Now that the 19 February presidential election in Armenia is over, the Armenia Election Monitor 2008 has become The Caucasian Knot and will take over from this blog as my primary one. The blog has already covered the recent war between Georgia and Russia over South Ossetia as well as new moves to find a solution to the 20-year-old conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh. Facebook users may also join a Caucasian Knot — Oneworld Multimedia group to receive updates of breaking news, photographs and new projects when appropriate or relevant.

A Facebook Group for Oneworld Multimedia, the working name for journalist, photojournalist and blogger, Onnik Krikorian. Having covered the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh as well as human rights and the Kurdish issue in Armenia and Turkey since 1994, he has also covered general issues relating to Armenia and Georgia, including the war with Russia over South Ossetia, since 1998. He is also the Caucasus Editor for Global Voices Online as well as the Armenia Country Editor for Oneworld.net.

Anyway, The Caucasian Knot is here. Please update your bookmarks.

Matenadaran, Yerevan, Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2009

If British folk-rock legends Jethro Tull materializing in the country last week — with the Armenian prime minister going hell for leather in his return from Kazakhstan so he could catch his favourite band perform live in Yerevan — was bizarre enough, then nothing could prepare anyone for the latest surreal development in post Soviet Armenia. Faced with a crucial municipal election in the capital this weekend, how on earth do you find a reason to block off access to the main venue for the opposition to hold rallies?

Actually, it’s quite simple, really. In the past the government would suddenly hold children’s concerts in the same venue although after last year’s bitterly contested and controversial presidential election they tried a different approach, deciding to instead build an underground car park in Yerevan’s Liberty Square to keep it off-limits to everyone until Autumn 2010. But now the opposition are holding rallies at the manuscript museum in Yerevan, what do you do then?

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The full post where comments can be left is available on The Frontline Club.

In its annual worldwide survey on the media, Freedom House has once again categorized Armenia as “not free,” a situation which has been the case since 2002 when the pro-opposition A1 Plus TV station was taken off the air. A huge question mark then hung over the future of the company as many of its staff left to work elsewhere.

The Council of Europe and international media watchdogs decried the move seen by many as a precursor to later attempts to silence the press in the run-up to the presidential election held less than a year later. However, demands to let A1 Plus return to the air fell on deaf ears.

In June last year, the European Court of Human Rights even ruled in the station’s favour in an action against the government, but the victory was only symbolic. The station still remains without a broadcasting frequency. Instead, and undaunted by attempts to silence its voice, A1 Plus went online.

Also using blogs and YouTube, especially during last year’s contraversial presidential election, its web site is probably the most visited online news source in Armenia, with around 10,000 visits per day. That might not seem much, but in a country where Internet penetration stood at 5.7 percent in 2007, it’s quite something.

Now, in an effort to expand its reach, the banned station this week turned its attention to an estimated 1.9 million mobile phone subscribers in the country, offering short video headlines for users to download. True, the news is hardly extensive, but it does represent another attempt to take on governmental control of the broadcast media.

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The full post where comments can be left is available on the Frontline Club blog.

Ferik, Armavir Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

As mentioned in a previous post, yesterday saw a return visit to Ferik, a small Yezidi-inhabited village in the Armavir region of Armenia. According to the locals, Ferik was a predominantly Azerbaijani village until they fled persecution in Turkey a year before the 1915 Armenian Genocide. The village was then named after Ferik Polatbekov, the son of a Kurdish chieftain deported to Siberia.

This young revolutionary poet, who became the main leader of the Red Army in Siberia and was finally killed by the Whites, remained totally unknown in Kurdistan. The same applies to a number of Kurdish writers and poets who achieved fame in the Soviet Union.

A People Without a Country, Gérard Chaliand, Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, Marco Pallis

The full post accompanied by photographs is available on The Caucasian Knot.

Armenia-Turkey World Cup Qualifier, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

Perhaps one of the most historical moments of recents years in Armenia has been and gone. Amid high security, Turkey beat Armenia 2-0 in a World Cup qualifying match in Yerevan attended by both the Armenian and Turkish presidents. Thankfully, the game passed without incident, although there was significant jeering from the crowd whenever Turkey had the ball. Regardless of the result, however, some seeds were sown to contribute towards improving ties between the two estranged neighbors. The Associated Press reports on the match.

Tuncay Sanli and Semih Senturk scored second-half goals Saturday to give Turkey a 2-0 win at Armenia in World Cup qualifying.

Tuncay gave the visitors the lead in the 61st minute, scoring from close range. Senturk made it 2-0 in the 79th, capitalizing on a defender’s mistake in the box.

Mehmet Aurelio had an early chance for Turkey but his powerful shot from 14 meters (yards) four minutes into the game was blocked by goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky.

Armenia replied with a chance in the 8th when Volkan Demirel saved Gamlet Mkhitarian’s drive from 25 meters.

Neither side dominated the game before halftime, but Turkey looked more organized.

The visitors came close midway through the first half when Emre Delozoglu shaved the crossbar from the edge of the box in the 27th minute. Three minutes later, Mevlut Erdins broke down the left flank only to hit the outer side of the net.

Euro 2008 semifinalist Turkey dominated after the interval.

Arda Turan headed down a cross from the left to set up a goal for Tuncay. Senturk stole the ball from Alexander Tatevosian in the box to extend the lead and was close to making it 3-0 in the 81st but failed to beat Berezovsky one-on-one.

The match was being played against the backdrop of decades of animosity rooted in the WWI-era atrocities that began in 1915. The two neighbors have no diplomatic ties. Turkey President Abdullah Gul attended the match, becoming the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia since the ex-Soviet nation declared independence in 1991.

The full post accompanied by photos is available on The Caucasian Knot.

ARF-D Karabakh Indepence Anniversary, Matenadaran, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

Yesterday marked the 17th Anniversary of the declaration of independence for the self-declared Republic of Nagorno Karabakh. Situated within Azerbaijan, but inhabited mainly by ethnic Armenians, Nagorno Karabakh is just one of three frozen conflicts in the South Caucasus. Repeated efforts to find a solution to the conflict, which ended with a ceasefire agreement signed in May 1994 have failed. Although there didn’t appear to be any official celebrations to mark the anniversary, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) held an event at the Matenadaran. Despite the importance of Nagorno Karabakh for many Armenians, the number of people attending was quite small at not more than 5,000.

Despite being represented in the coalition government, speakers used the occasion to declare that the nationalist party would stage street protests if the Turkish president, Abdullah Gul, attends this weekend’s football match between Armenia and Turkey in Yerevan. As RFE/RL explains, the statement comes in stark contrast to the message of reconciliation that the president, Serge Sargsyan, has offered to his counterpart in Ankara. Vahan Hovannisian, a key figure in the party, also took the time to comment on the recent war between Armenia and Georgia. The party line is that ethnic Armenians living in Georgia’s Samtskhe-Javakheti region should be granted autonomy.

The full post accompanied by photographs is available on The Caucasian Knot.

IDP, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

With some very real doubts and concerns raised by Moscow’s inability to withdraw its troops from urban centers such as Gori as well as ethnic-Georgian populated towns and villages in West Georgia and South Ossetia, the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Tbilisi is considerable.

And while the number of IDPs varies given the random and uncoordinated nature of their arrival in the Georgian capital, one thing is certain. They number in their tens of thousands and create further problems for a country still having to deal with hundreds of thousands of displaced persons from previous conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. UNHCR has already detailed the extent of the problem and its contribution to a $58.5 million emergency fund.

The latest estimates of displacement related to the conflict total more than 158,700 people – based on figures provided by the Georgian and Russian governments. It is reported that up to 30,000 people are displaced within South Ossetia. In addition, some 98,000 people are displaced in Georgia proper, including most of the population of the town of Gori. Russian officials in North Ossetia indicate some 30,000 people from South Ossetia are still in the Russian Federation.

UNHCR urgently needs additional funds to ensure continued assistance to the newly displaced population in the Caucasus region. Our part of the US$58.5 million Georgia Crisis flash appeal, launched yesterday in New York, amounts to US$16 million for the next six months. This will cover UNHCR’s protection, shelter and assistance programmes for the newly displaced in the Caucasus region.

The full post is available on The Caucasian Knot.

Russian soldier, Igoeti, Republic of Georgia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

It was meant to be the day to check the situation of IDPs in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, but a routine call to a government media coordinator changed all of that. Peter Semenby, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, and Urmas Paet, the Estonian Foreign Minister, were planning to visit Gori, the strategic town occupied by Russian forces 47 miles West of Tbilisi.

With numerous cases of journalists being targeted and even killed in and around Gori, the chance to enter was one that couldn’t be missed. The town had already been hit twice by Russian cluster bombs and most of the population had fled. South Ossetian militia were operating in the area and Georgians as well as international organization staff were most adamant — DO NOT visit Gori.

The International News Safety Institute (INSI) explains why:

Widespread looting is being reported in Gori with reports that some news teams were forced to give up their equipment.

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On Sunday, a BBC team near a Russian checkpoint came under rocket fire from aircraft near Gori. No one was wounded but they had a narrow escape.

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Journalists should still be extremely cautious around Gori and I would caution against going north to any of the villages en route to Tshinvali / Chinvali

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Russian General Viacheslav Borisov refused to assume responsibility for lives of the journalists in Gori.

Georgian journalist of GPB TV Company Tamar Urushadze was shot presumably by sniper in live broadcast near Gori. Journalist was slightly wounded in the hand.

Four Israeli journalists, including Haaretz correspondent Anshel Pfeffer and photographer Nir Kafri, were robbed at gunpoint by Russian soldiers in the Georgian city of Gori.

Russian military attacked operator of Georgian TV Rustavi2 and threatening with gun he prevented journalist to implement his duties near Gori.

Early afternoon. 3 journalists of Canadian CBC TV including head of the Moscow office were robbed of their car, equipment and other belongings by paramilitary presumably of North Caucasian origin near Gori. Accident happened near Russian soldiers who took no efforts to stop the robbery.

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Czech journalists were robbed in the vicinity of the town of Gori last night. Several persons attacked them and took away their car and video and photo cameras. The journalists have said that the assailants were not Russians. They assume that the marauders looked like Chechens. After an hour-long captivity the journalists arrived in Tbilisi on foot although they were unable to reclaim the cameras or other technical means.

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A Georgian journalist covering his country’s conflict with Russia was killed Tuesday when a shell hit their car in Gori city, an AFP photographer at the scene said.

His driver also died in the mid-morning incident, said the photographer, who saw the journalist’s ID card and the stricken vehicle in the main square of Gori alongside a huge statue of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

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A Dutch television journalist was killed overnight when Russian warplanes bombed the central Georgian city of Gori.

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The television news station RTL reported on its Web site that its cameraman Stan Storimans, 39, was killed and correspondent Jeroen Akkermans was wounded in the leg in the attack. RTL said, in all, five people died in the Gori bombing.

The full post is available on The Caucasian Knot.

Mikhail Saakashvili, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

Almost everybody was waiting for Friday’s joint press conference with the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and the Georgian president, Mikhail Saakashvili — literally. With Georgian forces having been defeated by the Russian military in South Ossetia and parts of Georgia proper now under Moscow’s control, over a hundred journalists turned up at the new presidential palace currently under construction in Tbilisi.

Condoleezza Rice had brought with her a six-point ceasefire agreement for Saakashvili to sign, and neither seemed to be too happy with it. Rice was stern-faced and Saakashvili at times exasperated and flustered. Neither, perhaps, was as exhausted as the media pack which had to wait three hours for the scheduled press conference to begin in the scorching sun. Still, the presidential staff did supply free chilled Georgian mineral water after the first hour of waiting.

And I suppose when Russian troops are literally less than forty minutes away from your capital, it’s no wonder that proceedings were so delayed. Unfortunately, however, one film crew from the BBC couldn’t wait any longer and nor could journalists from some other significant international publications. As for myself, I have to admit, I was as interested in witnessing the Georgian president speak in person.

In a joint news conference with Ms Rice following nearly five hours of talks, Mr Saakashvili said he would never accept any part of his country being occupied.

He gave an emotional address, referring to Russia as “cold-blooded killers” and “barbarians”, and he said that Georgia was now “looking evil directly in the eye”.

But Mr Saakashvili also criticised the West for failing to react strongly enough to previous Russian military moves and for not granting his country Nato membership earlier this year.

Ms Rice said that Russia had to accept Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and demanded a withdrawal of all Russia military from Georgia “at once”.

But as the pair spoke, there were reports of Russian anti-personnel carriers moving closer towards the Georgian capital, setting up a new checkpoint about 35km (22 miles) outside Tbilisi.

The full post is available on The Caucasian Knot.

Full coverage of the military confrontation between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway territory of South Ossetia can be found on The Caucasian Knot. In particular, the site links to opinion and commentary from bloggers, journalists and analysts. The Caucasian Knot is at http://blog.oneworld.am,

Now that the main phase of the 19 February presidential election in Armenia is over, the Armenia Election Monitor 2008 has become The Caucasian Knot and will take over from this one as my primary blog. Facebook users may also join a Caucasus Knot — Oneworld Multimedia group to receive updates of breaking news, photographs and new projects when appropriate or relevant.

A Facebook Group for Oneworld Multimedia, the working name for journalist, photojournalist and blogger, Onnik Krikorian, who has covered the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh as well as human rights and the Kurdish issue in Armenia and Turkey since 1994. He has also covered general issues relating to Armenia, Georgia and the South Caucasus since 1998 and is the Caucasus Editor for Global Voices Online as well as the Armenia Country Editor for Oneworld.net.

Anyway, The Caucasus Knot is here.