· October, 2010

Stories about Armenia from October, 2010

Armenia: Nationalist backlash against Azerbaijan film festival

  31 October 2010

Unzipped and Le Retour (in 3 Parts) comment on the nationalist backlash to a festival of films from Azerbaijan to be staged in Yerevan, Armenia, next week. The former says that the negative reaction is hypocritical when the same nationalists decry attempts to prevent artistic expression and freedom of speech...

Armenia-Azerbaijan: Online campaigns for the return of casualties of war

  24 October 2010

A campaign represented as being organized by ‘Armenian bloggers’ has been established to demand the return of the body of Manvel Sarinbekyan, an Armenian who reportedly hung himself while in detention after crossing the border with Azerbaijan.The campaign has been launched in both Russian and English. Meanwhile, and as the...

Armenia: Domestic Violence petition submitted

  24 October 2010

Following the recent outrage expressed by some Armenian bloggers following the death of a 20-year old woman at the hands of her husband and mother-in-law, Blogian says that the petition it set up to lobby the government to pass a law on domestic violence was signed by 3,196 individuals before...

Armenia: Prolific blogger suspended on LiveJournal

  24 October 2010

Kornelij Glas [RU] details the case of Pigh, an Armenian blogger prolific in the mutual tit-for-tat online information war with Azerbaijan and Turkey. Speaking to Global Voices, Pigh says that his blog on LiveJournal was suspended on 8 October after some Azerbaijanis made complaints to the site's administration which included...

Armenia: Blog Action Day

  16 October 2010

Writing on his official blog, the British Ambassador to Armenia, Charles Lonsdale, marks Blog Action Day by writing about Lake Sevan. Situated 1,900 meters above sea level, it is one of the largest high altitude lakes in the world. However, the diplomatic blogger notes, mismanagement and policies during the Soviet...

Caucasus: Attitudes to inter-ethnic marriage

  15 October 2010

After posting the results of a survey last year examining perceptions of inter-ethnic friendship in the South Caucasus, Social Science in Caucasus now posts information on attitudes to inter-ethnic marriage. According the results, 99% of Azerbaijanis disapprove of their women marrying Armenians while 92% of Armenians disapprove of marriage with...

Caucasus: Women as a reflection of nationalism

  15 October 2010

Motherhood, Repatriation and other fictions comments on a recent event staged in Istanbul, Turkey, which women activists from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Russia attended. The blog particularly examines the role of nationalism and patriarchal societies in peace-building and cross-border initiatives in the South Caucasus.

Caucasus: Perceptions of inter-ethnic friendship

  12 October 2010

Social Science in the Caucasus posts the results of a survey held last year which includes data examining perceptions of inter-ethnic friendship in the South Caucasus. Riven by frozen conflicts and ethnic rivalry, the results show that 70 percent of Armenians disapprove of friendship with Azerbaijanis while 97 percent of...

Armenia: Domestic violence claims a life

  11 October 2010

The issue of domestic violence in Armenia is well known, albeit rarely spoken about openly. However, a video interview with the family of a young woman who died of injuries sustained after being beaten by her husband and his mother has shocked and angered many.

Armenia: Abuse in Yerevan school

  11 October 2010

Following the posting of video evidence of hazing in the army, Unzipped posts and comments on a video showing physical and verbal abuse in a local school. The blog, however, notes that the video was uploaded months earlier and is only now being slowly spread through Facebook. Nevertheless, it has...

Azerbaijan: Playing the Armenian card

  8 October 2010

As Azerbaijan prepares for parliamentary elections on 7 November, opposition bloggers are unhappy with the conduct of the vote so far. Now, they report, the local media is starting to publish what they consider to be black propaganda aimed at discrediting opposition candidates in the eyes of the electorate.