When Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak went whooshing through the streets of downtown Yerevan on a Segway last month, he got nary a wide-eyed stare. And with Armenia now boasting an official 25-percent growth rate in its Information Technologies (IT) sector, that’s how it should be, proud bureaucrats might say.
Ask locals, and they’ll tell you that a 19th century mountaintop church in the southeastern region of Syunik has a dangerous allure, somewhat like the Sirens of Greek mythology.
With political jockeying already underway in advance of Armenia’s parliamentary vote next spring, civil society activists are pondering ways to use the Internet to promote electoral transparency.
Former President Robert Kocharian is pondering a political comeback in Armenia. Analysts in Yerevan question whether Kocharian, who served as chief executive for a decade, has enough political clout to re-emerge as a powerbroker. Some politicians, meanwhile, say his re-entry into politics could do more to unsettle than stabilize economic and political developments.
A husband and wife are preparing to go out to dinner. Angered by the way his wife is dressed, the husband gives his spouse a rough shove. “Make a note of it! You should do whatever I want!” he yells. “When will you understand that you have no right to oppose me?”
An online “youth group initiative” set up by four 20-somethings in Armenia is illustrating how far Facebook can go in maximizing political influence while concealing identity.
There is a Spanish proverb that goes: Del dicho al hecho, hay mucho trecho, or, roughly translated, it’s easier said than done. This saying seems to apply to Uruguay’s reported readiness to recognize the independence of the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh territory.
Disillusioned with its “open dialogue” with the government, Armenia’s largest opposition coalition, the Armenian National Congress, is falling back on a familiar tactic -- taking to the streets. The question is: will ordinary Armenians follow?
Narrow, winding stairs lead up to 60-year-old housecleaner Ophelia Hakobian’s poorly furnished room on the second floor of an apartment building in the Istanbul district of Kumkapi. The tiny room, barely 1.5 square meters in area, contains hanging laundry, a table and chairs and photographs of Hakobian’s son and grandchildren.
A recent study found Armenia has the friendliest media environment in the Caucasus and Central Asia, a notoriously tough neighborhood for reporters. But Armenian journalists beg to differ.
