Entries for January 2005

No space for Genocide | January 30, 2005
As has been reported widely (Armenialiberty.org, Azg Daily, Pan Armenian Network), the German state of Brandenburg has decided to remove a short reference to the Armenian Genocide from its school history textbooks. This blog (there's only one post so far)...

A change for Blogrel | January 30, 2005
I would like to welcome two new people who will be posting to Blogrel. They will posting under the names Katy and Hovakim. It has been a challenge lately to keep up with posting on Blogrel with my busy schedule,...

Open Minds for Open Source | January 29, 2005


More information on Open Source in Armenia

Nascent Anti-Semitism | January 28, 2005
Just as the horrors of Auschwitz are being remembered, here is a story about 'anti-Jewish' propaganda in Armenia. Of course Armen Avetisian, leader of the Armenian Aryan Union is openly anti-semitic, and just having a political party which such a...

Genocide Payments | January 28, 2005
New York Life has made the first payments to 9 Armenian charities, after the settlement of a lawsuit last year. New York Life has a press release on its site from last year: The following Armenian organizations will share equally...

Before Tsunami, World Aid Helped Armenia | January 20, 2005
In a story by AP on Yahoo!, Steve Gutterman looks back at the 1988 earthquake. Less than two weeks after the quake, Soviet authorities said they had received $100 million in aid from 77 countries. An Armenian official in the...

Sons and Daughters of the Armenian nation | January 18, 2005
I've heard many stories of what happened to Armenians forcibly "turned into Kurds and Turks". Azg Daily talks about this taboo subject today....

Street trading banned | January 17, 2005
Armenia Liberty reports that authorities Authorities in Yerevan began on Friday enforcing a fresh ban on street trade in agricultural produce and other foodstuffs which is seen as failing to meeting basic sanitary standards. "It is impossible to immediately uproot...

Human Rights Report | January 17, 2005
ArmeniaNow.com picks up on the Human Rights Watch report on the situation in Armenia. The respected global watchdog, Human Rights Watch, reiterated its strong criticism of President Robert Kocharyan's spring crackdown on his political opponents in an annual report on...

Bash dies | January 16, 2005
Onnik sent me this note about Bash, who was posted about last week....

Genocide Sacrilege | January 12, 2005
Amongst a few interesting stories on Azg is this piece about Turkish singer Seden Gurel and her rendition of the Armenian song "Adana Lamentation". Sibel Alas is the author of the words, and Istanbul Armenian Shirak Shahrikian's duduk accompanies the...

More of the same in Karabakh? | January 11, 2005
Eurasianet has an Insight on the Karabakh conflict. As they look back at 2004, both Armenia and Azerbaijan are claiming that fresh hope now exists for a permanent peace agreement on the status of the breakaway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Yet...

Cafe Culture | January 11, 2005
In this article, Hold the Froth: Armenian-American Youth Revel in Cafe Culture, Ishkhan Jinbashian writes about Little Yerevan in Glendale. What perhaps most palpably distinguishes Glendale's sprawling Little Yerevan from any number of cities with a large Armenian presence is...

Urgent Appeal for help | January 10, 2005
Onnik has given me this urgent request for help on behalf of a group of homeless people on the streets of Yerevan. I'll post it in full....

Contrary Interests | January 06, 2005
This article of January 3rd from the Turkish Weekly talks about the "contrary interests" of " Armenia Armenians and Diaspora Armenians". Dr. Nilgun Gulcan, political scientist and an expert on Caucasus politics, told the JTW that Armenians in Armenia and...

In Limbo | January 05, 2005
Transitions online reports on the plight of the "240,000" refugees in Armenia. 21% of these people have been naturalised as Armenian citizens, which at first looks like a success. "That, says the UNHCR, is one of the highest rates of...

Happy New Year! | January 04, 2005
I am back from the holidays and will resume posting shortly. If anyone has good photos of the holidays in Armenia please let me know! Happy New Year!...