Like Vladimir and Estragon in Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been busy arguing, talking, and much, much more as they wait for the first civilian flight in 20 years to land in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. And now, as in the case of Godot, it looks like their wait might continue “indefinitely.”
Officials in Armenia have long downplayed the potential threats posed by the aging Metsamor nuclear power plant, not far from the capital Yerevan. At the same time, the facility has been repeatedly ranked as one of the world’s most dangerous nuclear power stations.
Armenian analysts say Georgia’s recent move to block a transit route for Armenia-bound Russian military supplies did not come as a surprise. But officials in Yerevan still aren’t commenting on how Russia and Armenia will get around the transit corridor’s closure.
The decision to drop Armenia from the US-financed Millennium Challenge development program has renewed debate about the status of democratic reform in Armenia. The opposition, predictably, blames the government for the decision; the government is keeping quiet, but some ruling party representatives scoff that the decision is unjust.
In a move suggestive of a game of dare with Azerbaijan, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on March 31 declared that he will be the first passenger to board a planned flight from Yerevan to Stepanakert, capital of breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh.
A Russian government program that pays Russian-speakers to migrate to Russia is upsetting many Armenians who believe it is contributing to a demographic problem in Armenia.
Shouting “A free, independent Armenia!” and “Now, now!” thousands of protesters streamed into Yerevan’s Freedom Square on March 17, holding the first opposition rally on the site since a 2008 confrontation when security forces left at least 10 people dead.
Armenian opposition supporters with a taste for boxing might see it as a clinch, or an attempt at a Philly shell. Some political analysts in Armenia, meanwhile, believe the arrest of opposition activist and former European boxing champion Samson Khachatrian shortly before a planned March 17 rally is a signal that the government is preparing for a fight.
The plot is thickening in the case of a European Union-based documentary crew that was barred from filming in Armenia. Authorities in Yerevan believe the documentary’s executive producer is on “friendly terms with Azerbaijani officials,” and wants to create a program on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from a pro-Baku viewpoint. The producer, Andrius Brokas, is vehemently denying the allegation.
