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.

Azerbaijani Prisoner of War, Stepanakert, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 1994

True, we’ve been here before with the media reporting that a solution to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh might finally be in sight, but the possibility for peace is once again resurfacing. However, such hopes have always been dashed at the last moment, but what makes the situation different this time round is the active involvement of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in convening a meeting between his Armenia and Azerbaijani counterparts tomorrow in Moscow. RFE/RL has more.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts in Moscow on November 2 for potentially decisive talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, it was officially announced on Wednesday.

[…]

Medvedev announced his initiative following upbeat statements on Karabakh peace prospects made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. In an October 7 interview with the “Rossiiskaya Gazeta” daily, Lavrov described as “very real” chances for the resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. “There remain two or three unresolved issues which need to be agreed upon at the next meetings of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan,” he said.

The full post where comments can be left 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.

Armenian-Turkish border, Khor Virap, Ararat Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2003

As one of the oldest nations in the world, Armenia occupies a fraction of its ancestral lands. Invaded and subjugated to foreign rule throughout the centuries, many of Armenia’s present day policies have been shaped by unresolved conflict and disputes with its neighbors. As a landlocked country with few natural resources, its full potential for economic development has been frustrated by effective isolation from the surrounding region. More than a million Armenians have emigrated to seek better lives abroad.

Millennium Development Goals

In August 2003, the Armenian government finalized its long-awaited Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) which aims to reduce poverty to 19% by 2015. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), most of the PRSP’s objectives are in line with achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which include combating poverty, improving the environment and addressing other pressing social issues.

However, the 2005 MDG progress report produced jointly by the government and UN agencies still considers it unrealistic for Armenia to halve the number of people living in poverty by 2015 compared to 1990 levels. Because of insufficient funding levels and inadequate access to healthcare for the poor, reducing infant and maternal mortality by 2015 might also prove unreachable.

Given the rate of deforestation in Armenia, environmental sustainability is unlikely to be achieved by 2015. New indicators concerning the country’s Lake Sevan have been added to dress concerns with lowering water levels. Access to drinking water is also a concern with 81 percent of rural areas having a centralized water supply according to 2003 data. The figure was 98 percent for urban areas.

However, having already achieved universal primary education, MDG goals in this area have been modified to include secondary education. Secondary professional, professional graduate and postgraduate education has also been mentioned of special significance as is improving its general quality.

The full post is available on The Caucasus Knot.

Although I had mentioned this in the comments section of an entry on the Armenia Election Monitor at the beginning of December, a meeting with EurasiaNet’s Central Asia and Caucasus Editor last night reminded me of it once again. She asked me for my opinion on the election so far and I said pretty much I’ve been writing, but added that for now, I don’t see that Levon Ter Petrosian — or any of the other candidates for that matter — stand a chance of winning against Serzh Sarkisian.

Factor in Ter Petrosian’s low popularity rating in Armenia — seemingly below 10 percent whatever sympathetic journalists might have you believe — and the fact that street protests have always been the tactic of choice for the radical opposition, and there’s not really much chance for any “colored revolution” to occur let alone succeed. There’s also one other factor that makes the question of street protests all the more difficult after the presidential election on 19 February 2008.

That is, as Karabakh Open reported, it will be the 20th Anniversary of the Karabakh Movement the following day and there are plans to stage a number of events to celebrate the fact. It is unclear from the article whether the celebrations will be held in Armenia, Karabakh or both.

However, as the 20th Anniversary of the Sumgait pogroms occurs nine days later, it looks as though events will stretch through the entire week following the election. One has to wonder how possible it is for the opposition — radical or not — to stage effective protests when other Armenians will be celebrating and mourning two of the most significant dates for an independent post-Soviet Armenia immediately after the presidential vote.

20TH ANNIVERSARY OF MOVEMENT WILL BE MARKED THE DAY AFTER THE ARMENIAN ELECTION

KarabakhOpen
03-12-2007 10:33:23

The government set up a state committee to prepare the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Karabakh movement. The starting day is February 20 when in 1988 the Soviet of People’s Deputies of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region and Shahumyan extended a request to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for the unification with Armenia.

By the way, the Armenian presidential election will be held on February 19, and the outcome may influence the celebration. Especially that most controversies among the candidates of the Karabakh issue. What will the stance of the new Armenian government on the settlement of the Karabakh issue be?

Will the stance of the Armenian government on the Karabakh issue change 20 years after the movement? What new can the Armenian government offer Karabakh in the current situation? The options are quite few.

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While there are many reasons to criticize the situation the country found itself in under the former president, Levon Ter Petrosian, there is perhaps one area of policy which might endear himself to the international community and which could result in dramatic changes inside Armenia and the South Caucasus. That is, when it comes to foreign policy, Ter Petrosian is said to favor a concessionary peace deal with Azerbaijan to resolve the long-standing conflict over Nagorno Karabakh and normalized relations with Turkey.

When Ter Petrosian held his first pre-election public meeting in Yerevan’s Liberty Square in October, such a possibility was not lost on the international news wires. The Associated Press was particularly upbeat on the prospect for regional stability and integration.

If successful, his return to office could signal a major shift in Armenia’s fraught relations with neighbours Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Ter-Petrosian, 62, is an advocate of compromise with the two countries, which have closed their borders and imposed economic embargoes over Armenia’s support for the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorny Karabakh.

[…]

Armenia needed to end its regional isolation by normalising relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey, he said.

“Until we have resolved the questions of the blockade of Armenia, relations with our neighbours and Karabakh, Armenia cannot develop and strengthen,” he said.

“As a result of the criminal policies of the current government, Azerbaijan has only toughened its position and will not seek compromise,” he added.

The full post is available on the Armenia Election Monitor 2008.

In countries such as Armenia where the mainstream broadcast media is firmly under the control of government-connected businessmen and/or officials, while the traditional print and online media largely reflects the opposition in the country, there is no doubt that blogs have an important role to play in the dissemination of information, news and views.

[…]

But rather than change as the result of alternative, opposition voices seeking to involve themselves in the internal political life of the country, the situation might now be changing because of four bloggers who protested on and offline against an event staged early this week at a Yerevan school to promote peace and reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

[…]

The four Live Journal bloggers — Uzogh, Pigh, Aerial_vortex and Akunamatata_ser — were however angered by the attempt to hold such an event at a school run by Armenia’s former Minister of Education, Ashot Bleyan, who is notorious for what many consider to be “anti-Armenian” positions on Nagorno Karabakh and Genocide recognition. Speaking to Global Voices for this post, Uzogh explains why the four bloggers staged the action.

On December 14, the day when the press release announcing the event at Bleyan’s school was sent to public, I wrote a post [RUS] expressing my anger towards the organizers and sponsors of this event. The post resulted in many comments and a rather long discussion with Mark Grigoryan (Armenian journalist now residing in UK).

Some of the participants of this discussion suggested doing something to make this event a failure, but I preferred to take some time out for reflection before resorting to action. A day later, I concluded that an aggressive action would not result in the failure of the event, but would rather turn the organizers into some kind of victims which would lead to increased publicity and additional fund raising opportunities.

That’s why I instead preferred to pursue a tactic of mockery and shared this idea with a few bloggers that had already expressed their intention to join any protest action. We had a brainstorming at my house on Sunday and figured out what could be done.

I didn’t want to make this a public protest action, and none of us are members of any political party or non-formal group etc, so we did not aim to attract a lot of supporters. This was the protest by a few men and citizens, and not a civic action. At its core was the concept that we didn’t like the strategy of unilateral reconciliation through the brain-washing of children.

The full post is available on Global Voices Online.

Myrthe from The Armenian Odar has a new blog, The Armenian Odar Reads, and as I just picked up accesses coming from her latest post I decided to take a look. Anyway, a little surprising given that the new site is a book review one, but after reading about Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes I discovered why. About a week ago I gave her a copy of Armenia: Poverty, Transition & Democracy by yours truly, and she has indeed taken a look. Not really a review, but it’s always nice to read such nice words even if they are from a friend.

After finishing Sherlock Holmes, I got up, did some chores in the house and then sat down again to read. This time I read Armenia: Poverty, Transition & Democracy by Onnik Krikorian. He is a friend of mine who works as a freelance photographer and journalist here in Armenia. His blog is in my opinion the best English language blog on Armenia and one of the best sources of news on Armenia (and no, I am not saying that because I happen to know the guy). He runs another blog here covering the run-up to the presidential elections in Armenia on February 19 next year. Onnik’s book consists of several articles on Armenia accompanied by his pictures. His website and blogs are well worth a look and a read.

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After this week saw the first action of note by a group of bloggers in Armenia, others outside of the country have started to weigh in. In particular, Simon at Blogian is particularly upset about the staging of a Days of Azerbaijan held at the school of controversial former minister of education, Ashot Bleyan. What is most interesting about Simon’s post is that he is not a nationalist opposed to any peace deal and that he mentions the fact that the event came during the second anniversary of Armenian khachkars (stone crosses) in Nakhichevan.

The selective Radio Free Europe report on a British Embassy-sponsored event called “Days of Azerbaijan” in Armenia has been brought upon fierce criticism from bloggers after the U.S. State Department-sponsored news agency failed to mention that a group of bloggers in Armenia had protested the event by handing a soap to the Armenian organizers of “Days of Azerbaijan” as reported by sources such as PanArmenian.net and ArmeniaNow.

Being one of the few bloggers that has spoken for Armenian and Azeri rehumanization, I still have to protest “Days of Azerbaijan” for my VERY PERSONAL reasons.

VERY PERSONAL, because I treat every medieval Armenian cross-stone that Azerbaijan reduced to dust two years ago as my own dead relative and I don’t want a group of idiots organizing ”Days of Azerbaijan” in Armenia during the second anniversary of Djulfa cemetery’s destruction.

[…]

If “Days of Azerbaijan” included commemoration and condemnation of Djulfa’s destruction I’d be for the event. But since one of the organizers, Ashot Bleyan, has suggested in the past that Armenian students shouldn’t learn about the Armenian Genocide, one can’t expect much from morons like him.

The full post is here.

PanArmenian.Net reports that Armenian bloggers have protested the opening of the Days of Azerbaijan posted earlier. Well, it’s fair to say that they don’t represent Armenian bloggers as a group, but it is interesting to see the use of the word blog in a headline or story. Usually local publications here take news from time to time off blogs, but fail to quote the source while the rest of the world’s media see no problem in doing so at all.

Anyway, the group of bloggers do not speak for all of us, and it’s interesting to note that such an event could not have taken place without the permission of the Ministry of Education and Science (I assume). Certainly, those coming from Azerbaijan would have had to receive visas, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have welcomed the initiative as well, so perhaps this group of bloggers should have instead sent bars of soap there too, but anyway.

What is interesting, however, is that this protest appears to have been staged before RFE/RL published its story so why wasn’t it mentioned? On the other hand, this PanArmenian.Net article is hardly objective either, but at least doesn’t leave out a significant incident which RFE/RL appears to have done.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A group of Armenian bloggers handed a symbolic present – a peace of soap - to Georgy Vanyan, the initiator of “Days of Azerbaijan” in Yerevan. The present was handed with a wish “for better work.”

The measure had for an object to teach the organizers of the so-called Days of Azerbaijan a good lesson.

December 17, a rather strange event titled “Days of Azerbaijan” took place in Yerevan. The event was organized by well known director of Mkhitar Sabastatsi educational complex Ashot Bleyan and his assistant Georgy Vanyan, who represents a Caucasus center of peace sponsored by the UK Embassy. Not to mention absurdity of the event jointly with a state which tries to justify Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh’s blockade in the eyes of the world community, it’s noteworthy that such an initiative could hardly occur in Azerbaijan.

The RA Armenian Ministry of Science and Education did not react.

Armenian schoolchildren were offered to write a composition with a title “Open letter to my peer”, “How I see Azerbaijan”, “Armenia-Azerbaijan: the future.”

Comments are unnecessary, but taking into account the writings of the schoolchildren who are being filled with the ideas that “Baku and Ankara are Armenia’s best friends and the evil comes from Diaspora and Dashnaks, who keep on speaking of a genocide.” No one wants war, especially Armenians. But there is a difference between desire for peace and treason. Unfortunately, Bleyan and Vanyan are not the people to understand this.

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RFE/RL reports that despite the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, a Yerevan school is holding an event “Days of Azerbaijan.” Well, that’s perhaps not strictly fair. It’s precisely because of the war which ended in a ceasefire signed in May 1994, but which has not yet seen a lasting settlement agreed upon, that the event is being held.

The Days of Azerbaijan at the Mkhitar Sebastatsi Educational Complex will also feature presentations by the visiting Azerbaijanis and their Armenian partners as well as an arts exhibition and the screening of a documentary film on the conflict between the two South Caucasus nations. The events are sponsored by the British Embassy in Armenia and the Armenian Center for Peace Initiatives, a non-governmental organization.

The Azerbaijani delegation that arrived in Yerevan on the occasion includes three human rights campaigners, a journalist, a writer and an NGO activist.

“This is just an attempt to give our students and teachers a better idea of our neighbors and to discuss our outstanding problems in the process,” Ashot Bleyan, the Mkhitar Sebastatsi director, told RFE/RL. He expressed hope that such initiatives will make Armenian society “more tolerant.”

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