Entries for February 2005

The Vochinch Syndrome | February 28, 2005
I'd like readers to see an article I wrote about the youth and also Armenian society at-large that was published on Hetq.am. The following is an excerpt and a link to the page. "An epidemic has erupted throughout Armenia and...

An Interview with Hovhannes Kourghinyan | February 28, 2005
Hovhannes Kourghinyan is better known as the lead singer of Vostan Hayots, one of the most popular Armenian rock bands of recent years. Considered to be representative of what has become known as the "third wave of Armenian rock,"...

Karabakh through the eyes of a Baku reporter | February 25, 2005
The big story in Baku press is a visit to Karabakh by a reporter from Azerbaijan, Eynulla Fatullayev of the Monitor Journal. Fatullayev visited Stepanakert and traveled around Artsakh and adjacent areas for more than a week this February. It...

Trafficking of Women & Children from Armenia -- 2 | February 24, 2005
This week's Hetq Online continues to publish more articles on the trafficking of women and children from Armenia, and in particular, the investigation conducted by Edik Baghdasarian and Ara Manoogian who visited Dubai a number of times over the past...

Erasing history | February 23, 2005
There is a story on the Azg website about the Ud minority in Azerbaijan. "Christian minority in Azerbaijan gets rid of Armenian eyesore" Afraid of being associated with Armenians, they have erased Armenian inscriptions on their church and tombs. "Armenian-sounding...

Invisible People | February 23, 2005
A continuing study of homelessness in Yerevan by Hetq Online Today I made a return visit to a derelict school in the Shengavit district of Yerevan at the request of UNICEF who were assisting Shant TV in the production of...

Free Mojtaba and Arash Day | February 23, 2005
Today has been declared "Free Mojtaba and Arash Day". Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad are two Iranian bloggers. They have both been arrested for what they wrote on their blogs, and Arash Sigarchi is still in Lakan prison in the...

Armenian-Greek Tourism School | February 22, 2005
Azg reports that "Greece is going to support Armenia to open a unique tourism school". This school will be called "Armenian-Greek Tourism School" and amongst other things will teach Greek. Armenia is certainly in need of a tourism school, but...

We are now 5 | February 22, 2005
Our fifth blogger has joined our ranks. His name is Christian Adanalian, and he has been living and working in Armenia off and on from 2002 to the present. In my essays about life in the homeland, I aim to...

News on Armenia - no direct English-language source? | February 22, 2005
I sometimes run a Google-News search on Armenia, and noticed that with exception of Azg, there are no other direct hits on links with news reports from any Armenian media. Moreover, there are plenty of hits on Russian (Tass, Ria-Novosti),...

Hiking and Rock Climbing | February 21, 2005
The Kanach Foundation has released an Armenian version of its guide to hiking and rock climbing in Armenia. There will be a presentation on Thursday 24 February, 17:30-19:30 at Artbridge Bookstore & Cafe from the publisher....

Lawless Oligarchs | February 21, 2005
Yet more coverage of a problem in Armenia that is fast-becoming serious but this time by RFE / RL's Emil Danielyan, perhaps the best journalist / analyst in Armenia today. As in other former Soviet Republics, sooner or later the...

Some positive news... | February 19, 2005
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty's Armenia Service reports that the IMF is satisified with Armenia's fiscal and monetary policy and is negotiating a fresh loan with the Armenian Government. However, the news report also highlights the growing need to...

Armenian Mafia | February 18, 2005
The American ambassador to Armenia met with Glendale cops to discuss Armenian citizens committing crimes in the area. The LA Daily News has covered this story. What I found amazing is that " As many as 500 criminals are believed...

Trafficking of Women & Children from Armenia | February 17, 2005
Finally, the secret is out although I did hint at it coming when one person commented on this blog that Ara Manoogian should be prosecuted for his investigations. Anyway, in that case, Ara wasn't involved at all but he has...

A future Armenian "guitar hero?" | February 16, 2005
Last night I went to see the young Armenian band, Sard, play at a bar in Yerevan. I think they really show a lot of promise although there are obvious obstacles in any potential career. Firstly, their bassist has to...

Ararat | February 16, 2005
This is rather off-topic by recent standards, but I found a rather nice image of Ararat produced by NASA from a mixture of satellite imagery and elevation data. You can download the full resolution image from here. (125kb)...

Armenians in liberated areas around Artsakh | February 15, 2005
Here's an RFE/RL report (somewhat light on history and chronology) on the OSCE monitoring mission to Artsakh security zone, aka liberated areas, aka occupied territories. It confirms what most Armenians know anyway, that in addition to Karabakh proper, the Lachin...

Dual Citizenship | February 15, 2005
Once again, according to today's Press Review from RFE/RL's Armenian Service, the sensitive issue of dual citizenship has been touched upon by the Aravot newspaper. For the Diaspora, it's an issue of significance perhaps but I tend to suspect that...

Ethiopian Armenians | February 15, 2005
Here's an interesting blog entry about the Ethiopian Armenian Community. I'd love to learn more about this community....

Tiarnndaraj | February 14, 2005
Today was Terndez but as it's freezing outside and I'm already catching a cold I missed out on an invite to attend the event this year. So, a few images I took in Oshagan in 1999, I'm afraid. I'll...

The Rule of Law | February 13, 2005
The Yerevan Press Club reports that the investigation into the firebombing of the car owned by Nikol Pashinian, the editor of Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper has been stopped. However, Pashinian still alleges that MP and business tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan was responsible...

Is Revolution again in the air? | February 11, 2005
Aram Karapetian has declared that a nationwide revolution will occur in April 2005. Interestingly, Karapetian is considered to be close to Russian political circles and actually -- as some allege -- individuals within the present administration. His calls come at...

Internet in Schools | February 11, 2005
This week HETQ has an article discussing IT programs in Armenia, specifically those funded by the U.S. Government and other international agencies. The author makes a number of good points. One issue that he brings up is that most of...

Finally, a Homeless Shelter in Yerevan | February 11, 2005
Well, I'm very glad to see this news as reported by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty's excellent Armenian service. It is planned that a shelter for the homeless will be opened in Yerevan in the future. Of course, this...

If They Don't Interfere We'll Live More Peacefully | February 11, 2005
Another item on Armenian-Azeri relations (and in fact, between all three S. Caucasus Republics) but this time in the form of the market up at Bagratashen / Sadakhlo. I've been to Bagratashen to photograph Armenian refugees and I've been through...

Welcome Onnik! | February 10, 2005
Onnik has joined us as a contributor. He has frequently commented on posts at Blogrel from the very start, and I am glad to welcome him onboard. Welcome Onnik!...

Help to break the silence! | February 10, 2005
According to ArmInfo, the trial of Ramil Safarov, the Azerbaijani officer who murdered his Armenian counterpart, Gurgen Margaryan, with an axe while asleep, resumed in Budapest yesterday. Given the nature of the case and ongoing discussion and media coverage afforded...

Kurban Said | February 10, 2005
Fans of Ali and Nino will be glad to hear that the intriguing tale of its author now has an entire book dedicated to it! The Orientalist by Tom Reiss. Newsweek has a review....

A bunch of lies? | February 09, 2005
Azg Armenian Daily has a strong opinion piece, entitled "Mr. Oskanian you should be ashamed for telling the armenian nation a bunch of lies." In a new book titled "Unsilencing the Past," former chair of the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC),...

Frozen conflicts | February 09, 2005
The blog Shining Light in Dark Corners posts on an article by Simon Tisdall of the Guardian, called Interests and aspirations clash in region of frozen conflicts. The article points to the Black Sea region as a potential new international...

Sideways | February 07, 2005
The hip new movie this year happens to feature Armenian-Americans and an "authenic" Armenian wedding. Sideways is a good arthouse movie with good dialogue and plenty of funny moments. As Asbarez points out, the Armenian wedding interior shots are in...

McYuck | February 05, 2005
It is coming... McDonald's is coming to Yerevan. No more Smak or McDuck. It appears that the real deal is coming. See: Armenia Now Hopefully this will bring an end to the NK Conflict. (Not familiar with the McDonald's-Peace...

Hayfilm | February 04, 2005
I was tempted to call this post Haywood after Hollywood and Bollywood, but that's a real name. Today there is an article in Azg Armenian Daily about Hayfilm, the studio set up in 1923. Like many Soviet-era institutions, today it...

Carbon Monoxide Accident Claims Georgian PM | February 03, 2005
In a bizarre twist of fate, Georgia's Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania apparently succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning in a friend's apartment in Tbilisi. CO, a poisonous gas which is a byproduct of combustion of carbon-based fuel, is responsible for deaths...

Elephants Never Forget | February 03, 2005
The saga of the Yerevan Zoo's new elephant continues. The Born Free Foundation is formally protesting the diplomatic gift of an elephant from India's Prime Minister to the Yerevan Zoo. The elephant is intended as a mate for the...

Recognition by the back door | February 02, 2005
Thanks to Hrach of Azad-Hye.com for this one. A UK government website has talked about the Armenian Genocide, in contrast to official UK policy. A commemoration of the Jewish and Armenian Holocausts...

OSCE Fact-Finding Mission in NK-controlled areas of Azerbaijan | February 02, 2005
A reporter from the Armenian daily Azg has been following the OSCE Minsk Group fact-finding mission as it travels from Karabakh to Kelbajar, Lachin, Kubatly, Zangelan, Jebrail, Fizuli, and Aghdam districts that comprise the security zone under the control of...

Hummers | February 01, 2005
I see Ara Manoogian has blogged this; it's an interesting view into the new rich in Armenia. This article appears on the Armenialiberty website, and was written by Ruzanna Khachatrian and Emil Danielyan. Many wealthy and government-connected Armenians consider it...

Japanese-Armenians | February 01, 2005
Yes, there are a few Japanese-Armenians. I was looking again at the web page of the Japan-Armenia Friendship Association and thought I would share this. I realise that pretty much all of you do not read Japanese, but it is...