As promised after returning from the Global Voices 2005 Summit in London, I have been trying to encourage young Armenians to blog, and have offered a few the possibility to post on this site in the hope that they’ll eventually set up their own blogs. Thankfully, I can now introduce you to the first, Zarchka, a remarkable 19 year old student who is also quite active in several NGOs in Armenia. Her first post is made before this one.

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Central Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia

By Zarchka

This is an expression that I can hardly translate, but if I could it would sound something like “New Year on top of all our problems.” In order to clarify this, I must explain that Armenians say “ooof” when they complain about something or if there’s a tiresome problem which is difficult to solve. One often, if not always, hears this sentence uttered by nearly all the citizens of Armenia, especially by women as men like to pretend that it doesn’t bother them at all. Why does New Year, which is so welcomed in Europe, the US and other countries, arouse so much discontent on the part of Armenians?

Let’s not hold back, and let’s speak openly. Armenia is not a rich country and people that can hardly make ends meet are more numerous than those who don’t lift a finger but still manage to make money. Yes, right, Armenia is a country of extremes, especially when foreigners call at an Armenian house only to be astonished by the amount of food presented to them. They might even think that Armenia only pretends to be in transition or a country of poverty because the poor in other countries cannot afford to lay a table with enough food to last for 10 days. On average, the total cost of such a table will be $300 as prices in the markets and shops are raised at this time of year.

In reality, Armenians like to show off.

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Just to remind readers of this blog that the main oneworld.am site also contains articles and photographs from Armenia and the surrounding region. It’s been online under different domains since late 1994, although my work on the Kurds in Turkey from 1997 is not available, and needs a redesign in the near future.

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In light of reports that ancient khachkars (stone crosses) are once again being destroyed in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan, the Armenian National Committee of America has set up a page with further information and ways to protest the destruction of these old Armenian monuments.

The cemetery, home to more than 10,000 individual khatchkars, was subjected to sustained attacks throughout the 20th Century and again, starting in 2002, when Azerbaijani forces crushed hundreds of the crosses and shipped the rubble from the region by rail. The most recent attacks have been the worst yet.

You can send a free webfax to U.S. Secretary of State Rice here.

While most of Armenia and the international community already know that last month’s referendum to amend the constitution was falsified on a scale hitherto unseen in this region (and that’s saying something), the Armenian Revolutionary Federation - Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) has come out with a shock admission. The, er, referendum was, er, falsified.

No kidding…

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Hunger Striker, Buzand Street, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online

Anna Saghabalian of RFE/RL also reports on the last remaining residents of Yerevan’s central Buzand Street who are holding out against attempts to evict them from their homes. The residents stand in the way of plans for new construction in the capital that many consider unconstitutional.

Four of the last remaining residents of an old neighborhood in downtown Yerevan were on hunger strike for a seventh consecutive day on Wednesday in a last-ditch attempt to avoid forcible eviction from their homes subject to demolition.

The desperate action is the latest in a series of angry protests against a government-sanctioned massive redevelopment going on in the city center. Hundreds of old houses there have already been torn down to make room for expensive apartment and office buildings constructed by private investors.

Many of their owners have protested against the amount of financial compensation offered them by the state, saying that it was set well below the market value of their properties as a result of high-level government corruption. The integrity and legality of the process has also been challenged by Armenia’s Office of Human Rights Defender.

The four hunger strikers, all of them women, live on the city’s rapidly disappearing Buzand Street where resistance to the demolitions has been particularly strong. Dozens of local residents went so far as to build barricades there earlier this year. The authorities had to deploy special police in the neighborhood to break down their resistance.

The full item can be read online here. Hetq Online has an article in Armenian, accompanied by more photographs, here.

In its latest survey measuring political rights and civil liberties in the world (on a scale of 1 to 7, with a lower number denoting more freedom), Freedom House ranks Armenia, with a score of 5 and 4, as “Partly Free.” Azerbaijan is considered “Not Free” with scores of 6 and 5, while Georgia outshines its two neighbors in the South Caucasus with 3 and 3. Incidently, following on from yesterday’s news, Freedom House has already urged the United States to closely scrutinize the situation in Armenia if it is to receive MCA funding.

A1 Plus Anniversary Protest Rally, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online, April 2004

A1 Plus points its readers in the direction of a BBC report saying that its long running battle with the Armenian government might soon be over. The popular TV station — the only one to air criticism of the authorities — was taken off the air in April 2002 in a tender to renew its frequency. However, the decision to strip A1 Plus of its right to broadcast was believed to have been a political order.

The TV station, which was the most popular independent news channel at the time, has since reapplied ten times for a licence to broadcast. Each time it has been refused.

Three years ago, A1+ took its case to the European Court of Human Rights. A two-year investigation followed.

The BBC says that the station’s case could have “far-reaching implications for freedom of expression and human rights in Armenia and across the Southern Caucasus,” and also highlights how A1 Plus moved into other areas of the media after failing to return to the air. The TV station launched a newspaper, a web site, and also works with Internews Armenia on documentaries broadcast in the regions of Armenia.

For news producer Susanna Ohanjanyan, that decision meant that her news deadlines changed and the vehicle for delivering her news material changed too.

[…]

For news producer Susanna Ohanjanyan, that decision meant that her news deadlines changed and the vehicle for delivering her news material changed too.

I’ve had the pleasure to work with star A1 Plus reporter, Victoria Abrahamian, on many occasions, and as an observer for the OSCE/ODIHR during the 2003 Presidential Elections had to stand by and watch helplessly as an A1 Plus film crew was physically assaulted by members of a Precinct Election Commission (PEC) in Etchmiadzin when it filmed a stuffed ballot box.

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RFE/RL reports that the United States government has approved over $235 million in economic assistance as part of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). However, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has linked the assistance to visible signs of progress towards democracy and good governance, especially after last month’s referendum to amend the constitution. Most observers believe that the referendum was falsified on a level unprecedented even for a former Soviet republic.

“MCC is concerned about the government’s lack of transparency and commitment to open and fair elections in the recent referendum,” its chief executive, John Danilovich, was quoted as saying.

Danilovich conveyed those concerns to President Robert Kocharian on Friday in a letter that was made public by MCC along with its statement. He told Kocharian that the MCC board, which comprises U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, delayed its decision on Armenia’s MCA application last month as a result of “allegations of fraud, electoral mismanagement, mistreatment of individuals from opposition political parties and uneven access to the media.”

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Following on from the Global Voices Summit in London, I’ve been trying to promote the development of blogging in Armenia among young individuals and civil society activists. Hopefully, 2006 will see the emergence of a real Armenian blogosphere by those working in areas of crucial importance to the development of the country, and by those with a stake in its future.

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Monday’s edition of Hetq Online, the internet publication of the Investigative Journalists of Armenia, is now up and features a variety of articles in both English and Armenian at http://www.hetq.am.

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