Stories about Central Asia & Caucasus from June, 2010
Caucasus: Eurovision gossip
Chasing Liberty’s Shadow comments on Azerbaijan's entry into last week's Eurovision Song Contest and considers what benefits a victory might have brought the country. The blog also comments on speculation that Azerbaijan spent as much as $10-16 million on its entry while Unzipped: Gay Armenia reports on a minor spat...
Armenia: Stone crosses
Ianyan features a guest post and accompanying audio slideshow on a specific cultural legacy in Armenia — the centuries-old art of carving stone crosses.
Azerbaijan: Baku concerned with social media
With progressive, alternative voices finding a new outlet via new and social media in Azerbaijan, and the first case of imprisoning blogging activists in the region occurring there last year, news reports now warn that possible new legislation might yet seek to silence others. On a related note, In Mutatione...
Belarus: Minsk puts customs agreement on hold
Belarus Digest analyzes why Minsk has stopped a long negotiated customs union between Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan.
Georgia: Social Media deployed for local elections
Local government elections in Georgia were held on 30 May and attracted huge interest from both the local and international community. Considered another test of the former Soviet republic's fledgling democratization process, both deployed and relied on online and social media technologies to monitor the vote as never before.
Armenia: Journalist arrested in Liberty Square
Ianyan covers the case of Ani Gevorgyan, an anti-government journalist who was arrested on 31 May while being among opposition supporters who resisted attempts by police to remove them from a newly reopened public space in Yerevan, the Armenian capital. The blog says that while the reasons for Gevorgyan's arrest...
Azerbaijan: Eurovision reflections
Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines reflects on the weekend's final of the Eurovision Song Contest and says that despite the politics it enjoyed the international music competition more so than in other years. Moreover, the blog notes, there was no major conflict this year between Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia and Georgia.
Azerbaijan: A jazz view of Eurovision
The Girl in Jazz comments on this year's Eurovision Song Contest which came to a close on Saturday. The blog highlights the differences between pop music and jazz and concludes that the former is about competition rather than collaboration, and rules over freedom.
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