· March, 2012

Stories about Armenia from March, 2012

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...

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...

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.

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Cilicia.com comments on recent news that Armenia has withdrawn from the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, capital of neighboring Azerbaijan.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...

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.

Armenia: Eurovision withdrawal after propaganda attempt backfires

  7 March 2012

Following a botched attempt to justify boycotting this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan, Armenia today officially withdrew from the international music competition. “As expected, #Armenia Public TV withdraws from #Eurovision They could have announced it earlier with dignity. For now, they are #losers,” writes Unzipped on Twitter, also...

Armenia: Eurovision propaganda fiasco

  6 March 2012

Unzipped comments on a call by Armenian singers to boycott this year's annual Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Armenia and Azerbaijan remain deadlocked in a conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh and the call to boycott was ostensibly made in protest at the killing of an Armenian...