An estimated 700-percent increase in the number of Armenian Internet users since 2009 is changing the way Armenians lobby for social change and protest perceived abuses of power, some media observers say. Others contend, however, that the YouTube and Facebook revolution remains in its infancy, with state-controlled television still dominating the public discourse.
An attempt to screen Azerbaijani short films in the Armenian capital of Yerevan has failed, blocked in large part by a blitz of opposition spread by social networking websites. But the organizers say they are undaunted and will try to go ahead with the film festival at a later date.
Environmentalists in Armenia are opposing a uranium mine project, the development of which has been linked to the upcoming overhaul of the Metsamor power station.
Earlier this year, Georgia’s successful sting operation to uncover a weapons-grade uranium trafficking operation made headlines worldwide. Armenia has reportedly worked closely with Georgia in the ongoing investigation, but officials in Yerevan are reluctant to detail the country’s connection to the case.
An animal rights debate is building in Armenia, centering on plans to open a dolphinarium in Yerevan. Local environmental activists and some city residents contend that the project’s owner, who remains anonymous, is prepared to sacrifice marine mammal welfare and environmental sustainability for the sake of commercial gain.
A US Embassy statement in late October doesn’t seem to have defused tensions in Armenia over a controversial YouTube video clip that shows US Vice-President Joe Biden claiming that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan asked him not to push the issue of genocide recognition with Turkey.
Armenia’s parliament is set to consider a bill on recognizing the breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state. Just about everyone in Yerevan supports the bill’s intent, but few MPs are willing to vote for the measure at this time.
An appeal by Catholicos Garegin II, Armenia’s religious leader, to President Serzh Sargsyan to hand over to Azerbaijan the body of an Azerbaijani soldier killed in a frontline shootout this summer has set off a church-state debate in Yerevan.
A mass was held for the first time in 95 years at the 10th-century Armenian Church of the Holy Cross in eastern Turkey, but in neighboring Armenia, the event elicited little excitement.
A Turkish-government-sanctioned church service to be held on September 19 in the 10th century Armenian church of the Holy Cross in eastern Turkey is rekindling a debate in Armenia about Ankara’s intentions toward Yerevan.
