With less than two weeks to go until Armenia’s parliamentary vote, election observers are becoming an issue. Rights activists are voicing worries that a change to the Armenian election code could leave observers potentially vulnerable to defamation suits over statements made about the polling and vote-counting processes.
A free speech debate is flaring in Armenia, touched off by an official investigation into a collection of short stories that casts the Armenian army in unflattering light.
To the British Museum, she is “probably Aphrodite,” the Greek goddess of love and beauty. To most Armenians, she is Anahit, an ancient Armenian goddess of fertility. Whoever is on the 1st century BC female bronze head with wavy hair and aquiline nose, it may serve as a political prop in Armenia’s looming parliamentary election campaign.
As the European Union, the United States and a host of other nations gear up to cut Iran off, Armenia is pursuing joint projects with Tehran that could potentially open new conduits to the outside world.
The sentencing of an Armenian-American businessman to 15 years in prison for the sexual abuse of minors has broken a long-standing taboo in Armenia on public discussions of pedophilia.
Where does the need for state secrecy end, and the public interest in governmental transparency begin? That’s a question posed increasingly by Armenian civil society activists in reaction to news that Yerevan’s defense budget is increasing by 5.6 percent.
It may still be only on the drawing board, but Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s proposed Eurasian Union, an economic bloc of former Soviet republics, already is stirring concern in Armenia about the future of Yerevan’s independence from Moscow.
The Georgian Orthodox Church’s claim to several monasteries in neighboring Armenia is stoking religious tension between the two South Caucasus neighbors.
The closed-door trial of a prominent American-Armenian entrepreneur in Armenia is highlighting concerns about the concept of presumption of innocence. Although few details are known about the government’s case against the defendant, who is facing child sex-related charges, many involved in the case appear to be assuming the worst.
