Traffic Police, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2003

Well, it’s been a busy week in the English-language Armenian Blogosphere, and it’s been kind of encouraging to see that Global Voices have been linking to a lot of bloggers that I was responsible for getting started — Nessuna, Zarchka, Garo (AKA Christian Garbis), and Tamar. On the other hand, there still doesn’t seem to be much of an “community” developing, with very few sites referencing or linking to posts written by others. This is very disappointing, but reflects the situation among Armenians in general.

Regardless, the week has been very productive both in terms of the quality and quantity of posts, so perhaps we should start with a whole host of new entries at perhaps the oldest blog coming from the Republic, Life in Armenia. In particular, Arina refers to what is a very sad fact of life in many former Soviet republics. That is, the continuing practice of using abortion as a kind of birth control. Despite many programmes aimed at introducing other alternatives for family planning, Arina says that the practice continues.

When I first moved to Armenia almost four years ago I was dismayed to learn that the average woman in Armenia has numerous abortions in her lifetime. Many older women have spoken to me openly about the more than 20+ abortions they’ve had - why? because their husbands refuse to use any sort of protection. Sadly, I recently learned that a friend of mine just got her third abortion in two years. She’s in her mid-twenties and refuses to go on birth control because she “prefers” not to ingest any sort of medicine. Odd how abortion is okay yet medicine is not…

And as April’s commemoration of the 1915 Genocide approaches, Raffi says that the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, might be recalled because he openly called the massacres that occured Genocide. So far, as far as I am aware, there has been no official confirmation of this news, but one journalist/analyst I trust here says that it is likely that the rumors are true. We should know for sure soon enough.

It seems like everywhere we turn, Armenians are being trodden on, in this case we are being trodden on by not even being allowed to have a decent, honest American Ambassador, who stood up for what he believes in, stood up for justice. I doubt this will be the last time I will write about this, but folks, if you are half as angry as I am, take 2 minutes to write an email about this to the State Department (Click on “contact us” and then click on “send a message to the Secretary of State.”).

This man stuck his neck out for doing the right thing, and now, as Americans as well as Armenians from around the world, we owe it to him to make sure the US government knows our moral outrage. Their complicity in genocide denial was bad enough, but making the pronouncement of the words “Armenian Genocide” cost a man his job is unbelievable…

Meanwhile, Tamar at Armyouth says that she thinks the Armenian traffic police might be shaping up and doing their job instead of waving down motorists for on the spot “unofficial fines” which can basically be categorized under the heading of corruption. Although salaries have indeed been increased by 40 percent, I still find it hard to believe that they’ve now reached over $300-400 a month. It has to be said that bloggers should really include links to reputable sources to back up what they say.

This morning I observed Armenian police at work at the intersection of Orbeli and Baghramian. They were working! I mean I am not trying to be sarcastic but it was a fantastic scene really. There were officers in the middle of the street, directing traffic. And while the traffic was pretty heavy at 9am on Baghramian, their efforts were actually helping the cars move along quicker. I was delighted to see this and it made me think, well maybe there is some hope after all. If police did their jobs, there actually is law and order. You can’t really be so negative about everything ALL the time, now can you…

I also have to admit that I’ve seen no sign of any improvement with the traffic police other than the fact that they salute motorists before taking money that is believed to be passed up in a long chain that reaches right to the top. One investigative journalist here says that such bribes might be worth as much as $100,000 a month for two senior officials to split between them although, of course, there is no evidence to support such a claim. Nevertheless, if pot-bellies are an indication of a corrupt police force, we still have a long way to go.

Incidently, the photo at the top of this post was taken in the summer of 2003 when I accompanied Medicins Sans Frontieres to the Vardashen Special Educational Complex in Yerevan. Although we were doing nothing wrong, the taxi we were in was pulled over, but when the two police discovered representatives of an international organization and a journalist were inside, they laughed and pretended it was all a mistake.

As I took their photo and walked back to the car, one muttered that if I was resident in Armenia “we’ll eat your life.”

Talking of some unfortunate everyday realities of living in Armenia, Garo (AKA Christian Garbis) at Notes from Hairenik has some interesting posts, including a link to an article on the phenomenon of Rabiz in Armenia. This seems to be an increasingly significant concern of many educated Armenians that still remain in the Republic, it’s an article that I’ve been meaning to write since 2001 although I did at least get a chance to help Garo out on this one.

Thus society is being polarized not only socio-economically, as a new middle class has clearly taken hold, but culturally into two camps—those who reject traditional Armenian culture and those who strive to preserve it at all costs. The rabiz evidently are increasingly influenced by the general look and gruff habits associated with Russian mafia portrayals on television and Hollywood-produced gangster films. They do not adhere to the arts and culture that is uniquely Armenian, namely displayed in music, painting, sculpture, and architecture. The attitude that is fostered, an indifferent, to-hell-with-it chauvinist stance, affects those who coexist in their immediate surroundings, both young and old. It affects the older generations in that they are appalled by the phenomenon they now encounter daily, while the new, budding generations regard the rabiz as their heroes.

As testimony to the adverse effect on Armenian society that rabiz is having, it’s worth recounting an incident I witnessed yesterday while I was sitting outside a Central Yerevan cafe. About 50 or more youth dressed in black assembled in a park to sort out some kind of dispute. I was sitting with Nessuna’s sister at the time and she told me that such a gathering will end in violence. Knives are often used, and one time she even saw a gun being produced. Thankfully, though, three crack Ministry of Interior troops approached the mob and it dispersed.

Likely they’ll settle their scores later at another location.

Garo’s also made a number of other interesting posts this week, and in particular with regards to the import of Turkish goods into Armenia. Despite there being no diplomatic relations between the two neighboring countries, a closed border has not prevented trade from occuring through Georgia or to a lesser extent via operating direct flights between Armenia and Turkey. While Garo does not refer to the idea in some circles that direct trade could benefit both countries, he is perhaps rightly concerned by the poor quality of goods that are imported into Armenia.

As I have stated in this blog before, it is becoming impossible to not purchase Turkish goods in stores–whether they are domestic goods, construction materials, or foodstuffs. In my experience Turkish stuff is crap–I have had several problems with Turkish fuses and electrical sockets burning out in my rented apartment, and my landlord refuses to install anything made elsewhere because Turkish things are inexpensive. In some stores I frequent I have noticed that some Armenian brands are no longer being carried to make room for Turkish imports or even those from Eastern Europe. And I have also made the point that if the border with Turkey ever opens, the Armenian market will be totally saturated with inferior, cheap Turkish goods, thereby driving Armenian companies out of business completely. It will happen without a doubt. No one is foreseeing this and no one cares. In the mean time, Turkish sunflower seeds and chewing gum are proudly advertised on TV, and people buy it without questioning where it’s from or even caring. “Vochinch.”

Zarchka over at Life Around Me continues to post her observations as a 20 year old woman in Armenia, and this week talks about the high cost of funerals in Armenia. She starts her post by recounting the recent suicide of one of her coursemates at the University where she studies in Yerevan.

I did some rude calculations. When a person dies first thing to do, after taking the corpse to the morgue, is ordering a coffin. The average price of coffins begins from 100$ to thousands of dollars, depending on what class person is the deceased and what coffin it deserves. […]

[…]

Unfortunately, the post came at a very bad time for a friend of mine, RFE/RL’s Emil Danielyan, whose father died this week. My thoughts are with you and your family Emil.

In the Diaspora, The Artyom Reader sports a rather stylish new page design and, in addition to writing more on the destruction of Armenian stone crosses in the Azeri exclave of Nakhichevan, posts an update on the controversy surrounding a PBS Special on the Armenian Genocide.

Michael Getler, the PBS ombudsman, has added his voice to the controversy surrounding the airing of The Armenian Genocide, a documentary detailing the massacres of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1915, on public television. The controversy as you may have read in my previous posts like this one, is about the follow-up panel discussion by two noted genocide deniers and why would PBS, whose executives time and again have stated that the Armenian Genocide is a scholarly accepted fact and a historical reality, allow a panel in which some participants will seek to undercut the scholarly consensus on the inidsputability of the facts surrounding the genocide who have been proven be the hired pens of the Turkish governments with a long track record of being so?

[…]

Would PBS allow air time after a broadcast of a program on the Holocaust a denier like David Irving? The answer is a resounding no, as you would imagine.Michael Getler’s position, unfortunately muddies things even further and in trying to present the reasons behind the decisions of PBS adds nothing new or dramatic to the ongoing controversy just makes it more verbose and even more arbitrary. In the meantime declares himself to be an unreserved agnostic as to the Armenian experience to which he never refers as genocide but “genocide” perhaps out of honesty, but perhaps not. All he does is to justify the PBS decision to commission the production of the panel and reject the presence of Turkish pressures while everybody in the world knows that it is untrue, otherwise why in the world do it?

To end, Harmick at Blogrel continues to follow Armenia’s first entry to the Eurovision Song Contest by local singer Andre. Although it’s customary to have a jury select the musicians to represent their country first hearing the song he, she or they will perform, it’s only now that the Armenian public can get to hear it. As reported on this blog last weekend, Harmick also refers to protests by Azerbaijan over Andre’s place of birth being identified as the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh.

So whats the verdict at Blogrel?

Obviously the writer wanted to convey Armenian culture, tradition, and “soul” through a 3.5 minute track- the song crams practically every Armenian element of music in, and is a very melodic and dancable track. As I suspected, we are let down by the lyrics, and Andre’s accent is very strong. “What I say, what I hide” sticks out like a sore thumb and it’s a shame they werent checked.

One non Armenian person I spoke to claimed it perhaps sounded Turkish - an opinion I hope wont be assumed by everyone who hears it.

[…]

-In other news : The Azerbaijani propaganda machine has once again been working overtime , and has written a letter of complaint to Eurovision: citing that André birthplace is “The Nagorno Karabagh Republic” - which according to Azeri’s doesn’t exist. Eurovision’s response was normal : “We are not a political organisation, we deal with music”

- Tv reports have been stating that perhaps this is a jealousy ploy on the part of Azerbaijan, as they did not fulfil entry requirements this year- but who knows. The important thing is that we all support André and make sure we vote in May, and who knows, maybe next year we could see Eurovision come to Yerevan. (we’ll have to fix the airport first!)

I’ve just downloaded the video, and as some comments on Blogrel state, the song really does sound a little too Turkish, which wouldn’t be so bad were it not for the fact that it isn’t as Tarkan as perhaps Andre hoped. And although the chorus isn’t so bad, there is a problem with Andre’s pronunciation of the English lyrics as Harmick and others point out. Perhaps Armenia should have held a real contest as they do in other competing countries so that a jury and TV audience select the song that they want to represent them.

Never mind. Perhaps Armenia will learn by what I personally think is a mistake. Having artists such as Shushan Petrosyan or even Sirusho who can sing fluently in English submit entries in a national competition to select who will represent the Republic would have been a better idea and one that actually fits in with the rules and spirit of the competition. Still, at least Armenia is competing. Georgia is reported to have pulled out because of lack of funds.

Georgia will not participate in musical contest “Eurovision-2006″. This was declared by general director of “Eurovision-Georgia” company Vano Tarhishvilli.” Georgia can not take part in contest because organizers couldn-t gather a sum of 500 thousand euro necessary for preparation of Georgia participation in “Eurovision” contest”, - announced Tarhinshvilli.

“A sum of 500 thousand euro for preparation expenses was determined by the necessity to order a song appropriate for “Eurovision” standards”, to make a video and to record mini-album, to demonstrate hit during concert tours and then perform it on a contest with dignity”, - pointed out Tranhishvilli.

He noticed that to collect 500 thousand euro company representatives looked for a sponsor and negotiated with some companies but they didn-t get positive answer. Moreover to participate in international contest “Eurovision” Georgia must pay 50 thousand as membership fees. Government is ready to give this sum from budget. Vano Tarhnishvilli confirmed that government budget gives money only on membership fees of international contest.

I wonder how much Andre’s entry cost Armenia? If it’s anywhere close to the cost of Georgia’s aborted entry, someone should really question the way Armenia chose Andre and this song in particular to represent it abroad. There is far better material and far better singers that could wave the flag than this. Then again, the Eurovision Song Contest has rarely been considered as the pinnacle of quality musical entertainment, and something I’ve always tried to avoid watching.

This much for now, and just to point out that because Nessuna is out of Yerevan this weekend, her Notes from the Armenian Language Blogosphere will be a little late this week. Cheers.