Officials in Armenia think chess can ensure success for the next generation. It is slated to become a mandatory subject in Armenian elementary schools when the new academic year begins in the fall.
After years of acrimony, the Armenian government and the country’s largest opposition group sat down recently to open a political dialogue. Some analysts in Yerevan believe the discussions stem from a government desire to minimize distractions as it considers recent Russian proposals to resolve the 23-year-long Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Armenia’s high rate of male births is alarming international and Armenian pre-natal specialists. Their chief concern is that selective abortions are contributing to a demographically undesirable gender imbalance.
Once again, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sargsyan, failed during their recent summit to reconcile their differences on the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. If this is starting to sound familiar, it should. The two countries have spent almost four years getting nowhere on finalizing the supposed “basic principles” for a Karabakh peace deal.
Yerevan’s city government, a body not generally known for being digitally savvy, is making a break with the Analog Age. Seeking to encourage the use of public transportation, officials have authorized a pilot project to provide free Wi-Fi on five city buses.
Often depicted as a disaster waiting to happen, Armenia’s 35-year-old nuclear power station, Metsamor, has passed muster with the International Atomic Energy Agency. But don’t expect the debate over the plant’s safety standards to end any time soon.
After more than three years of political strife, the Armenian government and the country’s main opposition coalition, the Armenian National Congress, appear ready to bury the hatchet.
Armenia’s parliament on May 26 approved a presidential amnesty that will set free four individuals who are portrayed by government critics as political prisoners. It remains unclear whether the amnesty means that Armenian opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian and top officials in Yerevan will now sit down to engage in a much-touted “open dialogue.”
In Armenia, it is routine for the annual Eurovision contest to provoke heated debate about the relative merits of the performers. But this year, post-contest discussion in Yerevan is also laden with political and diplomatic significance.
It’s billed as an “open dialogue,” but as the weeks drag on, many Armenians are wondering what exactly members of President Serzh Sargsyan’s administration and opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian are talking about.
