Onnik Krikorian · October, 2007

Latest posts by Onnik Krikorian from October, 2007

Armenia: Trade with Russia

  30 October 2007

Oneworld Multimedia looks at two conflicting opinions on trade between Armenia and Russia. On the one hand, the Jamestown Foundation says that increasing trade between the two countries is political whereas an Armenian economist blogger believes that it is far from its full potential and cites the example of neighboring...

Azerbaijan: Economic Growth

  30 October 2007

Steady State examines Azerbaijan's record growth and says that it looks as though the country will register the strongest economic growth worldwide for the fourth year in succession. However, a note of caution is also sounded. Economic growth recorded in just a few sectors also has its problems.

Azerbaijan: Presidential Preferences

  30 October 2007

TOL's Steady State reports that a possible candidate for the 2008 presidential election in Azerbaijan is accusing the current authorities of “selling out” territory currently under the control of ethnic Armenians. The blog also notes that Eldar Namazov has attacked the Azerbaijani government for apparently not favoring the nomination of...

Azerbaijan: Terrorist Attack Foiled

  30 October 2007

As the international media reports that the Azerbaijani authorities foiled a planned terrorist plot to attack government offices and diplomatic missions in Baku, Carpetblogger says that the U.S. and U.K Embassies were yesterday closed as a precaution. However, the blogger doesn't sound too impressed or convinced by official reports that...

Armenia: Homophobic Advert

  30 October 2007

Blogian posts a photograph of an advertisement for a rap party in Yerevan named after a historical Armenian site in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan. Hrag Vartanian says that the advert depicting an American girl in a Stars & Stripes bikini with the words “Homosexuals and Animals Not Welcome” would...

Armenia: Gender Politics

  29 October 2007

With several examples in mind elsewhere around the world, Unzipped: Gay Armenia wonders if Armenia shouldn't have a woman president. Despite the patriarchal nature of Armenia and the Caucasus itself, the blog says that a female head of state might succeed in easing “tensions in our society and act as...

Armenia: The Numbers Game

  29 October 2007

After Friday's opposition rally during which Armenia's first president, Levon Ter Petrosian, said he would run again for office, Oneworld Multimedia raises concerns with how different media outlets reported the number of people in attendance. Interestingly, the blog notes that bloggers at the rally came up with roughly the same...

Turkey: An Armenian in Istanbul

  29 October 2007

Despite warnings from fellow Armenians, Lara Aha at Life in Armenia visited Istanbul in Turkey last week to attend a seminar on women in conflict zones. The Diasporan blogger now resident in Armenia says not only did she feel more at home in Istanbul than Yerevan, but that she also...

Georgia: “Radical” Opposition

  29 October 2007

TOL Georgia takes exception to a recent article published by the Jamestown Foundation on what the publication terms the “radical opposition.” The site questions why the author, well-known analyst Vladimir Socor, is using such phrases and challenges many other points made in the article.

Armenia: Parliamentary Killings Anniversary

  29 October 2007

The Armenian Observer remembers the 27 October 1999 terrorist attack on the Armenian National Assembly which left the prime minister and seven other senior officials, including the Soviet era leader of Armenia, dead. Eight years after the incident which allowed the incumbent president to consolidate power in the country, many...

Armenia: Khash Ceremony

  29 October 2007

With the winter setting in, Notes from Hairenik recounts his participation yesterday in the seasonal consumption of Khash, a “soup laden with fat slowly simmered for at least eight hours made from cow’s hoof, with cartilage and some meat still left on the bone.” Eating khash is a group event...

Armenia: Bad News Day

  28 October 2007

Raffi K at Life in Armenia says that Friday was a day full of bad news for Armenia. However, he doesn't know which was worse — former president Levon Ter Petrosian running again for office, the postponement of a bill to recognize the Armenian Genocide in the U.S. Congress, or...

Armenia: Doing Business

  28 October 2007

British ex-pat consultant Bruce Tasker reports from Yerevan on the trials and tribulations facing local businessmen who usually have to maintain close links with senior officials to ensure their livelihood. Go Armenia has more of the story, while on his second blog, Blowing the World Bank Whistle, the self-proclaimed whistle...

Georgia: Homophobia

  28 October 2007

British journalist Matthew Collin writes in a new blog from Georgia about two recent scandals which illustrate to what extent homophobia has taken hold in what is otherwise still considered to be the most liberal country in the Caucasus. On This is Tbilisi Calling he details both, the most recent...

Armenia: Former President Makes Political Comeback

  27 October 2007

In what can be considered one of the most important political developments in the short 16-year history of Armenia as an independent former-Soviet republic, the country's first president, Levon Ter Petrosian, announced his intention to run again for office in the presidential election to be held early next year. Ter...

Armenia: Raining Cats & Dogs

  27 October 2007

Notes from Hairenik reports that it is finally raining in Yerevan. While this poses various problems and difficulties for pedestrians and motorists alike, the blogger welcomes the change in the weather after “several dry, windy and dusty weeks.”

Armenia: Condoleezza Rice Against Genocide Bill

  25 October 2007

Oneworld Multimedia says that it comes as no surprise to discover that support for House Resolution 106 recognizing the Armenian Genocide is waning, with the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, the latest high-ranking official to urge U.S. lawmakers to drop the bill.

Georgia: Economic Growth

  25 October 2007

In a region where poverty is still endemic, figures for economic growth are a constant feature of speeches and election campaigns by governments. Georgia is no exception, but TOL Georgia asks if high economic growth rates from a low base mean much when they are compared to lower rates from...

Georgia: Russian Paranoia

  25 October 2007

Steady State posts a link to an article in Russian detailing territorial claims that the Republic of Georgia might have on Russia since medieval times. The blog treats such claims with scorn and sees it more as anti-Georgian paranoia than anything based on historical fact.

Azerbaijan: Mr Gay Europe 2007

  25 October 2007

Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on the surprise entry by 19-year-old Sadikj Ragimov into the Mr Gay Europe 2007 contest. This is the first time that any contestant from the South Caucasus has entered the competition, the blogger notes, and was an amazing show of courage from someone living in a...

Caucasus: LGBT Report

  24 October 2007

After mentioning it in a previous post, Unzipped: Gay Armenia posts the text of a new report on the situation of LGBT people in Georgia and Azerbaijan. The blogger says that the comprehensive study is a “historic event” as it was conducted locally by a fact-finding mission to the South...

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