circulate online, from YouTube to the Daily Motion website.
Armenia: Officer faces abuse charges
Despite an initial official denial, Unzipped posts an update to an earlier post on the circulation of an amateur video originally uploaded to YouTube highlighting abuse in the army. The blog says that the authenticity of the video has now been confirmed and an officer in command of a military...
Armenia: Business as usual
Unzipped comments on Friday's rally by the extra-parliamentary opposition led by the former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian. The blog concludes that nothing new was said and that the opposition in the country lacks inspiration and offers no real alternative to the current authorities. It also questions the involvement of Gagik Jhangiryan,...
Armenia: The British Ambassador blogs
Charles Lonsdale, the British Ambassador to Armenia, has started up an official blog on the web site of the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In his second post, the diplomatic blogger compares British and Armenian art against the background of the seventh Biennale in the country's second largest city...
Caucasus: Expedition 206
Having already visited Georgia, Expedition 206 arrived in Armenia. The initiative, sponsored by Coca-Cola, will see three bloggers visit 206 countries in 365 days. iReport [AM] posts photographs as well as an account of the travelers meeting with 20 local bloggers and says that they will travel to Azerbaijan tomorrow....
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Backseat musical musings… and ethnic conflict
With the broadcast media heavily controlled in both Armenia and Azerbaijan there are few avenues left for independent journalists. Bloggers in both countries, however, react to a video posted online.
Armenia: Army Hazing
Unzipped comments on a video originally posted on YouTube showing what appears to be hazing in the Armenian military. Taken down after 246 Facebook shares and 669 comments, it has since appeared on Daily Motion. Given other cases of deaths and mistreatment in the army, the blog says that the...
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Social Networking and Conflict Resolution
Global Chaos details the hacking of the personal Facebook page of one young ethnic Armenian by someone presumably in Azerbaijan. Although new and social media tools are increasingly being used in peace-building initiatives to resolve the long-running conflict between the two countries over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, the...
Armenia: Literary Capital 2012
Ianyan provides a comprehensive report on news that Yerevan, the Armenian capital, will become UNESCO World Book Capital for 2012. The blog says that the city will be the 12th to hold the title, coincidentally in the same year that marks the 500th anniversary of the first printed book, but...
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Time for peaceful coexistence
In another guest post on The Caucasian Knot, youth activist and student Marine Ejuryan reflects on the negative stereotypes in play between Armenia and Azerbaijan because of the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh. However, she notes, positive examples of peaceful coexistence are rarely if ever mentioned in the media and...
Azerbaijan: Free imprisoned bloggers
A petition has been started urging U.S. President Barack Obama to raise the issue of imprisoned video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, at the United Nations General Assembly this month. The petition can be signed online here.
