Armenia: Eurovision propaganda fiasco  · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

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 serviceman reportedly by an Azerbaijani sniper. However, the blog notes, not only was the statement written and published before any singers signed up to it, but it eventually became clear that the soldier in question was actually killed by one of his own comrades. The blog calls the fiasco “one of the most spectacular yet tragic PR disasters” made by Armenian Public TV apparently in order to justify a boycott of the international music competition. It also wonders whether those singers that did eventually sign will now be so outspoken as to decry hazing and deaths in the military at home.