First through Facebook, than through Unzipped I found out that a group of Armenian journalists and photographers have issued a statement protesting recent arrests and detention of their colleagues and bloggers in Iran, following disputed presidential election and post-election protests in Tehran.
While I support the statement wholeheartedly, something that fells a little uneasy about this statement is the fact, that the same “Armenian journalists and photographers” didn’t seem to move a finger when their collegues were beaten and threatened in Armenia, but in case of Iran – they dash out like this. Is there something I don’t understand?
Armenian blogs discussed Iran again this week, alongside the general amnesty declared by the Armenian parliament that set free a number of jailed oppositionists ahead of the PACE session. The car-crash of two key actors from highly popular “Vorogayt” show and the death of pop-superstar Michael Jackson attracted much attention, while social networks were lively with discussions about protests staged by nationalists during the visit of Georgia’s president Mikhail Sahakashvili.
Download this 1.3 Mb mp3 version of the Armenian language podcast brining you the news and updates from the Armenian Blogosphere or listen to it online by clicking the player icon below. For the full English language text of the podcast read the rest of this entry.
Armenia pays a one-time allowance of AMD 50 thousand ($136 U.S.) to parents of new born children. My wife went over to the Social Security office the other day and came back - with 49 thousand. She had to pay the 1 thousand ($3 U.S.) as “magarich” or “tip” or money to speed things up.
The social security official kept back the 1 thousand dram note, knowing that the mother of a 7-months-old child wouldn’t stand arguing for it, while the child might be crying left with the father.
I understand, that compared to some of the largescale corruption taking place in Armenia, this petty little $3 “magarich” is nopthing. But the fact, that things like this are taken so naturally is what’s killing me. You almost expect to be asked for a little ‘tip’ when getting in contact with any type of a small beurocrat or government official and the question always is – should I start an argument and possibly delay getting my business done for months, or should I just press my teeth and go on.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) voted in favor of resolution 1677 on Wednesday, pointing to the need to continue ongoing regular monitoring procedure with respect to Armenia.
This 4th resolution adopted by the PACE in relation to the bitter political crisis that ensued in Armenia after the disputed Presidential election in February 2008 can be seen as generally softer and more welcoming towards the steps taken by the Armenian authorities, when compared to Assembly’s earlier Resolutions 1609 (2008), 1620 (2008) and 1643 (2009). Read the rest of this entry »
Opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian and a group of his supporters released from jail pose for a photograph on 22 June, 2009 | Photolur photo, via RFE/RL
Two members of parliament, a former foreign minister, a former deputy to Prosecutor-General among 19 or so other oppositionists, walked out of courts and were released from prison in a matter of 2 days as an amnesty put forward by President Sarkisian and approved by the National Assembly last Friday came into action. Read the rest of this entry »
Casinos will be allowed to operate only in Tsakhadzor, Sevan and Jermuk from January 1, 2013, if a government bill proposed earlier this month passes in parliament.
While announcing the news at the government session on June 6th, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian said it’s the ‘principal stance’ of President Serzh Sarkisian and himself, to ban casinos from operating in and near Yerevan and in central locations of the country. Read the rest of this entry »
The National Assembly of Armenia adopted a decision on announcing amnesty on Friday. The initiative, put forward by the President’s administration, is primarily seen as a move to ease political tension in the society and release 56 opposition supporters charged in connection with post-election violence in Yerevan in March 2008.
Armenian blogs paid a due share of interest to the Amnesty issue. Most were interested in the fashion it was done, rather than the fact of amnesty itself, saying the move was only undertaken because of the upcoming PACE session which will very likely again discuss the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia.
Formerly, there had been 6 cases of amnesty in Armenia – in 1992, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2006.
This episode of the Armenian Blogosphere podcast brings views and comments from top Armenian bloggers on Amnesty and related developments. Download the 1.1 Mb mp3 file of the podcast from here or listen to it online by clicking the player icon below.
The high-profile wedding of the Armenian pop-star Sirusho and ex-president Robert Kocharian’s son – Levon Kocharian, took place on June 6, 2009, in the “Ojakh” restaurant outside of Yerevan. Read the rest of this entry »
The Armenian Blogosphere radioprogram follows the developments between the traditional media and the blogosphere.
A couple of months ago the Tert.am information website invited some known journalists, writers to blog for them.
This episode of the Armenian Blogosphere program/podcast features and interview with one of the Tert.am bloggers - publicist Hrant Ter-Abrahamian about his blog.
Passing by Yerevan’s newly built Northern Avenue I couldn’t help but notice today this man watering the rare green areas with a hose.
You’d expect a major architectural project like this to have some sort of proper irrigation system. But no. I looked around and saw no traces of hidden tubes in the grass – maybe I wasn’t looking properly? Maybe it’s there but is malfunctioning so they have to water it like this?
At any rate – this doesn’t look like a proper way to handle the watering issue in such an important location in the heart of Yerevan.
The avenue was built from scratch and only opened a couple of years ago. It is supposed to be offering the best in Armenian architecture. So, while watering the green areas and trees in Yerevan is generally a problematic issue, at least here, in this most modern and newly built street, it should have some sort of a proper solution.
Here’s something for the ‘To Do” list of Yerevan’s ‘democratically’ elected mayor – Gagik Beglarian.
Yerevan municipal elections took place on May 31st. The preliminary results were published next morning. President Serzh Sargsian’s ruling Republican party received 47.37 percent of the vote. “Bargavach Armenia” (Prosperous Armenia) party and Armenian National Congress received enough votes to secure their place in city’s elderly council, but Armenian National Congress said they’ll boycott the Elderly council in sign of protest against vote irragularities.
Gagik Beglaryan answers journalists' questions after casting his ballot. Photolur Photo
Central Electoral Commission publicised the preliminary results of Yerevan’s municipal elections. Accordingly, the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) has received 47,39 percent of the vote, which gives the party more than 50 percent of the sits in the elderly council, which, according to the law, automatically makes the acting mayor of Yerevan Gagik Beglaryan, the candidate occupying the 1st slot on Party’s proportional list, an elected mayor of Yerevan.
“Prosperous Armenia” party comes a distant second with 22,71% of the vote, while the main opposition – Armenian National Congress pre-election block finishes third with 17,41%. Republican party, “Prosperous Armenia” party and Armenian National Congress are the only three political forces able to pass the minimum threshhold defined for entry into the elderly council, which is 7% for political forces and 9% for pre-election blocks.
The opposition claimed widespread violations of law and electoral process, while the police and General Prosecutor issued multiple statements refuting most of those claims.
Spokesperson for Armenian National Congress Levon Zurabian invited a press conference on Sunday, 1 hour after the polling stations closed, in which he described the elections as “criminal”.
It seems, that we’re in for a rough ride for the next couple of days, if not for weeks or months, with opposition protesting the election results and the authorities rigorously rejecting cases of fraud, even as a wealth of photo and video evidence emerges.
Armenia — Municipal elections have started in capital Yerevan on Sunday. Voters will elect an elderly council which will in turn elect the Mayor of Yerevan for the first time in over a decade. The elections held on proportional party lists are the most significant political event since the troubled presidential elections in 2008 which ended in violence on the streets of Yerevan.
The tension is high, as elected mayor will represent about half of Armenia’s population and will be in charge of the formidable budget from the largest community in Armenia – Yerevan, where most of the key businesses are located (roughly 50% of Armenia’s economic activity is concentrated in Yerevan according to IMF data). The Yerevan Mayor is thus set to become the most powerful elected executive official after president.
Following a pre-election campaign marred with violence not only between the opposition and the authorities, but also two major pro-government parties: the Republican party and the “Prosperous Armenia”, (hopefully for good), more than 770 thousand registered voters cast ballots to decide which of the 6 parties and 1 pre-election pact will receive the majority sits in elderly council.
So far everything seems normal – with Public TV of Armenia painting the rosy picture of the most democratic elections in the world, while opposition cries fowl and claims all sorts of violations. Business as usual…
Gagik Tsarukian, 23, has been detained in Gyumri on charges of attempting to forge 1000 AMD notes. The Gyumri inhabitant has admitted to making a printing machine, printing and using at least 2 banknotes.
The reason this story from A1plus attracted my attention (and probably yours too), is because this young man from Gyumri is the namesake of the richest Armenian oligarch – Gagik Tsarukian, owner of a range of businesses, founder of “Prosperous Armenia” party.
Posted by Observer 
Armenian blogs discussed Iran again this week, alongside the general amnesty declared by the Armenian parliament that set free a number of jailed oppositionists ahead of the PACE session. The car-crash of two key actors from highly popular “Vorogayt” show and the death of pop-superstar Michael Jackson attracted much attention, while social networks were lively with discussions about protests staged by nationalists during the visit of Georgia’s president Mikhail Sahakashvili.
Posted by Observer 
Posted by Observer 
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) voted in favor of resolution 1677 on Wednesday, pointing to the need to continue ongoing regular monitoring procedure with respect to Armenia.
The National Assembly of Armenia adopted a decision on announcing amnesty on Friday. The initiative, put forward by the President’s administration, is primarily seen as a move to ease political tension in the society and release 56 opposition supporters charged in connection with post-election violence in Yerevan in March 2008.
The Armenian Blogosphere radioprogram follows the developments between the traditional media and the blogosphere.
Gagik Tsarukian, 23, has been detained in Gyumri on charges of attempting to forge 1000 AMD notes. The Gyumri inhabitant has admitted to making a printing machine, printing and using at least 2 banknotes.
