· December, 2010

Stories about Armenia from December, 2010

Caucasus: Online tools in Peace Building

  31 December 2010

Writing on his Peace and Collaborative Development Network Blog, Global Voices’ Caucasus Editor recounts his experience of using online social networks in cross-border communication and peace building initiatives between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Locked into a still unresolved conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, another post, however, looks at...

Armenia: Homosexuality & National Security?

  27 December 2010

Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on a recent statement from the Secretary of Armenia's National Security Council, Artur Baghdasarian, labeling homosexuals as a ‘extremely dangerous.’ The blog says that such comments are not only homophobic and in violation of Armenia's human rights commitments, but is also totally at odds with a...

Armenia-Azerbaijan: Social Media in peace building

  27 December 2010

Based on experience to date, my Caucasian Knot blog features a post on the use of online social networks to bring Armenians and Azerbaijanis together online as part of regional peace building and cross-border cooperation projects.

Caucasus: The Year in Review

  23 December 2010

With 2011 nearly upon us, the year in new and social media in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia during 2010 was surprisingly positive. So, what did the past year hold in store for the South Caucasus? Read on.

Azerbaijan: Children and Peace

  22 December 2010

Sheki, Azerbaijan looks forward to 2011 and says that it hopes the New Year will bring peace. Every child has a right to such an environment, the blog notes, while also reminding readers that lives were lost despite a ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan in their conflict over the...

Armenia-Azerbaijan: Culture that unites rather than divides

  22 December 2010

Ararat Magazine features a post by Global Voices’ Caucasus editor, co-penned with a Global Voices author and Lingua translator, on ethnic Armenian and Azeri coexistence in Georgia. The post is made up of other guest entries originally written as part of a new media project to amplify alternative voices on...

Caucasus: Corruption

  14 December 2010

Social Science in the Caucasus comments on Transparency International's latest Global Corruption Barometer. While noting that corruption has increased in the world, it nonetheless notes that levels in Georgia are significantly lower than in neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Armenia: Facebook Storytelling

  14 December 2010

Writing for Ararat Magazine, Global Voices author Simon Maghakyan says that that one Facebook Group is attempting to use the popular social networking site to teach children Armenian history. The post wonders if this might turn out to be a revolutionary way to get them interested in such subject matters.

Armenia: Smoking the Pipe of Peace

  14 December 2010

Ararat Magazine features a post by Global Voices’ Caucasus editor on Calumet, an ethnic lounge bar in Yerevan, the Armenian capital. Offering a laid back environment for local civic activists, artists and musicians, as well as foreigners, to unwind in, it concludes that the recently opened venue is a breath...

Caucasus: Average Internet speeds and prices

  14 December 2010

The Yerevan-based Civilitas Foundation compares the average speed and cost of Internet connections in the South Caucasus. According to that data, Armenia is well behind its two neighbors in the region with by far the slowest and most expensive connections available. Meanwhile, Georgia has by far the cheapest and fastest.

Armenia: Police target Emos

  12 December 2010

Although understood to be a fairly conservative and traditional country, reports that police in Armenia were targeting Emos, a stereotypically melancholic sub-culture associated especially with teenagers, caused alarm and outrage among bloggers and Facebook users.

Azerbaijan: Stepanakert

  12 December 2010

Marut's Blog posts photographs taken during the Soviet era of Stepanakert, capital of the breakaway territory of Nagorno Karabakh. An autonomous oblast situated within Azerbaijan before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the region declared itself independent in 1991, but remains internationally unrecognized. Negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan to determine...

Azerbaijan: Armenia's Wikileaks?

  8 December 2010

The Önər Blog [AZ] comments on claims in Azerbaijan that Wikileaks cables painting the country in a bad light are the work of Armenians. In fact, the blog notes, at the same time as the media in Azerbaijan highlights the poverty, corruption and human rights abuses in its neighbor, how...