Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

With the area around Yerevan’s Opera in almost total lock down, prime minister Serge Sargsyan was inaugurated as president in a ceremony and military parade that citizens could few could get even remotely close to. As it happened, myself and another photographer managed to eventually break the police blockade and get right outside the Opera building, but a lot of good that did us. Sargsyan was already inside and all we managed to get was the back of the head of the outgoing president, Robert Kocharian, as he arrived to enter via a side door.

Despite press passes and being in a public area, we were eventually told in no uncertain terms to clear off by plain-clothes security personnel, probably National Security Service (NSS), when we moved to just opposite Northern Avenue to attempt to photograph the podium erected in Liberty Square from a distance. This wasn’t a surprise as the whole ceremony was conducted hundreds of meters away from any representative of the general public — i.e. the electorate — and the only media present was apparently that authorized by the government.

As it happened, and this was later confirmed by one journalist, Armenia Now reports that even those allowed to attend were not permitted into the main concert hall where the inauguration took place.

A small group of photojournalists were allowed credentials to the inauguration. Upon arriving at the Opera House, however, the press pack was sequestered in a room where they – like everyone else in Armenia – could only watch on TV.

The full post accompanied by photographs is on the Armenia Election Monitor 2008.

Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

Despite amendments to the law on public marches, rallies and demonstrations following the recently lifted state of emergency in Armenia, the opposition continues to hold meetings on the streets of the capital, Yerevan. In order to circumvent the restrictions, the gatherings attended by less than 100 people are held under the guise of playing chess, reading books or even eating fast food in public.

Human Rights Watch has already lambasted the governmental measure and Unzipped welcomes the action by opposition supporters. Most of the demonstrators support the former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, who claims victory in the disputed 19 February presidential election in Armenia.

Announcement on “daily walks”, or “political walks”, or “popular walks”, as some may call it, came out on Sunday, 23 March 2008. Since then “daily walks” around Liberty sq - which is ‘sieged’ by police - are being organized as an act of defiance against the limitations of civil liberties imposed by Armenian government.

[…]

Excellent idea. Loving it.

Khirimian’s Thought, however, says it can understand why such a measure was introduced and argues that it is necessary in the context of violent clashes between the security forces and opposition on 1 March and what the government sees as continuing attempts to stage a “colored revolution” in Armenia.

By no means am I justifying the government’s strategy toward establishing political stability through public and civil restrictions, however, I can see the necessity to do so in order to avoid further bloodshed and unrest. […] It is blatantly obvious that if demonstrations are allowed to continue, whether they have legitimate basis or not, LTP will take advantage of the emotions and pure intentions of the Armenian people and will continue advocating for the systematic elimination of the current government, also creating the opportunity for further violence to emerge.

The full post is available on Global Voices Online.

Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

An early afternoon tip-off alerted me to the probable repeat of yesterday’s action to mark the lifting of the state of emergency. However, few people had gathered by Liberty Square — again occupied by riot police who refused entry — and I was later told that the protest would happen an hour and a half later at 6.30pm. As it was, even that didn’t happen although a number of those directly involved in Ter-Petrossian’s campaign did join less than a hundred protesters. Among them were the wives of Alexander Arzumanian and Nikol Pashinian as well as David Shahnazaryan.

Another tip conveyed to me through a Western journalist contact also informed me that if there was a repeat of yesterday’s action, riot police would use force to disperse it. As it was, the police gathered around the Opera to prevent protesters entering were rather offensive and apparently ignorant of the law. I was constantly informed that despite wearing journalist accreditation I could not take photographs. As usual, and despite effectively asking for trouble, I told them that they did not know the law. Actually, I raised my voice in protest and continued shooting along with a photographer from Photolure.

One day I’m sure this is going to get me into a lot of trouble as the commanders of the police in such instances now know me by sight very well. Even speaking English doesn’t help as at last year’s commemoration of the taking off of A1 Plus from the air, the commander of the police present came up and told me he knew I understood some Armenian after overhearing me speaking to A1 Plus’ Victoria Abrahamian. The same guy was overseeing today’s action and again told me not to take any photos.

I “had taken enough,” he said. Still, nobody bothered to instruct me after I basically refused. Even so, when the shit hits the fan I have to wonder whether some kind of “revenge” will be taken.

The full post accompanied by photographs is on the Armenia Election Monitor 2008.

Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

Yesterday saw a silent protest staged in Yerevan to mark the end of the state of emergency declared on 1 March when seven civilians and one policeman died during clashes between supporters of former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, and security forces. Announced on the Internet, people were called on to gather at various points from Liberty Square to near the French Embassy and stand silently.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get down to Liberty Square until 6.30 — an hour and a half after the demonstration started — so saw nothing apart from riot police preventing people from entering Liberty Square and guard key points en route. A few people could be seen walking to and fro with lighted candles and pictures of prominent opposition members currently under arrest. It’s therefore hard for me to say how many people took part.

The BBC, however, put the number at “more than 1,000″ while Lragir reported “several hundred” and RFE/RL said “about 2,000.” E-Channel also said a “few thousand.”

The full post accompanied by photographs is on the Armenia Election Monitor 2008.

Sirusho, Serge Sargsyan Pre-Election Campaign Rally, Komitas, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

It might be considered a little cheesy by most music lovers in Europe and beyond, but countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia take participation in the annual Eurovision song contest very seriously indeed. Not only does the competition represent the South Caucasus moving closer to Europe, but given that this year has proven to be a political turbulent one for all three countries it might also provide people here with a welcome break from rigged votes and post-election unrest.

Well, maybe that’s hoping a little too much. Spectacular Self-Indulgence, for example, already reports that the venue for yesterday’s national final in Armenia had to be changed because of the state of emergency currently in place following clashes between the opposition and security services last weekend.

[…] The government has imposed a 20 day “State of Emergency” after eight people died in street battles between riot police and citizens who were protesting the result of a presidential election. […]

[…]

There will be a backlash, however. Mark my words. It’s one thing to engage in unlawful surveillance of your political enemies. It’s quite a different matter to f*** with a pop music contest.

The full post is available on Global Voices Online.

After a 20-day state of emergency was declared in Armenia when clashes between security services and supporters of the former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, broke out on the streets of the capital following the disputed 19 February presidential election, access to the media has been severely restricted. According to presidential decree, local media outlets can now only publish official news and political propaganda is banned.

[…]

Nevertheless, pro-Ter-Petrossian activists outside of the country have seized upon the opportunity to instead use blogs to disseminate information during what is to all intents and purposes a media blackout in the country. Interestingly, one such blogger, Artmika at Unzipped, likens it to the old Soviet practice of “samizdat.”

Samizdat (Russian: самиздат) was the clandestine copying and distribution of government-suppressed literature or other media in Soviet-bloc countries. Copies were made a few at a time, and those who received a copy would be expected to make more copies. This was often done by handwriting or typing.

This grassroots practice to evade officially imposed censorship was fraught with danger as harsh punishments were meted out to people caught possessing or copying censored materials.

Vladimir Bukovsky defined it as follows: “I myself create it, edit it, censor it, publish it, distribute it, and [may] get imprisoned for it.”

The full post is available on Global Voices Online.

Some of us knew that this was bound to happen since last October when the former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, made his political comeback in time for the 19 February 2008 presidential election in Armenia. That is, that there would be post-election clashes and blood would be shed. As it happened, in the following months the language of hate and confrontation was used almost constantly by nearly all candidates contesting the vote, and in the past week it became obvious that it was only a matter of time before our worst fears would be realized.

On Saturday 1 March, that inevitable eventuality came true. At least eight people died in clashes between police, soldiers and opposition supporters. Shops were looted, cars set on fire, molotov cocktails were thrown, and in addition to the fatalities known so far, 16 servicemen and 18 protesters were wounded in shooting between the two sides. Each side blames the other and protests their innocence while the majority of residents in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, resigned themselves to the worst case of election-related violence in the country’s short history as an independent state.

The clashes were sparked by the dispersal of the ten-day unsanctioned occupation of Yerevan’s central Liberty Square by supporters of the former president turned radical opposition leader protesting the outcome of the presidential election which international observers declared “mainly democratic,” but which others considered should have gone to a second round. Marilisa Lorusso’s blog sets the background for the dream of a pro-democracy movement that soon turned into a nightmare.

In Armenia the day of reckoning came. Anticipated by some politically- flavoured arrests of Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s supporters, the rally in Opera Square of the opposition has been dispersed with force. […] The totally peaceful rally, at the moment of the police intervention – early in the morning –, was not even threatening the traffic, let alone the State security. […].

For sure, from then on, the situation only deteriorated, with increased polarization and radicalization.

New statements, from opposition forces, previously ready to move against the government on legal bases, like the Heritage party, marked a fiery condemnation: […] Unfortunately these words, uttered the 1st, precisely foresaw new violence in the streets, that went far beyond the worse expectations.

The full post is available on Global Voices Online.

Levon Ter-Petrossian Post-Election Rally, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

The area around the French Embassy and Yerevan Municipality are now pretty much barricaded off by buses, trolley-buses and the wrecks of burned or smashed up police vehicles. About 10,000 Ter-Petrossian supporters, many armed with metal rods, have dug in and show no sign of leaving.

Yerevan’s Liberty Square is cordoned off by police and riot squads while others guard outside of the main government building on Republic Square. What looked like Kalashnikovs were being handed out. RFE/RL reports that the increased tension comes after this morning’s dispersal of opposition protesters and later clashes with police.

The post-election unrest in Armenia deepened on Saturday evening as thousands of people rallied and barricaded themselves on a major street intersection in central Yerevan in anticipation of another government attempt to forcibly end the ongoing opposition protests. President Robert Kocharian, meanwhile, threatened to call a state of emergency in the country.

The crowd, furious with the brutal break-up earlier in the day of an overnight protest by fellow supporters of former President Levon Ter-Petrosian, blocked all streets leading to the area with buses and other vehicles seized from riot police that tried unsuccessfully to disperse them several hours earlier. Ter-Petrosian associates urged the protesters not go home until the authorities end the opposition leader’s de facto house arrest.

[…]

Meanwhile, another opposition leader, Nikol Pashinian, urged the protesters massing in the vast area outside the Yerevan municipality and the French Embassy in Armenia to boost their “self-defense” and brace themselves for a possible police attack. He also told them to reinforce the barricades set up there following the police attempt to disperse several hundred opposition supporters who gathered there by noon.

[…]

Many protesters were already armed with metal and wooden sticks and sounded bullish about taking on security forces. Some held truncheons and shields seized from riot police. Angry protesters also set ablaze a police jeep which eyewitnesses said raced through the street intersection and ran over two women. They said a policeman that drove it escaped the scene unharmed.

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

Levon Ter-Petrossian Rally, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2007

That there would be mass demonstrations immediately after the presidential election held last week in Armenia was known long ago. Many observers also figured on yet another attempt by the radical opposition to stage a colored revolution of the type seen in Georgia and Ukraine. However, few expected it to succeed, but a week after the 19 February vote, the situation is now gearing up for what might be serious confrontation between opposition supporters and the authorities.

At the heart of the post-election dispute lies the issue of succession to the incumbent and outgoing president, Robert Kocharian, who is unable to run for a third term in office under the constitution. Indeed, the 19 February presidential election was seen by most critics of the government as merely a formality for Kocharian to pass on power to his trusted lieutenant, prime minister Serge Sargsyan.

However, with many such as The Armenian Observer believing that Sargsyan would be unable to pass the 50 percent + 1 threshold to win outright on election day, a second round was expected by most independent observers. Analysts and journalists alike were all convinced of that eventuality.

I still see Serzh Sargsyan as the front runner - he might have close to 35% of voter sympathy. […] I have a feeling, that excellent PR and aggressive campaigning finally did it - and Levon Ter-Petrossian now has perhaps 20% of vote. […]

The full post is available on Global Voices Online.

Levon Ter-Petrossian Post-Election Demonstration, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

Less than a week since the 19 February presidential election in Armenia and it feels as though the country is entering the final phase of the battle between president-elect, Serge Sargsyan, and the first president, Levon Ter-Petrossian. The supporters of both claim victory for their candidate.

Regardless, while the authorities are beginning to show some of panic with the what appear to be the illegal detention of three of Ter-Petrossian’s team, the rallies in Yerevan’s Liberty Square continue unabated. And if Public TV and Radio fails to report them adequately or even at all, the online media does.

RFE/RL reported on yesterday’s rally.

Ter-Petrosian urged Armenians to attend his rallies in even larger rallies and thereby put the authorities under greater pressure to call a repeat election.

“We must show these authorities that the whole people don’t accept them,” he told an estimated 40,000 people who gathered in the city’s Liberty Square. “We must show the entire world that the Armenian people do not tolerate such an unworthy and blasphemous government.”

“This square must be full day and night until the victorious end of our struggle,” he said.

[…]

In his speech, Ter-Petrosian also accused the United States and Europe of turning a blind eye to what he described as large-scale fraud that marred the Armenian election. “The West doesn’t care about democracy here,” he said. “The West is not sincere in trying to establish democracy in Armenia. They need a weak, dictatorial regime so that they can always have leverage against it.”

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

Levon Ter-Petrossian Post-Election Demonstration, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

Apologies in advance if the title seems a little sexist or flippant, but it’s true. All successful political movements throughout history have involved women, and especially young ones. Indeed, during opposition protest movements staged in 2003, 2005 and 2007, one of the main criticisms and reasons for their failure wasn’t just inadequate and indecisive leadership, but also the lack of young people.

The same is true when it comes to analyzing the makeup of opposition demonstrations based on gender and it’s all part of what WILLisms calls the Babe Theory of Political Movements.

The babe theory of political movements essentially holds that:

Where and when there are hot babes, an exponential number of men will show up. If 100 cute girls with voluptuous bodies are protesting for freedom, you can count on a thousand men being there as well.

If sexy babes are involved in a peaceful political movement, it has a far greater chance of succeeding. If there are no good-looking women involved, the odds of a successful (and peaceful) movement fall dramatically.

Where and when alluring women are excluded from demonstrations, you can expect greater chances of strife, rioting, and failure.

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