USDA Blog from Armenia

If you ever wondered how Ricotta Cheese was introduced to the local Armenian market then look no further than what appears to be a new blog set up by an employee of USDA in Armenia. It's interesting for anyone who wants to know more about international assistance to develop sustainability among rural agricultural communities in Armenia. The blog, Hye Life, can be found online here.

Tag: armenia | agriculture

Karabakh General Admits Beating ARF-D Candidate

Lieutenant-General Seyran Ohanian, the commander of the Nagorno-Karabakh military, has admitted to beating Pavel Manukian, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation - Dashnaktsutiun (ARF-D), on 21 June 2005. Ohanian says he did so because Manukian, himself a veteran of the war with Azerbaijan, insulted the Karabagh military.

Manukian, who unsuccessfully ran for parliament on the Dashnaktsutyun list, publicly ridiculed the generals for their stated readiness to obey government orders to withdraw from occupied Azerbaijani territories surrounding Karabakh. He also questioned their moral integrity.

According to Manukian, Ohanian swore at Dashnaktsutyun during the beating and said the NKR leadership would not allow Dashnaktsutyun and other local opposition groups to win the June 19 election. Ohanian appeared to deny this, saying that he has never had problems with Dashnaktsutyun. “Attempts to attribute anti-Dashnak feelings to me or to link the incident to the elections are absolutely groundless,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Defense Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Serzh Sarkisyan, who was himself once the commander of the NKR Defense forces, admits that Ohanian over-reacted and that there should not be internal conflict with the ARF-D, part of the ruling coalition in Armenia but opposition in Karabagh. However, he says that more respect must be shown for the army in the disputed territory which is still the subject of ongoing negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The full report can be read online here. Ara Manoogian, an Armenian-American based in Martuni, blogs about the reaction from people in Karabagh to the incident over at Martuni or Bust.

Tag: armenia | karabakh | azerbaijan | democracy

Another Test For Georgia

Eurasianet reports on fighting that broke out in the Georgian Parliament last week as well as on the streets of Tbilisi. The scenes were ugly but were interesting in that once again, events can be used by detractors of the November 2003 Rose Revolution in Armenia's northern neighbor to criticize pro-democracy movements in the South Caucasus.

Eurasianet says that chain of events was sparked by the 28 June arrest of Aleko Davitashvili, president of the Georgian Wrestling Federation, who along with his brother and a Georgian Judo champion were sentenced to 3 months pre-trial detention. They have been accused of blackmailing a Greek businessman although the three men deny the charges.

Tension escalated soon after the court announced the sentence. Television cameras in the courtroom relayed chaotic images of what appeared to be a brawl between supporters of the accused and court officials. Upon leaving the court, several dozen wrestlers and other supporters went on to hold a rally on nearby Rustaveli Avenue, effectively blocking Tbilisi’s main thoroughfare. When attempts by regular police to disperse the crowd failed, riot police were called to the scene. As on-lookers cried "Shame on you," dozens of demonstrators were arrested amid a string of violent scuffles.

Opposition MPs and activists then arrived at the scene and condemned the police crackdown. Yesterday, a press conference was held in which demands that the Minister of Interior of Georgia, Vano Merabishvili, were voiced. This comes at the same time as opposition criticism of a law that allows the Mayor of Tbilisi to be elected by the city council and pledges to boycott local electtions scheduled for next year. However, some opponents of the government have already warned that the skirmishes should not be exploited for political purposes.

One Olympic gold medalist, who supports the Wrestling Federation detainees, however, has already called on the opposition to avoid adding the Rustaveli Avenue demonstration to its list of complaints against the government. "I know we behaved badly. The president of Georgia is doing more for the development of Georgian sport than anybody before him, and he most of all doesn’t deserve this," the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti reported weightlifter Giorgi Asanidze as saying at a July 1 press conference. "We don’t need the interference of political parties. In sports, we’ll take care of things. Let all the parties leave us alone."

In Armenia, of course, the footage of riot police on the streets of Tbilisi and fisticuffs in the National Assembly were seized upon by state-controlled Public TV and shown in its entirety. Ever since the 2003 Rose revolution in Georgia, supporters of the government and president here have used any stick they can find to beat what many outside observers believe is the emergence of real democratic change. In contrast, Armenia is considered an authoritarian state and Azerbaijan, a dictatorship.

More interesting, however, is the way in which in Georgia, sportsmen who break the law are prosecuted whereas in Armenia, they serve the authorities. On 5 April last year, wrestlers employed by oligarchs close to the government beat journalists and smashed their cameras on the streets of Yerevan in full view of police. They were also instrumental in the severe beating of a political activist, Ashot Manucharian. They are also implicated in various high level shoot-outs on the streets of the Armenian capital and in recent months, the opposition press has declared that the richest man in the country, MP, former arm wrestler and Chairman of the Armenian Olympic Committee, Gagik Tsarukian (AKA Dodi Gago) is as powerful as the President.

And of course, the 12 /13 April brutal suppression of an opposition protest staged on Yerevan's central Baghramian Avenue in the early hours of the morning wasn't televised at all, especially as the Deputy Head of Police, Hovannes Varian, is alleged to have personally beaten journalists himself. There were no calls from the Armenian Parliament for his resignation. Indeed, although the politically motivated crackdown was severely criticized by Human Rights Watch, it was considered that the police were fulfilling their duty not as upholders of the law but as protectors of the government against the people.

Nevertheless, while these two incidents represent the difference between a more democratic Georgia and what activists describe as a police state in Armenia, there is no doubt that serious concerns are emerging with regards to processes underway in Tbilisi. However, would that such concerns emerge in Armenia. While last year's incident in Armenia was an unprovoked attack on peaceful demonstrators, events in Georgia came after protestors resisted arrest. The TV media also covered the incidents -- unlike Armenia where all the TV stations are controlled by those closest to the government.

"The government was absolutely right to use force against those resisting arrest. You cannot create mass protest on the main street because you don’t like the verdict," commented Alexander Rondeli, president of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies. While calling for the government to investigate "individual cases of excessive force," Rondeli criticized opposition members for taking up the protestors’ cause.

Anyway, it's yet another test for post-revolution Georgia and unfortunate as well as concerning to hear from foreigners based in Tbilisi, and those who frequently visit, that international organizations are now unhappy with what is happening there. The full article can be read online here. Civil Georgia also covers the unfolding story on their web site.

Tag: armenia | tbilisi | caucasus | democracy

Pot Head Pixies Over Yerevan

Tired of the Diasporan fixation with Nune Yesayan, especially when the phenomenon was created outside of Armenia, when I started to look into the development of a contemporary and diverse musical scene in 1999, there was some potential. Unfortunately, however, that potential soon got hijacked by businesses close to the government. It's hardly surprising, therefore, that most of the music created in Armenia today serves patriotic purposes only or at the very least, promotes apathy among youth in the country.

...

This has also been one of the reasons why I've been examining the contemporary rock scene in Armenia. Unfortunately, however, it is very small. Although many young Armenians -- especially those who think differently from the run of the mill -- listen to bands like Metallica and Pink Floyd, the local rock scene is very under-developed and can hardly attract a large audience. Which is a pity because there's some good bands out there. From the young but promising Sard through the grand-daddy of rock in Armenia, Hovhannes Kourghinyan, to the truly underground sound of MDP, there's a lot of potential.

Of course, the precedent for successful Armenian rock has been set by the US band of Armenian descent, System of a Down. However, while the band visit Armenia they have yet to play here.

But, starved of a diverse and quality contemporary music scene, and probably as I get older and reminisce about the past, I've been looking back to listen to the bands I did in my late teens and early twenties. It was that which took me out to CD shop after CD shop recently to look for some of the lesser known bands I liked in the West -- bands such as Hawkwind, for example. And surprisingly, I found CDs by them although it has to be said, it was unfortunate that the MP3 CD of Hawkwind albums didn't include Bob Calvert/Hawkind albums such as PXR5 or Astounding Sounds and Amazing Music. What surprised me even more, however, was to find albums by bands like Gong available in Armenia.

Gong was formed by an Australian, Daevid Allen, who had materialized in Paris in 1960. After meeting and working with William S. Burroughs, Allen started to experiment with free form jazz and eventually ended up in England where he formed the band, Soft Machine, with Kevin Ayers in 1966. After overstaying his visa in the UK, Allen ended up in the middle of the 1968 student protests in Paris before forming Gong not long after. Apparently based on hallucinations experienced during an acid trip, Allen invented a world of Pot Head Pixies and Flying Teapots on the imaginary planet, Gong.

...

All very out there, of course, but even now, the music is refreshing and not least because of some very evolved jazz fusion elements and also, what would later become trance. What is also interesting is that the Cantebury sound that Allen was partly responsible for was recently mentioned to me as being instrumental in the development of a new breed of bands that are springing up in Armenia -- bands such as Oaksenham. And if that seems too tenuous a link between Gong and Armenia, Gong's woodwind player, Didier Malherbe (AKA Bloomdido Bad de Grass), is quite an afficianado of the doudouk, the traditional Armenian reed instrument popularized in recent years by Djivan Gasparian in the Oscar-winning movie, Gladiator, and by Vatche Hovsepian with Peter Gabriel.

In fact, Malherbe was involved in the first ever International Duduk Festival staged in Yerevan in 2001 to celebrate the 1700th Anniversary of Christianity in the republic where he performed with Gasparian. He also has a band, Hadouk, a French jazz trio that fuses the three string African bass, the Hajouj, with the Armenian Doudouk. Now, if only they had Green, an album by Gong's guitarist and "progressive house" pioneer, Steve Hillage (and produced by Pink Floyd's Nick Mason), available in Yerevan. On the subject of Armenian rock, however, there are interviews with Sard, Hovhannes Kourghinyan and MDP on my web site.

Tag: armenia | music

Western Pressure Grows For Fair Elections In Azerbaijan

Again returning to the theme of demands on two of the three South Caucasus Republics to enact real democratic change, Eurasianet reports that the Azerbaijani parliament has passed ammendments to the electoral code in the face of increased US and European pressure. The news follows pressure on the Armenian government to include three clauses in the proposed constitution that would theoretically curtail the President's powers.

The Commission has not yet issued comments on the final electoral law, but in a June 16 statement warned that the code would leave no room for free and democratic elections this November if changes were not made beyond the largely technical revisions submitted by Azerbaijan to the Commission on June 14. Aside from the make-up of election commissions, particular attention has also focused on allowing voters’ fingers to be marked to avoid so-called "carousel" or duplicate voting, a practice cited in both the 2000 parliamentary and 2003 presidential elections.

Of course, reform and ammendments are one thing but ensuring that they function are another. Nevertheless, there would appear to be increased pressure on both Armenia and Azerbaijan to introduce more than just cosmetic changes or else face possible sanctions and even international isolation. Even though the US has vested interests in Azerbaijan in the form of the BTC pipeline. Nevertheless, the US Embssy in Baku has been vocal in its demands for restraint from the authorities regarding recent opposition protests.

In the volatile South Caucasus, democracy is seen as key to promoting long term stability.

Exit polls could provide one check for whether or not Azerbaijan has met that standard. Under an agreement with the Azerbaijani government, negotiated by US Ambassador Reno Harnish, the US Agency for International Development will provide financing for exit polls in almost half of Azerbaijan’s constituencies during the November ballot. No information has yet been released on the amount of financing.

[...]

The US role has not been limited to exit polls. Harnish also arranged talks on the elections between pro-government parties (YAP, Ana Veten, Sosial Fifakh) and opposition parties (the Popular Front, Democratic Party, Musavat, Citizens Unity Party) under the auspices of the Baku mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Although the two meetings held since May have failed to result in any serious breakthroughs, the talks have been deemed a success for stimulating discussion about how to hold free and fair elections. All discussion of the make-up of election commissions, a topic advocated by the opposition, has been vetoed by YAP participants in the talks, however.

Interesting days. The end of the year will be important tests for both Armenia and Azerbaijan in terms of democratic development. Armenia will see local elections in October and a referendum on constitutional ammendments by November, the same month that parliamentary elections are scheduled for Azerbaijan. I don't suppose that any of these events will be problem-free but it will be interesting to see if either country now has the political will to implement changes demanded by the West even if it comes as a result of significant international pressure.

Of course, it can all go disasterously wrong and the situation in Georgia is beginning to concern a few people. Saakashvili's wife is reported be in the process of leaving him, international donors are unhappy with the pace of reform and are witholding money and today, Public TV of Armenia showed a major skirmish between deputies in the Georgian National Assembly. Still, at least they fought over something. The Armenian National Assembly, full of oligarchs, businessmen and individuals without the trust of the electorate, has hardly bothered to turn up or fight for anything.

The full article can be read online here.

Tag: armenia | azerbaijan | democracy

Armenia: Constitution Deal in Sight

The Institute of War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) also covers the ongoing saga of Armenia's imminent constitutional reform with a report from Strasbourg and Yerevan by Victoria Abrahamian who's been covering the Council of Europe session for the Aybe Fe news agency. According to Abrahamian, and contrary to how many are trying to spin the about-turn by the authorities on the matter, pressure from the Council of Europe (CE) has forced the Armenian government to accept three key issues considered crucial for the democraticization of the country.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, PACE, of which Armenia is a member, had strongly criticised the country for sticking to an undemocratic constitution. Further criticism had come from the Armenian parliamentary opposition, which has boycotted plenary sessions of parliament for two years.

[...]

The Venice Commission, which gives expert advice on constitutional matters, had expressed concerns about three parts of the constitution. In particular, they proposed abolishing the president’s right to sack the prime minister unilaterally and that the new premier should be appointed with the approval of a majority in parliament. It also wanted to see the end of presidential power over judges, and requested that the mayor of Yerevan – the capital city home to a third of the population - become an elected official.

The latter point is considered particularly sensitive and Kocharian's predecessor, former President Levon Ter Petrosian, was also considered to be against the idea of an elected Mayor regardless of whether that was to be by the people or a local City Council. The main argument is that as most of the population is concentrated in the capital, an elected head of the city would be in a position to challenge presidential power.

On the other hand, with the amount of illegal construction and environmental damage as a result of corruption in Yerevan, it is imperative that the Mayor is accountable to residents of the city and not subservient to the same people responsible for much of the illegalities. Regardless, the three main provisions will also result in many powerful individuals losing the levers they once enjoyed and exploited for personal gain.

“Power is very attractive and it’s hard to give it up,” noted Armen Rustamian, a parliamentary deputy from the pro-government Dashnaktsutiun party. “I don’t want to name names, however after constitutional reforms many will lose their levers of influence. By following the agreements that have been made Armenia really can get itself out of a constitutional crisis.”

Anyway, for whatever reasons, many consider that the constitutional ammendments will go a long way in resolving a lot of the problems currently facing Armenia. However, they are also quick to point out that just because a new constitution is enacted it does not mean that it will necessarily function.

“If all the demands of the Venice Commission are adopted, then Kocharian’s power will definitely be weaker,” said Hovsep Khurshudian, political analyst with the National Centre for Strategic Studies in Yerevan. “But let’s not forget that even the most ideal constitution can be violated.”

A weakening of presidential power on all these fronts will diminish Kocharian’s ability to dominate the country and ensure success for his chosen successor when his second and final presidential team ends in 2008.

The full article can be read online here.

Tag: armenia | democracy

Cafe Season In Yerevan Again

A1 Plus ran an interesting story yesterday that is of particular relevance to those of us who live next door or close to any of Yerevan's many open-air cafes. Constructed in violation of the law by state officials or their relatives, these cafes have already resulted in the shrinkage of green areas in the capital. In the summer, however, the situation gets even more unbearable when music blasts out, sometimes until the early hours of the next morning.

According to the RA Health Ministry, the anti epidemic inspectorate deputy head Marietta Basilisyan, suchlike "objects' must be visited frequently and fined. Today, the Municipality commerce and service department head Karen Gevorgyan said that a week ago they visited 39 open-air cafes in Yerevan. 16 of them have received preliminary warnings for violation of music norms.

But according to Mr. Gevorgyan if they continue to violate the norms, they will be fined for 30,000-50,000 drams. But still, according to him, in order to solve the problem the fines must be raised up to 300, 000 drams.According to Mrs. Basilisyan, the violations of music norms do not harm the health of the people very seriously, but the continuous loud music can cause serious illnesses.

This is the situation with the cafe opposite my apartment in Komitas. A friend living in the same building recently complained but was effectively told to get lost by the owners. The head of one local organization, the branch of a very large International NGO, did some checking and yesterday told me that I really do not want to mess with these guys. They already have criminal backgrounds and are effectively the local mafia.

Nevertheless, the Yerevan Mayor's Office is trying to do something but one guesses that if the owners of a particular cafe are more powerful, then there's nothing much they can do. This was the situation with the illegal construction of these cafes in the first place. While tourists, especially from the Diaspora, see these cafes and consider them a sign of progress, most communities and residents in their proximity are sick and tired of them.

Hopefully, after a successful Shikahogh campaign and with the Armenian government facing pressure from the Council of Europe to make the Mayor of Yerevan an elected -- and thus accountable -- official, perhaps environmentalists will once again turn their attention on the cafes in Yerevan. For anyone interested, Edik Baghdasarian of Hetq Online wrote an article for Transitions Online that is a great background to the problem.

Anyway, making the Mayor of Yerevan an elected official would go a long way to making his office more sensitive to community and environmental concerns and not only because the law is being broken by officials and businessmen close to them. The Mayor might also finally comply with a recent court ruling that he should release details of land allocations in the park around the Opera to Hetq Online which he so far refuses to do even though such information should be in the public domain.

On a related note, an interview I held with Sona Ayvazyan, Environmental Policy Expert and Project Director for the Center for Regional Development / Transparency International in Armenia on the environment in Armenia -- and cafes in Yerevan -- can be found online here.

Tag: armenia | environment | democracy | corruption

Armenia Country Guide Updated

Oneworld.net, the world's leading human rights and sustainable development portal and web site has updated its Armenia Country Guide. Incidentally, the guide is written by myself as the Armenia Volunteer Editor for the site. It can be read online here.

Tag: armenia

Manic Depressive Psychosis (MDP)

Manic Depressive Psychosis (MDP) have updated their site. Although many people know of the US rock band of Armenian descent, System of a Down, very few know about MDP -- probably the most original and unique rock band in Armenia today. Anyway, their site now features a pop up streamed audio player on the front page so make sue you check whether or not you have pop-ups allowed in your browser if you access it at http://www.mdp.am.

BTW: An interview I held with MDP is online here and also, a review of one of their concerts by Garo Adanalian is available on Notes from Hairenik.

Tag: armenia | music

Constitutional Ammendments Decisive For Armenia’s Future

In what is still the biggest political test of the year, RFE/RL reports that the Council of Europe has expressed in no uncertain terms that constitutional ammendments scheduled for November are vital for the democratization of Armenia.

“I proceed from the assumption that the referendum will be positive, and that is what we base our expectations and our further policy on,” Ambassador Roland Wegener, a German diplomat representing the Council’s governing Committee of Ministers, said at the end of a fact-finding visit to Yerevan.

Initially, however, the Armenian government was resistant to opposition demands that three key issues should be included in the proposed ammendments. And, although the government's supporters at home and abroad did their best to discredit the need for their inclusion, the Council of Europe also considers that they are necessary.

Those amendments would considerably curtail President Robert Kocharian’s sweeping powers to appoint and sack the government as well as judges at will. They would also make the mayor of Yerevan, home of at least one third of Armenia’s population, an elected official.

Under a memorandum signed with the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission in Strasbourg on Friday, the Kocharian administration has to incorporate those changes into its constitutional draft. The draft is due to be debated and finally approved by parliament in August before being put to a referendum this fall.

This marks yet another significant U-turn by the Armenian Government. As the opposition paper, Chorrord Ishkhanutyun, points out -- and as quoted by RFE/RL's Press Review -- it wasn't so long ago that the Armenian President was adamant that he would not bend to pressure from the CE.

“The problem is a fairly complicated one because Kocharian had said before that the Council of Europe is not a Politburo for us. And there is now a need to explain why the most combat-ready president of the region has meekly accepted all of the Council of Europe proposals.”

Regardless, it probably doesn't matter. What does matter, however, is that for now at least, the Armenian government is starting to alter its policies as a result of pressure from elements within society as well as international bodies. This can probably be seen in the light of recent democratic changes in Georgia and Ukraine and is certainly a welcome step towards democratic development in the country.

RFE/RL's full report can be read online here.

Tag: armenia | democracy

New Possibility for Karabagh Peace?

Emil Danielyan, writing for the Jamestown Foundation's Eurasia Daily Monitor, says that the OSCE Minsk Group's co-chairs feel that there is now another window of opportunity for a Karabagh Peace agreement. Although a ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the mainly-Armenian inhabited territory situated within the latter republic still stands, there are concerns that failure to find a lasting solution will destabilize the South Caucasus region and frustrate its potential for economic development.

Nevertheless, although almost everyone urges caution in expecting a breakthrough, both sides still seem content enough with the progress made. What remains the sticking point, however, is Karabagh's status and whether territory surrounding it in Azerbaijan proper should be returned after this issue is determined and agreed upon.

Azerbaijan stands for a "step-by-step" resolution of the dispute that would delay agreement on Karabakh's status, the main sticking point, until after the liberation of surrounding Azerbaijani lands that were occupied by Armenian forces during the 1991-94 war. The Armenians, by contrast, until recently insisted on a "package" accord that would resolve all contentious issues at once. But they are now ready to embrace a phased settlement, provided that they get other international guarantees of continued Armenian control over Karabakh.

Accordingly, each side emphasizes elements of the discussed peace deal that it finds more beneficial for itself. Azimov, for example, said the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers discussed the return of the occupied districts in Azerbaijan proper. For his part, Oskanian was anxious to stress that none of those districts would be given back to Baku without some agreement on Karabakh's status. He said it remains the number one issue for the Armenian side and is high on the agenda of the Prague process.

The two sides were reportedly close to a deal on Karabagh at a US-hosted summit between the Armenian President, Robert Kocharian, and his then Azerbaijani counterpart, Heydar Aliyev, in Key West during 2001. However, although it is believed that the elder Aliyev agreed to outright independence for Nagorno Karabagh, the ailing leader was considered to have met with significant resistance to the idea upon his return to Baku. With parliamentary elections scheduled for November in Azerbaijan, such concerns must surely also weigh heavily on his successor and son, Ilham Aliyev.

U.S. officials are mindful of the possibility of another fiasco. They say that is the reason why renewed hopes for Karabakh peace will not ease U.S. pressure on Aliev's regime to ensure the freedom and fairness of Azerbaijan's upcoming parliamentary elections. They also rule out more leniency toward Armenia's leadership, whose democratic credentials are likewise questionable.

Some Armenian and Azerbaijani pundits have long argued that neither regime is interested in mutual compromise on Karabakh, as it would run the risk of losing power. The next few months should put this theory to the test.

The full article can be read online here.

Tag: armenia | azerbaijan | karabakh

Shikahogh Film Presentation

Bulldozer, Siunik Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian

The SOS-Shikahogh Working Group of the Ecological Public Union has announced that there will be a presentation of a documentary film on the Shikahogh Nature Reserve tomorrow. As always, background information on Shikahogh can be found online here.

In the frames of a wide-scale protest campaign waged against the construction of a road passing through Shikahogh state reserve, radio company VEM, with the support of Armenia Tree Project, World Wide Fund for Nature and Armenian Forests NGO has prepared a documentary film dedicated to the issue of Shikahogh.

The presentation of the film will take place on June 29, 2005, at 18:00, at the Yerevan Movie House; address: 18 Vardanants St, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia.

The film displays beautiful sceneries of nature and wildlife of Shikahogh reserve, cites professional comments of environmentalists, shows pieces of illegal construction works of the road that has not undergone environmental impact assessment, as well as presents the available alternatives to the road.

For additional information contact Mher Sharoyan, Media Coordinator, Armenian Forests NGO. Phone 54-15-29, E-mail: media@armenianforests.am.

On a related note, although the announcement had come via the Armenian Forests NGO, I noticed that there is also a youth environmental group involved in publicizing the event. Given that Shikahogh campaign resulted in an unprecedented U-turn by the Armenian government it is interesting to at least consider the possibility that the environmental movement here might soon turn into what is effectively a pro-democracy, pro-human rights and an anti-corruption one.

This is, after all, what happened during the last days of the former Soviet Union when environmental protests eventually became pro-independence and Karabagh movements. It is also interesting and somewhat encouraging to see the involvement of youth in all of this. Besides, there's also a lot to do with regards to the wholescale disregard for the environment shown by the government at present. Anyway, for those interested, the Burg Youth Environmental Center has a web site here.

Tag: armenia | environment | democracy | youth

Referendums, Democracy and Revolution

A1 Plus reports that the Armenian government has agreed to Council of Europe demands that the long awaited referendum on constitutional ammendments will be held in November. At the same time, the three key requirements of the CE and also the Armenian opposition have albeit reluctantly been accepted by the government.

That is, increasing the power of the parliament, ensuring the independence of the judiciary and making the Mayor of the capital, Yerevan, an electable position.

Tigran Torosyan said that the RA authorities have no discrepancies with the Venice Commission on the key issues. In his words, the reforms are carried out not by request of the Europeans but are essential for the development of the republic.

http://home.a1plus.am/eng/?go=print&id=30039

There's also more good news. According to MP Shavarsh Kocharian, and as requested by the CE, the Armenian opposition is also ready to return to parliament. It had already stated that if the government were to accept the three main demands of the CE it would engage in parliamentary discussion on constitutional reform.

Of course, even if this happens and even if the government do put forward a better draft of constitutional ammendments, it still remains to be seen if the referendum is conducted properly and also, even if it is, how long it will take for the changes to come into force and, like the rule of law, actually function.

The members of the Justice bloc claimed that if the agreement reached in Strasbourg is realized, and the draft Constitution is reformed, it will be a step forward, but the problems of out country are conditioned not by the quality of the law but by their non-observance of the laws.

The Ago group persuaded the opposition to return to the Parliament and to take part in the discussion of the Constitutional reforms till the second reading. Stepan Demirchyan answered that if the draft constitution is ready and they are sure that the agreements reached have been put into practice, they will think about returning to Parliament.

http://home.a1plus.am/eng/?go=print&id=30018

Nevertheless, it is all a positive step. Many took a speech made by US President George Bush to Tbilisi last month as a call to "revolution" in the former Soviet space. Later, however, the US State Department made it clear that talking of aspirations to democracy does not mean American support for regime change.

Personally speaking, and although others mistakingly dwell too much on this issue, there is nothing to indicate that the US is willing to sponsor regime change in countries like Armenia and nor should they. Instead, the US and the CE are becoming more forceful in demanding that real democratic change occurs.

Later, in the event of falsified elections -- if they occur -- the US and Europe will do all it can to allow individual societies the ability to determine whether they are willing to accept the outcome or not. This pretty much what happened in Georgia and Ukraine, for example, and this is what should happen in Armenia if the next elections are falsified and are not conducted properly.

Basically, it is up to individual societies to determine how best to respond to a given undemocratic situation within a country and preferably within the context of the law and the constitution. After all, how can you expect an opposition movement that might come to power through unlawful actions to also be democratic? Elections should also be the time when such issues come to the fore.

Anyway, regardless of whether some people hoped that Bush's speech was a call to arms to citizens in Armenia and Azerbaijan, the point is that something has happened -- and also within the context of increased pressure from the CE. That is, the authorities in Azerbaijan have been more restrained in dealing with opposition protests there than they were in 2003 (and as compared to Armenia in 2004) and have agreed to the use of exit polls in the November parliamentary elections.

In Armenia, recent reversals in government policy on Shikahogh and the Constitutional Ammendments are also encouraging signs. Now, let's hope that such a process, which is real democracy in action, continues up until the 2007 parliamentary elections. Then, as long as that process is genuine, there will be no need for "revolution" in Armenia.

Of course, that depends on real political will from the government -- the first signs of that being in October and November in Armenia for the Constitutional Ammendments and Local Elections, and in Azerbaijan, for the Parliamentary Elections. Both governments have the ability to avert political crisis and internal instability within their two respective republics. We should soon know if they will.

Tag: armenia | azerbaijan | democracy

Trafficking of Armenian Women to Dubai / UAE

Ara Manoogian over at Martuni or Bust reports that the english subtitles for the documentary film he worked on with Edik Baghdasarian of Hetq Online on the trafficking of women and children from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is now ready. If any of you are interested, contact Ara at ara_manoogian@yahoo.com.

Once again, you can find some of the articles on trafficking from Armenia to the UAE as well as allegations of government complicity in the multi-million dollar trade in the archive section of the Hetq Online web site. You can also find an interview I conducted with Ara Manoogian on the phenomenon here.

Tag: armenia | trafficking | uae | dubai | corruption

Government Backs Down -- Shikahogh is Saved

In what is an unprecedented victory against the government, both RFE/RL and Hetq Online today report that the battle to save the Shikahogh Nature Reserve has ended in success. This could be a sign of a weakened government in Armenia but whatever way it is, it represents a unique example of both local and Diasporan activists working together to prevent highly dubious plans to build a road through a protected area in the south of the country.



World Wildlife Fund (WWF) indicates the path of the proposed road through the Shikahogh Nature Reserve, Siunik, Republic of Armenia

Writing for Hetq Online, Tigran Paskevichyan, puts it simply.

I am sure that the cooperation between Armenian NGOs and experienced, respected Diaspora Armenians will not end here, because it is time to put a stop to the government’s hostility toward society, their placing of the interest of the state over that of society, thereby infringing the rights of the possessors of that state, the people.

Mtnadzor is unique as a virgin forest but it is not unique as an event in which a group of officials turns public property and national treasures into objects of sale. It happened in Haghtanak Park when they cut down all the trees to build a hotel; it happened in the park near the Opera House when they poured concrete on the green areas and turned them into cafes; it happened with Northern Avenue, when along with people’s huts and cottages they destroyed buildings that were historical and architectural treasures. Now it’s about to happen to Komitas Park and the Pantheon, which they want to move, in order to use the land for public and private construction.

In every one of these cases, ordinary citizens and non-governmental organizations were alone in the struggle against the authorities, and they were defeated. Their defeat, however, was not a disgrace for them, but for the government who paid a disgraceful $14,000 to the owners of the houses they demolished in the center of Yerevan , a sum too small to buy an apartment on the outskirts of town.

I am sure that the experienced, respected Diasporans see and understand all this, and, having lived all their lives in democratic countries, they know that oppressing society and silencing public opinion never works in the long run. They know that the state, so long dreamed of, is stable and safe when negative processes are noticed right away, talked about, and put an end to.

These Diasporans have demonstrated their patriotism though their actions, and in doing so, their love for their homeland has grown stronger.

http://www.hetq.am/eng/society/0506-diaspora.html

My article on plans to build a road through the Shikahogh reserve can be found online here. There is also a photostory on the Hetq Online web site.

Tag: armenia | environment | democracy

Karabagh, an Arms Race and Accusations over Coffee

In a bunch of interesting articles today, RFE/RL report that Pavel Manukian, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation - Dashnaktsutyun, says that he was beaten up by the highest ranking members of the Nagorno Karabagh military that included the Defense Minister, Seyran Ohanian.

At a meeting with Karabakh President Arkady Ghukasian local Dashnaktsutyun leaders demanded strict punishment for Ohanian and other alleged participants of the beating. Similar demands were contained in a joint statement by Dashnaktsutyun and several other local parties that condemned the violent incident. But nobody has been charged in the case so far.

The incident came in the wake of Karabakh’s June 19 parliamentary election in which an opposition bloc formed by Dashnaktsutyun and the Movement-88 opposition party unsuccessfully challenged Ghukasian’s loyalists. The bloc refused to concede defeat, alleging serious vote irregularities.

Meanwhile, and going back to a previous post on the start of a possible arms race in the South Caucasus, the Azerbaijan President has stated that his government's 70 per cent increase in military expenditure this year is largely due to the transfer of Russian military hardware from the Republic of Georgia to Armenia. And if there wasn't enough bad news going around, one of Armenia's leading importers of coffee into the republic has again accused the country's Customs of corruption.

“We are dealing with a group of officials who set unofficial rules, and if you don’t comply with those rules then you must not operate,” said the company’s executive director, Gagik Hakobian. “If they yield and do things in accordance with the law, they will have problems with other businessmen.”

Some things never change but with the lack of democracy -- and thus accountability -- some would argue that they are actually getting worse.

Tag: armenia | azerbaijan | democracy | corruption

Damn Arminco...

If you thought the ongoing saga with ArmenTel was bad, there are unfortunately other areas in the telecommunications and related internet sphere that also sums up what's wrong with life in Armenia. One of those is Arminco, an Internet Service Provider who always moan about ArmenTel but since I arrived here in 1998 have always quickly shut up after making a deal with the dreaded telephone monopoly.

Anyway, although I've been a subscriber to Arminco for nearly five years now and maybe more, I've started to use pre-paid cards by Xter.net as well because their internet connection is much better and also, you don't have to go through a proxy server. True to the western notions brand loyalty, however, I have continued to host my site, oneworld.am, on Arminco's servers for a few years now. However, that's all about to change.

The reason? The sloppy, sarchastic, rude and downright arrogant customer service (or actually lack of it) that Arminco offers. You would have thought that being a long-term customers of theirs for many years and forking out $20 / month for a sometimes unreliable dialup internet connection that works from the hours of 7pm to 9am on weekdays and 24 hours on Saturday and Sunday would have at least earned me some courtesy but not so.

Instead, after accessing my email from my server and uploading a few different images from Saturday's day out for the kids from Vanadzor Children's Home I received a telephone call from UNICEF requesting that I upload the final version of the book I have written, photographed and designed for them. However, I had a meeting with another international organization and said I'd do it when I got back. However, when I returned, I couldn't access my email or my web server for uploading by ftp.

Fine. I'm used to Arminco's servers not working for a short period of time in any given month and so I waited... and waited and waited. I checked my emails for notices of whether their server was undergoing any routine maintenance or anything like that (not that they usually bother -- they instead apologize AFTERWARDS and shift the blame on someone else). I even checked their main web site and also their hosting server front page. Nothing.

So, in desperation, I sent an email at around 8pm and this is what I wrote:

My site, oneworld.am, has been down since at least 2pm. If it is a problem with your hosting server why haven't you posted a notice on host.am? Also, if it is a technical problem your end, please sort it out immediately and make sure it doesn't happen again because it disrupts people's work. You should also post an announcement on host.am so people know what's happening.

Well, it turns out that I had paid for my server space only until 9 May but Arminco are meant to send out emails telling their customers of this. However, they hadn't. Not ONE email came to me alerting me to this deadline -- not ONE. And when I look up the AMNIC whois, I can see that in fact, despite my request for them to change the contact email from an arminco address to a oneworld address because of the damn spam they seem to want to get through, I find that their promise to do so was BROKEN. They didn't do what they said they'd do.

But, rather than write a normal email informing me of this in a way that companies should to their customers i.e. Dear Sir, The reason for your server being down is because our record show etc etc..., this is the sarcastic response I received from Ed J. Aivazian at Arminco's hosting service.

Dear onnik,

Should I post it at host.am as an announcement?

# whois oneworld.am

Domain name: oneworld.am
Status: on hold
^^^^^^^
------ OUTPUT SKIPPED ------

Registered: 2001-05-09
Last modified: 2005-06-27
Expires: 2005-05-09
^^^^^^^^^^

Great! Deja Vu! The last time my server went off was for the same reason. That time, I had forgotten when my server subscription was to run out and I missed their emails because they had sent them to my arminco email address. Thing is that this address gets hundreds of spam emails a day I never used it. In fact, rather than install anti-spam software on their mail server I was convinced for a while (and still have my concerns) that they were selling their subscriber's email addresses to spamming lists.

That time, however, I was more fortunate. The person at the other end of the email was Vahan Yerkanian, who I knew from when I first arrived in Armenia from England. He promised to change my contact email from my arminco address to my oneworld.am address and also put my web site online temporarily so that I could get in to the office the next day to pay. Worth a try this time, I thought, especially as I had already been into the Arminco office today to renew my dialup account.

Certainly, I hadn't been told that I should pay for my server space as well but anyway, such things happen when it takes seeing three people to pay your internet connection fee at Arminco. First you go to the girl and tell her your user name. She prints out a form. Then you take that form to the woman in the next room who takes your money. She then tells you to go to another office to get the card that you then have to fill in online at home to renew your account. Man, were the soviet days this bad and full of such unnecessary bureaucracy as Arminco?

Okay, so maybe Arminco don't trust their staff which is why you have to go through three different people but even so, c'mon guys, it's the 21st Century and you're meant to be on the leading edge of the IT rejuvination that will solve some of Armenia's investment problems. Why can't you be like Xter.net or Netsys and just have one person to take my money and give me a card. Hell, really be trend-setting and have that person punch a key and extend my account in the office there and then.

Instead, customers have to stand sometimes in 2 or 3 queues to do something that other ISPs in Armenia simplify. You get a better internet connection as well with the others.

But back to this arrogant tech support on the other end of the email tonight. I mention that I had received no email reminders, I mentioned that UNICEF were waiting for their artwork and could he please stick my site online because despite my request to update my contact email address, it would appear that they hadn't. I'd be in the office to pay tomorrow and if necessary was willing to jump in a taxi to do it now.

At the same time, given that internet connections through Arminco had delayed previous correspondence with UNICEF, I also cc-ed them so that they knew I wasn't making excuses for my server being down.

This is what I sent:

No, but basically, this happened last time when payment was last due. Why wasn't I informed by email. This is now twice. I received NO WARNING EMAILS about the date and so this is a little too much especially as I was in the Arminco office today. Can you please sort this out and at least check that you are sending to the correct address.

Last time I requested that warning messages are sent to [personal email address ommitted] but I repeat, I received none. Last time, Vahan Yerkanian stuck my site back up temporarily and I am requesting that you do this again now. I will be into Arminco office tomorrow to pay.

I also would like to once again request that to avoid further confusion that you request a read receipt on all email regarding final notices. This is now the second time this has happened and in both cases I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY WARNING MESSAGES.

Do you think that this is fair? I am working for UNICEF and haven't been able to upload the artwork of a book that needs to be printed this week.

Thanks. I would appreciate your immediate response and an undertaking to request read-receipts in future so that you know the messages are getting through. As I said, I was in the Arminco office today and its ridiculous that no message got through to me so I could have paid it then and there. This is the twice time it's happened and I do not particularly want there to be a third time.

Anyway, no, I am not asking you to post an announcement on host.am saying my server payment has expired but I do request that you send me notification before it does. Last time the problems was that you were sending to [personal email address ommitted] but I never use this email account because it attracts 100s of emails a day. I therefore requested that Vahan Yerkanian change the contact email address to [personal email address ommitted] which he did.

But I still never received anything and this needs to be sorted out. I URGENTLY need my server back up and as I said it is down because I WAS NOT informed about the deadline for payment which is hwo you usually warn people. If you want, I'll get in a taxi now and bring you the money this evening but I really need my server back up because it is down through no fault of my own.

Thank you.

Onnik Krikorian

Trouble is, I spelt the contact guy's name at UNICEF wrong so added some stuff to the email and sent it again. More trouble. Arminco's internet connection was playing up again -- although it could have been the nearly 4,000 spam emails in the account because they can't be bothered to put in anti-spam filters on their server -- so I hit the send button again. Result. Three emails sent. Obviously, the guy at Arminco who needs a few lessons in customer service had his chance to insult a customer again.

Dear onnik,

Does anything go wrong with your computer (or browser window you use to send emails)?

I have a dozen emails from you already (all with the same text but different timestamp/messageID) and I guess I'll not be surprised when I find some 6 234 865 more tomorrow morning.

Then, he sent another one and either the guy can't read, doesn't know his own system or is basically making it up as he goes along.

Dear onnik,

As you can see, your domain name has expired on 2005-05-09. Before (and after) this we have sent many email notifications and also hard-copy letters containing all the information about the terms and results of domain name expiration.

As you can guess, our team is not able to remember the expiration dates of all our clients' services (and it would be ridiculous if it would). Instead, we have automatic notification facilities which we use to keep our customers informed.

Unfortunately, I'll not put your domain name live again, please, visit (or give a phone call) your domain name registrar's office tomorrow to solve the problem.

Thing is, neither BEFORE or AFTER had I received any emails from Arminco and to be quite frank to suggest that they sent out a "hard-copy letter" is stretching reality to say the least. Not even HSBC do that with bank statements and in fact, I've never ONCE received a letter sent internally to Armenia from Arminco or indeed, anybody else here. Even the British Embassy hand delivers correspondence to my door because the postal system is not used.

Sorry Arminco can't sort out its automated email system but is that my fault? Is it also my fault that they employ too few staff with memory problems when I was actually in their office today? Should Arminco understand that their business should be reliant on being helpful and polite to their customers? You bet ya but of course, that is the western style of working and Arminco have been around too long and have grown complacent by being one of the first ISPs in Armenia.

Regardless, my site is down, I can't access my email, UNICEF don't get their book, the guys who wanted the photos for the kids at the Vanadzor Children's Home don't get those but I get cocky emails from a member of their staff who needs to go on a customer service and relations training course. Typical of Armenia and an article I should write in itself. In the meantime, however, the moral of the story is quite clear.

There are better ISPs in Armenia than Arminco who offer better internet connections and better customer service. Besides, you don't have to re-live the good old days of the Soviet Unon when dealing with three people was the preferred system even if you only needed one.

A word of advice. Boycott Arminco and let them understand customer service if they want to keep their clients. Until then, there are many better and friendlier ISPs in Yerevan such as Netsys and Xter.net. Use them. As for me, enough is enough and I'm now going to look into taking my custom elsewhere. I'd advise others to do the same.

At the very least, any decent and professional employee at Arminco would have understood what email they should have written. It would have been quite simply: sorry for the problems and if you didn't receive our warning emails. However, there's nothing we can do at present. Please come in to the office tomorrow and we will try to resolve the problem and to see what it was.

None of that, however. Just plain old arrogance, rudeness and sarcasm from someone who obviously doesn't give a damn about Arminco's customers. You have all been warned and until businesses learn that without respecting their customers the latter will go elsewhere nothing much is going to change for the better in Armenia. I also repeat again, their internet connection is lousy and their proxy server is again playing up tonight. Really, do yourself a favor and take your business elsewhere.

Disclaimer: The above opinions are my own and in no way represent that of any of the local and international publications and organizations that I work for on a freelance or contract basis.

Tag: armenia | internet

Bulgarian "Wanted" Over Bush Grenade in Georgia

The Sofia New Agency reports that a Bulgarian is "wanted" in connection with the discovery of a grenade that failed to detonate during last month's high profile visit to the Republic of Georgia by US President George Bush. The news reportedly comes via Georgia's Rustavi-2 TV station.

The grenade landed 30 m away from where Bush spoke to a huge crowd in Tbilisi, but did not detonate, according to the Georgian authorities. The US Secret Service said it received reports of the incident after Bush had left the ex-Soviet republic.

On Friday the Georgian authorities announced the results of investigation into the alleged attempt on G.W. Bush's life during his visit to Georgia last month.

[...]

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said at a late evening briefing on June 22 that Georgian authorities had identified a person suspected of throwing the hand-grenade during US President George Bush's address on May 10.

Initially, reports stated that the grenade was of Armenian origin but what with the proliferation of arms and munitions in the South Caucasus, the grenade could have ended up in anybody's hands. Regardless, the report can be read online here.

Tag: tbilisi | bush | armenia | bulgaria

Vanadzor Children's Home Kids at Water World

A small selection of photographs from Saturday's outing for the children from the Vanadzor Children's Home (Orphanage) to the Water World amusement park in Yerevan, the Armenian capital are now online here on my web site.







WaterWorld, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / ASTP-PADCO

As mentioned in a previous post, the outing was arranged by the USAID Armenian Social Transition Program - PADCO who are responsible in assisting the Armenian government in reform the social and health sectors of the republic. A good time was had by all.

Interestingly, it occurred to me that I keep on being taken back to doing work on Vanadzor of late. The third largest city in Armenia that was also devastated by the 1988 earthquake, it never seems to get the attention from the media that it deserves.

Considered a center for human rights activism as well as the small but growing rock music scene in Armenia, it's not quite Gyumri, the second largest city, and definitely not Yerevan. Nevertheless, it has a nice feeling to it and a more and more or my work seems to be concentrated there.

In the past month alone I've been to Vanadzor for PADCO to photograph the pilot Integrated Social Services Center (ISSC) they established with the government and the local municipality and I've also been there with UNICEF during the same time period. The first visit was to look at pre-school education and the second, to look at national minority education.

Incidentally, the second article on the subject of education for Armenia's national minorities will be coming soon. Until then, if you're planning to visit Armenia this summer, its worth a trip north to Vanadzor. Lori region is quite green and the surrounding area is full of historical and cultural sites to visit such as Haghpat and Sanahin, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites, as well as Odzun, Kobayr etc.

Tag: armenia | children

An Arms Race in the South Caucasus?

Agence France Press (AFP) reports that the Azerbaijani military budget has increased by 70 per cent this year to $300 million, largely as a result of increased oil revenues. The largest of the three South Caucasus republics inauguarated a multi-billion oil pipeline from Baku to the Turkish port of Ceyhan last month. AFP says the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline will bring in as much as $160 billion into the impoverished country over the next 30 years.

The Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev, has made no secret of the fact that if ongoing negotiations with neighboring Armenia to resolve the conflict over the territory of Nagorno Karabagh, mainly inhabited by ethnic Armenians, within Azerbaijan come to nothing, then the Azerbaijani military will resume hostilities to take it back by force.

"The adversary must know that the Azerbaijani army can mobilize at any moment and liberate the occupied territories," Aliyev said. "Spending on the country's defense force will grow continuously."

The conflict that erupted between the two neighboring states towards the end of the former Soviet Union turned into fullscale war in 1991. Over 20,000 died and as many as a million were forced to flee their homes in both republics until a ceasefire was signed in May 1994. Progress is reported in a new round of negotiations currently being mediated by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Minsk Group.

Nevertheless, all three South Caucasus republics have recently increased spending on the military -- rising to $104 million in Armenia and a whopping $180 million in the Republic of Georgia. Although Georgian spending is less than the total expenditure on the military in Azerbaijan, it is worth noting that it stood at just $23 million five years ago. Of course, Georgia has its own problems with separatist regions but at the same time, has also set its sights on integration into NATO as well as Europe.

Interestingly, the Georgian Defense Minister, Irakli Okruashvili, has just visited the United States where he met with the US Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld. It's also worth noting that the 2005 US Defense Authorization Bill has money earmarked for non-proliferation. The Bill envisages spending $10 million in Georgia to establish a pilot project to promote "non-weapons-related employment for scientists, engineers, and technicians formerly engaged in activities to develop weapons of mass destruction in the Caucasus and Central Asia."

Meanwhile, an arms race is obviously developing between Armenia and Azerbaijan and although international organizations such as the Council of Europe and European Union have warned the latter about any resumption of hostilities, military build-ups are always worrying especially as its an escalation that probably does not favor Armenia. Of course, Russia is also reported to be relocating old military equipment from Georgia to Armenia as pressure for it to remove its bases from the former increases.

Tag: armenia | azerbaijan| military