Global Voices

English

The world is talking, are you listening?

During the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Azeris and Armenians were displaced. With hundreds of settlements also razed, and thousands of monuments destroyed, Conflict Voices looks at the issue of cemeteries, some of which were destroyed, but also preserved during the war as well as in the 18 years since the 1994 ceasefire.

Narmin Noqte posts video footage and photos from the 17 March youth protest in Baku, Azerbaijan. The video is subtitled in English and available on Vimeo.

Writing on Facebook, journalist Khadija Ismayil responds to threats warning her to stop her investigative reporting. Noting that this is not the first time journalists in Azerbaijan have found themselves the victim of intimidation, beating, and worse, Ismayil calls on the country's government to investigate the matter and for the president to ensure her safety.

Əli Novruzovun bloqu [AZ] writes a review on a new novel penned by Ali Akbar, author of “Artush and Zaur,” the controversial tale of a homosexual love affair between an Armenian and Azerbaijani. In his new book, “Sari Gelin, Akbar takes his readers on the complicated journey of a young girl who reaches sexual maturity, explores her sensuality, and enters into the world of seduction. The blog says the novel challenges the patriarchal system, patriotism, traditional customs, and moral values in Azerbaijani society.

Angered by a photograph of Aynishan Guliyeva, a contestant in this year's national selection for Eurovision, standing next to an Armenian competitor during a recent regional music festival, some youth in Azerbaijan have launched a hate campaign against the singer on the popular social networking site. Created on Monday, the page has 2,726 likes at time of writing with the campaign reportedly resulting in the singer deleting her Armenian counterpart as a contact from her personal Facebook page.

A campaign to raise awareness of the plight of political prisoners and restrictions on freedom of assembly in Azerbaijan has been launched by four non-governmental organizations ahead of next year's Eurovision Song Contest to be held in the country's capital, Baku. A video in English detailing the campaign has been posted on Obyektiv TV and a Facebook page set up here.