Stories about Central Asia & Caucasus from July, 2009
Azerbaijan: Baku's Boulevard
After a brief hiatus, Sheki, Azerbaijan is back and posts a brief history, accompanied by photographs, of Baku's 100-year old boulevard.
Iran: Armenian bloggers on plane crash
When a regular flight en route from Tehran to Yerevan crashed after takeoff yesterday, killing all 168 on board, many in Armenia and its Diaspora were distressed, and not least since there were 40 ethnic Armenians among the dead.
Azerbaijan: Video Campaign to Release Detained Activists
The recent detention of two cyber-activists and youth leaders in Azerbaijan this past week has caused consternation among bloggers and activists inside and outside Azerbaijan, and now a video campaign has been set off to call the Azeri government into action to release both youth movement leaders: Adnan Hajizada and Emin Milli.
Russia: Medvedev, Obama, and the lot…
Windows to Russia! ironises over Obama's visit to Russia and Medvedev's visit to South Ossetia.
Armenia: ‘Bloggers’ call for foreign minister's resignation
Following a July 10, 2009 statement by the U.S., Russian, and French presidents calling for Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve the longstanding conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, some bloggers in Armenia have launched a campaign demanding the resignation of the country's foreign minister.
Georgia: Controversial online game
Unzipped: Gay Armenia, a ground-breaking LGBT blog in the region, comments on news from Gay Caucasus [RU] that a homophobic game, Kill the Faggots, is proving popular among children in...
Georgia: Nationalist Pop
This is Tbilisi Calling comments on the tendency for pop music to be used for political purposes in countries such as Georgia. Although there have been some songs which have...
Azerbaijan: Social Networks and Youth Activism
Writing on Quirk Global Strategies, the former Country Director of the National Democratic Institute in Azerbaijan comments on the use of social networking sites such as Facebook by supporters of...
Nabucco: Chorus of the energy slaves
Gabriela Ionita of Power&PoliticsWeblog discusses the recent agreement in Ankara on the construction of the western financed Nabucco gas pipeline and competition with Russia over Caucasian and Central Asian gas...
Russia: Why there will be no new war with Georgia
LJ user ulakya rejects [RUS] fears of a new conflict between Russia and Georgia and argues why Moscow wants to avoid war in the Caucasus.
Lithuania: Russian charter challenges loyalty
Lituanica comments on news that a Russian NGO is starting to issue so called Russian charters – a certificate of allegiance to Moscow – to ethnic Russians outside of the...
Armenia: Flag display
517 Design [RU] posts a photograph of a billboard made up of the flags of those countries which will be entering films into the Golden Apricot festival in Yerevan. The...
Azerbaijan: “Hooliganism”
A Fistful of Euros comments on the arrest of Emin Milli and video blogger Adnan Hajizade last week in Baku, Azerbaijan. The blog says that charges of “hooliganism” are a...
Azerbaijan: Last tweet before arrest
Emin Milli, one of two youth and civil society activists severly beaten and jailed for two months for hooliganism in Baku last week, sent a tweet back on 24th June. Not only was it the last before his arrest, but it was also particularly poignant.
Azerbaijan: Citizen media in defense of detained activists, bloggers
Although most activity can be found on Facebook where users continue to update each other on the case of video blogger Adnan Hajizade and youth activist Emin Milli, detained last week and sentenced to two months pre-trial detention, less activity might be visible in the mainstream media, but the situation is changing. Nevertheless, citizen media remains the main source of information.
Kazkahstan: Public administration discussed by bloggers
The bloggers are trying to understand what is happening in the country and how adequate is the public administration in Kazakhstan. Megakhuimyak thinks over the future of the local political...
Georgia: An Interview with DvOrsky
Giga Paitchadze, better known online as DvOrsky, is no stranger to the Caucasus section of Global Voices Online. In the second of a series of audio interviews with bloggers in or dealing with the South Caucasus, Paitchadze updates Global Voices Online on the development of new media in Georgia.
Afghanistan: Deals on the eve of elections
Nick Fielding comments on the development around presidential election campaign in Afghanistan talking about the deals that President Karzai is cutting to try to keep his position.
Uzbekistan: Failed state or private enterprise?
Pravdin reviews the Uzbekistan's performance on the “The Failed States Index 2009”, released recently by the Fund for Peace.
Tajikistan: Protests in Iran are a lesson for Tajiks
Botur says that Tajiks were carefully following events in Iran, a country with strong linguistic and cultural ties with Tajikistan, and reflects on how these developments may influence Tajik society.
Kazakhstan: A Kazakh from China wins hearts of London
Adam writes about Mamer, a musician and ethnic Kazakh from Xinjiang, who has already become a celebrity in China and Europe, but remains totally unknown in Kazakhstan.
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