Global Voices » Armenia

Armenia: Eurovision Hopefuls

Onnik Krikorian — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:12:24 +0000

Unzipped: Gay Armenia posts the video and lyrics of a song by Armenian rock band Dorians. One of the three most likely contenders to enter this year's Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, the blog says that the group is also his favorite to represent Armenia in the international music competition.

Armenia: Questioning pre-election developments

Onnik Krikorian — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:17:54 +0000

As the May parliamentary elections approach, Unzipped questions the arrest of an opposition journalist for an alleged motoring offense and the suspected political ambitions of a former foreign minister believed to be close to political forces within the ruling regime.

Azerbaijan: Eurovision as an Opportunity for Change in the Caucasus

Onnik Krikorian — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:10:01 +0000

Commonspace comments on news that Armenia will participate in this year's Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Despite a still unresolved conflict between the two countries, the site says Azerbaijan should welcome Armenians at the international music competition and Armenians should respond in the same manner.

France, Turkey: Retaliations Expected for Controversial Law on Armenian Genocide

Claire Ulrich — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:10:32 +0000

The Huffington post, in the launch issue of its Francophone version, publishes a column [fr] listing ”Five retaliations Turkey could take on France” as the French Senate is preparing to vote the final draft of this controversial “memory” law this monday, January 23, 2011. This bill will enforce a fine or even a prison sentence for anyone in France denying that the Armenian genocide actually happened.

Turkey: Post-Murder Trial, Thousands Remember Hrant Dink

Onnik Krikorian — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:46:41 +0000

Thousands have marched in Turkey to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist and Agos newspaper editor Hrant Dink. Angering Turkish nationalists with his outspoken position that the 1915 massacre and deportation of as many as 1.5 million ethnic Armenians as the Ottoman Empire collapsed constituted genocide, Dink was shot dead outside his office in Istanbul on 19 January 2007.

His killer, Ogun Samast, was sentenced last year, but the end this week of the trial of others involved continues to leave many questions relating to official involvement in the assassination unanswered. Writing on Critical Legal Thinking, Basak Ertür provides a comprehensive background to the case as well as the events leading up to Dink's death.

Hrant Dink’s murder was the culminating point of a persecution campaign that can be traced back to February 2004, when he published claims to the effect that Sabiha Gökçen, the adopted daughter of Atatürk and the first woman war pilot of the Turkish Republic, was of Armenian descent. Dink’s claim provoked a public statement from the Chief of Staff, the highest echelon of the Turkish army. A few days later he was summoned to the Istanbul Governor’s Office and “warned” by two people who were introduced to him as “friends” of the then Deputy Governor. Three and a half years after the assassination, the Intelligence Service admitted that these two people were its operatives.

[…]

[…] The deep state lurks menacingly behind the innumerable assassinations, disappearances, provocations, threats, disinformation campaigns, psychological operations and dirty deals of the past few decades. Though providing much fodder for what can be dismissed as conspiracy theorising, the very style and structure of deep state plots render them almost immediately recognisable to a public that has become all too familiar with them. Hrant Dink’s assassination was instantly widely recognised as one such plot.

Certain pieces of information that surfaced during the trial corroborated this view. One of the defendants testified that in his capacity as a police informant, he had repeatedly warned the security forces of the plan to assassinate Dink in the months leading to his death. Some documentary evidence supported the claim that the police was informed of the plan as early as eleven months before the assassination. Key defendants were remarkably smug during the hearings, occasionally signalling, though never disclosing their deeper connections.

[…]

This is what Fethiye Çetin, the lawyer representing the Dink family, meant when she spoke after the decision, referring to the case as a comedy: “They’ve been mocking us all along. And today, we saw that they saved the punch-line for the end.”

Nevertheless, if Dink was loathed by Turkish nationalists, he was also disliked by their counterparts in Armenia and its large Diaspora. Also calling for reconciliation and brotherhood between Armenians and Turks, it's therefore perhaps no wonder that most of those protesting the outcome of the trial as well as commemorating yesterday's anniversary were Turks, Kurds and Armenians living in Turkey.

@UtkuCakir: İnsanlık ölmemiş… Agos'un önünde görmüşler - Fotoğraf: Tolga Bozoğlu #kardesimsinhrant - Hrant Dink pic.twitter.com/ojlyXWoD

Humanity has not died… In front of Agos #you'remybrotherhrant

@BerxwedanYARUK: Ankara da Hrant Dink anması pic.twitter.com/KdA1Px1m

Hrant Dink commemoration in Ankara

Erkan Saka, a Turkish academic and blogger, posts some of the many updates and photos sent out on Twitter in Turkish. However, there were also updates, with some translation into English, from commemorative marches throughout Turkey.

@umitalan: Taksim'le Agos arasında müthiş bır kalabalık var. Devlete, yargıya ve tüm katillerine en ıyi cevap bu. Bu dava burada bitmeyecek.

There is a huge crowd between Taksim and Agos. This is the best answer to the state, prosecution and all criminals. This struggle will not end here.

@449981: CNNTurk 30 bin kişi oldugunu soyledi şimdi.yayını taksimden yapıyorlardı galiba,grubun en arkası gözüküyordu roportaj yaptıkları yerden.

CNNTurk just reported that there are 30,000 people. Looks like they're showing footage from Taksim. […]

@pinarinfanta: Belki de içimi en çok burkan ayakkabısının altındaki delikti,sessizce kaldırımda yatıyordu..suçu sadece ‘Ermeni' olmaktı #kardesimsinhrant

Perhaps the most heart wrenching [image] was the hole in his shoe. He was silently lying there on the ground… His only guilt was that he was “Armenian”. #you'remybrotherhrant

@ETemelkuran: 2nd march in Istanbul today for #hrantdink case.1st one gathered thousands, ppl r gathering again. http://pic.twitter.com/FG1XEgSd via@efkanbolac

@ETemelkuran: One of the most prominent writers Vedat Türkali joined the protests for #hrantdink today. via @mungan_murathan http://pic.twitter.com/BenLfLQo”

@ETemelkuran: The protest in Bodrum tdy.In several cities ppl protested the unjust verdict in #hrantdink case via @beynigezmelerde http://pic.twitter.com/vmtJpkvo”

@ETemelkuran: Ppl of Istanbul r gathering to protest the unjust closure of #hrantdink case for the 2nd time today. The morning march was thousands.

@ETemelkuran: The march is begining inIstanbul.Ppl chanting:”Long live the brotherhood of the peoples!” #hrantdink http://pic.twitter.com/d3ok5oQ4 via@efkanbolac

@ETemelkuran: The streets of İstanbul city centre is shaking with slogans for #hrantdink! http://pic.twitter.com/4XMF4Duh via @efkanbolac

@ETemelkuran: The march in Ankara. After thousands gathered in Istanbul for #hrantdink now it is Ankara's turn. twitpic.com/896b80 via @matakanfoca

@techsoc: I keep thinking: This huge march symbolizes everything Hrant was. Such a shame that it was only his death that brought it about.

@techsoc: Here's a photo of Hrant's dead body. My grandma said: “I cried for days. Who could kill a man with holes in his shoes?” http://bit.ly/yqDn2N

@ETemelkuran: There was a whole under his shoe when #hrantdink was shot.pic shows”the crack in the justice system” pic.twitter.com/jgE3CjYn via@denizmistepe

Başka simply posted the statement in Turkish by ethnic Armenian journalist and writer Karin Karakaşlı made at the commemoration.

19 Ocak bir anma günü değil. Hiçbir zaman da olmadı. Zaten bu topraklarda ayrı ayrı yaşatılmış ne kadar acı varsa, hiçbirinin anma günü olmadı. Herkes acısının yaşatıldığı o tarih geldiğinde, kendince, bir başına kahroldu.

[…]

Dosya kapandı diyorlar bize. Kapandı mı bu dosya? Hrant Dink dosya değil ki kapatasın, o bir yara… Artık köprüden önceki son çıkıştayız. Oradan hakkıyla geçmeden tamamlanacak ödeşme, kurulacak düş, inanılacak adalet, yaşanacak memleket yok. Öbür türlüsü sadece yalan olur ve bir gün başımıza yıkılır. Altında kalırız hep birlikte.

O yüzden gün, sadece söz söylemek değil söz vermek zamanı.

Söz verelim mi birbirimize? Bu dava daha bitmedi.

Söz verelim mi birbirimize? İnsanlık daha ölmedi.

Söz verelim mi birbirimize? Devlet daha hesabını vermedi.

Sözümüz söz olsun. Bu adaletsizlikle yaşamak hepimize haramdır. Aksi için uğraşan hepimize helal olsun.

19 January is not a comemmoration day. It has never been. There has never been a comemmoration day for every other single pain caused in these lands. Everyone lived the pain alone in the period when it was caused, everyone suffered by themselves.

[…]

The dossier has been closed, we are told. Is this dossier closed? Hrant Dink is not a dossier to be closed. He is a wound. We are in the one but last exit before the bridge. There is no score to settle, no hope to harbour, no justice to believe in, no country to live in until you cross it properly. Any other way would be a lie and one day will come upon us. We will stay under the heaviness of it.

This is why it is time to make a promise, not to simply say we will.

Shall we make a promise to each other that this struggle has not ended.

Shall we make a promise to each other that the humanity has not died.

Shall we make a promise to each other that the state is yet to account.

We promise. Living with this injustice is forbidden for all of us. Be blessed all who struggle otherwise.

Judging from the commemorations in Istanbul and elsewhere, as well as from prominent figures and online commentary in Turkey, many appear to agree.

Global Voices Azerbaijan author Pervin Muradli provided the translations from Turkish into English for this post.

Turkey: Hrant Dink Murder Trial Closes

Nigar Hacizade — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:32:32 +0000

Five years and 25 hearings later, the trial to convict those responsible for the murder of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist, has come to a close. The gunman, 17-year-old Ogün Samast, as well as over a dozen others accused of involvement in the gunning down of Dink in Istanbul in January 2007, were caught almost immediately afterwards.

However, according to Dink's family, friends and lawyers, the case is linked to Turkey's so-called deep state structures and the real perpetrators, meaning those who masterminded the crime, have not been brought to justice.

While Samast was sentenced to 22 years in prison last year, yesterday's verdict, which ruled that three other defendants acted as individuals rather than as part of a criminal organization, was a disappointment many had seen coming. From the pre-hearing statement of the group “Hrant's Friends” to the lawyer's statement after the verdict, and throughout a procession from the Beşiktaş Court House to Agos, the newspaper Dink edited, one sentiment stood out.

Journalist Yavuz Baydar summed up that feeling.

@yavuzbaydar: Dink davasına doğru, yolda. Karar çıkacak herhalde, ama bu dava bitmeyecek.

On my way to the court. Seems like a verdict will be issued today, but this trial will not end here.

Indeed, the same sentiment was also echoed in chants and placards. Çiğdem Mater tweeted a photo:

@cigdemmater: Mahkemeye yuruyoruz: oldur diyenler yargilansin #hrantdink http://twitpic.com/85jf4s

We are walking to the court: (the chant is) indict those who ordered the murder.

Mehmet Demir also tweeted a photo from in front of the court where Hrant Dink's widow Rakel Dink was among those standing behind the banner:

@memediko: 5. Yılında, 25. duruşmasında Hrant için, adalet için Beşiktaş Adliyesindeyiz… http://twitpic.com/88bgwi

On the 5th year and 25th hearing, we are at the Beşiktaş Court House for Hrant and for justice.

Another person for who seemed to anticipate the verdict was lawyer Efkan Bolaç.

@efkanbolac: Hrant icin Beşiktaş adliyesine gelinsin ancak adalet icin Beşiktaş adliyesine gelinmesin. Bugün adalet tam tecelli etmeyecek.

Come to the court today for Hrant, but not for justice. Justice will not be fulfilled today.

The group calling themselves “Hrant's Friends” made a statement before the hearing began. The video segment above contains footage of crowds walking towards the court house and chanting several slogans. The statement at 2:19 reads:

We know how they will decide. This is the state's decision, including its security forces, gendarmerie, intelligence, judiciary, media, government, opposition, those who decided to take Hrant away from us 5 years ago will make another decision today saying this was the work of a few hoods. They will try to hide in their dark world. How can they do this? We know who they are. There is something they don't know: before we say it is over, this trial is not over.

Some attending the trial also tweeted from inside the court. Özlem Dalkıran of the Hrant Dink Foundation, for example, quoted the lawyers for the prosecution.

@OzlemDalkiran: Kamu görevlilerinin kapsamlı soruşturmaya tabi tutulmasını defalarca talep etmemize rağmen bu talebimiz karşılanmadı #HrantDink

Our continuous demands for a comprehensive investigation of public officials as part of this case have not been met.

Efkan Bolaç also tweeted a part of their statement mentioning other similar cases in Turkey:

@efkanbolac: Rahip santaro ve zirve yayıncı cinayetinde bu örgütün eylemleri arasındadır. Devlet görevlileri bu davada dosyaya eklenememistir

Priest Santaro and Zirve Publishing House murders are among the actions of this organization. Public officials have not been included in this trial's file.

Bolaç also considered that the question of whether the crime was organized or not would have an impact on the sentence of the killer.

@efkanbolac: Eğer htant dink cinayeti örgütlü halde işlenmişse bu durum agirlastirici sebep olacaktır.

If the Hrant Dink murder was perpetrated by an organized group it will mean aggravated circumstance.

@efkanbolac: davada eğer suc örgütünün varlığı kabul edilip sanıklar örgüt üyeliğinden ceza alırsa karar cocuk Mah.De yargılanan samast'i da etkileyecek

If the existence of a criminal organization is affirmed in this case and the accused are sentenced under that crime, this will affect (the shooter) Ogün Samast, who is being tried at a children's court.

With journalist Yavuz Baydar tweeting that it would be a surprise if no verdict was announced, the Friends of Hrant then announced that whatever the outcome they would organize a procession to where Dink was shot.

@hrantinarkdslri: Bir saat ara verildi. Ardindan karar aciklanacak. Karardan sonra Besiktas'tan Agos'a yuruyoruz!

An hour long break, then the verdict will be announced. After the verdict we will be walking from Beşiktaş to Agos.

There has also been online and offline mobilization for a protest-walk from Istanbul's Taksim Square to the Agos newspaper on Thursday 19 January, the 5th anniversary of Dink's murder, as columnist Hilal Kaplan tweeted.

@hilal_kaplan: Hrant Dink suikasti davasından ne karar çıkarsa çıksın, adalet çıkmayacağını biliyoruz. Perşembe günü 13′te Taksim'den Agos'a yürüyoruz.

Whatever comes out of the Hrant Dink murder trial, we know it won't be justice. We will be walking from Taksim to Agos on Friday at 13.00

Waiting for the verdict in what was reported to be a packed courtroom, Özlem Dalkıran agreed:

@OzlemDalkiran: Bekliyoruz. Verilecek karar devletin kararı olacak, bizim degil. Biz #HrantDink in gercek katillerini buluncaya kadar pesindeyiz davamızın.

We are waiting. It will be the state's verdict, not ours. We will be chasing this case until Hrant Dink's real murderers are found.

Finally the verdict was read aloud and simultaneously tweeted.

@_chiquitita_: Osman Hayal beraat. Erhan Tuncel orgut lliderliiginden beraat. #hrantdink

Both Osman Hayal and Erhan Tuncel have been acquitted on the counts of membership of criminal organization, Tuncel having been accused of being the leader.

@cigdemmater: Tutuksuz yargılananlar da terör örgütüne yardımdan beraatine

Defendants who were being tried without detention have been acquitted on the count of aiding a terrorist organization.

@cigdemmater: Salih hacisalihoglu ruhsatsız silahdan 2 ay 15 gün

Salih Hacısalihoğlu is convicted to 2 months 15 days on possession of unlicenced gun.

@cigdemmater: Ahmet İskender ruhsatsız silahdan 10 ay

Ahmet İskender is sentenced to 10 months on the possession of an unlicensed gun.

@cigdemmater: Yasin hayalin Orhan pamuğu tehditten 3ay hapsine

Yasin Hayal is sentenced to 3 months on the count of threatening Orhan Pamuk.

@cigdemmater: Yasin hayal tasarlanmış adam öldürmeye azmettirmekten agirlastirilmis muebbetine

Yasin Hayal is sentenced to life sentence in solitary confinement with no possiblity of parole on the count of soliciting voluntary manslaughter.

@cigdemmater: Erhan Tuncel Mcdonakdsa dahilinden 10 yıl altı ay hapsine

Erhan Tuncel is sentenced to 10 years and 6 months on being involved in the bombing of the McDonald's in Trabzon.

Journalist Şirin Payzin offered their own interpretation of the verdict:

@siring: Örgüt yok demekle aslında sanık avukatlarının savunmaları kabul edilmiş oldu. Yani cinayeti bu isimler kendi kafalarına göre işlediler.

By denying the existence of organized crime, in a way the defense of the accused was affirmed. So it is as if these people committed the murder out of their own whim.

A press statement outside of the court from the Dink family lawyer Fethiye Çetin immediately followed.

Five years have passed since the murder. (His son) Arat had said they are making fun of us. They've saved the best for last, and we learned that today. It appears Hrant Dink was killed not by planned action but by a few hoodlums. Apparently there is no organization here. We did not expect this much, truly. What does this verdict mean? It means a deep tradition is not broken, and it is not allowed to be broken. This is the state's tradition of political murders, excluding its minorities and making enemies out of them - today's verdict affirms this tradition once again. Those who are extremely disturbed by the state becoming synonymous with adjectives such as the bomber of its own people, the perpetrator of massacres, arsonists, did not make any effort to get rid of these adjectives and turned down the opportunity. This trial was a chance to confront a history full of blood and pain, to cleanse, to say “never again” to murders like this, to democratize, but they did not use this chance. Those who were the “others” and the targets of the state, meaning the politicians and the ruling government of today, seem to have forged an alliance with the tradition that used to marginalize them. But they should know that unless the state is transformed, this alliance is temporary. […] Today, here, this verdict has closed the first phase where the murderers were tried, but this trial is not over. This is a farce, and for us this trial is only starting now. In this process of trying assassins a torch has been held to the darkness that has created killers out of babies. And the real culprits that had been trying to hide in that darkness have emerged. That is why this trial is only beginning now. There are many ways we can go and many areas we can use. We will use all of them with great determination, until the darkness is questioned, the culprits are convicted and we decide this trial has ended.

The crowd then started walking to Agos.

Hrant icin, adalet icin! #hrantdink http://pic.twitter.com/IO9sSZOD

For Hrant, For justice.

Meanwhile, journalist Hanım Büşra Erdal summed up the outcome of the trial.

@busra_erdal: dink cinayetinde sadece yasin hayal ve ogün samast tutuklu kaldı. erhan tuncel tekirdağ cezaevinden tahliye ediliyor #hrantdink

Only Yasin Hayal and Ogün Samast are now in prison in the Dink murder case. Erhan Tuncel has been released from the Tekirdağ Prison, where he was during his trial for the past 5 years.

As of the evening of 17 January, the first reaction from the government side was from Ertuğrul Günay, Minister of Culture and Tourism. According to various news sources, Günay called the verdict “grave,” believing that it will now go to the Supreme Court of Appeals. The verdict, as well as the five-year long judicial process, will also likely remain on Turkey's agenda, but for now all eyes are on a march to mark the fifth anniversary of Dink's murder to be held on Thursday 19th January.

Attendance, which has been significant in the past, is likely to be an indicator of public support for any continuation of the case.

Global: Pictures Not for Free

Onnik Krikorian — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:40:32 +0000

Edmond Terakopian, one of the UK's leading press photographers, comments on the tendency for some publications to expect photojournalists to supply images for free or for a token payment. The ethnic-Armenian World Press Photo Award winner is also using a Twitter hashtag, #picturesnotfree.

Turkey: Remembering the Turkish Schindlers

Onnik Krikorian — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:50:52 +0000

Writing on the Huffington Post, Ziya Meral explains why honoring those Turks that saved Armenians during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire is important. Meral argues that recognizing these ‘Turkish Schindlers' would go some way in defusing tensions between Armenia and Turkey, making the events of 1915 a shared tragedy. For this reason he has launched his own blog-based project to honor those that did save Armenians in what many consider to be the first genocide of the 20th Century at http://www.projectcommonhumanity.net.

Caucasus: The Year in Review

Onnik Krikorian — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:14:47 +0000

As popular uprisings spread through the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, the Arab Spring also tried to take root in the South Caucasus. However, while opposition forces in the region sought to capitalize on the protests, especially hoping to benefit from international media interest in ‘Facebook Revolutions,' they failed to achieve similar results.

In Armenia, for example, the low use of social media in political activism was particularly evident. With the number of Facebook users standing at just 123,000 at the time, few signed up for the ‘Armenian Revolution of Reform' although, as testimony to the importance of traditional grassroots political activity, around 10,000 people did turn out to protest.

At the same time, in neighboring Azerbaijan, where the use of social media is arguably more evolved than in Armenia despite a slightly lower Facebook penetration rate, thousands signed up for protest actions planned for March. Yet, despite that declared intention to attend, barely more than a hundred youth actually took to the streets and found themselves easily dispersed or detained by police.

Ironically, Facebook and Twitter were better used to report on those detentions in the Azerbaijani capital, and the same was true the following day when another protest action was staged by a traditional opposition party.

There was also criticism of the protests from some bloggers, although demonstrations still continued the following month. By May, however, attention had already turned to Eurovision. With the annual musical competition, launched in Europe in the 1950s, no stranger to controversy in the Caucasus, the event was to become even more interesting when Azerbaijan unexpectedly won.

And, as bloggers turned their attention towards staging the competition in Baku later this year, some activists naturally used the opportunity to raise other more sensitive issues. One of those was the continued incarceration of journalist and prisoner of conscience Eynulla Fatullayev, with Amnesty International especially making renewed calls for his release.

Channel 4 anchor Jon Snow.

The UK's veteran Channel 4 anchorman, Jon Snow, led the campaign launched on Twitter, and two days later the journalist was pardoned and released. However, some online media observers such as Global Voices co-founder Ethan Zuckerman questioned whether the micro-blogging site had played as significant a role as it first might have seemed.

Indeed, despite Fatullayev's release, the year was also marked by the arrest of other activists in Azerbaijan such as Bakhtiyar Hajiyev and Jabbar Savalan, allegedly on trumped-up politically motivated charges, although the latter was pardoned just before the end of December.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Georgia, Facebook resulted in the dismissal of a policeman identified through the social media site after the dispersal of striking veterans from the South Ossetia and Abkhazia conflicts. Even so, social media was perhaps better known for ridiculing opposition protesters in May or discussing the visit to Tbilisi by Sharon Stone and the appearance of a Georgian road sign in a Beyoncé video.

But, with more than 700,000 Facebook users in the country, that's not to say there wasn't any political engagement online with the Georgian government particularly active in this area. In fact, with parliamentary elections scheduled for Armenia and Georgia this year and presidential elections in all three countries in 2013, the use of social media will likely become more important as citizens become more engaged.

In Armenia, for example, Facebook has been used to petition the capital's municipality to end the killing of stray dogs and to call for the dismissal of a controversial regional governor. Moreover, while these were genuine grassroots initiatives, there also continues to be substantial funding from the US Government and other international donors, although it remains to be seen to what extent such projects will succeed.

The first test of that will likely be the May parliamentary elections in Armenia, with Georgia following in the Autumn or possibly earlier, so stay up-to-date with the latest developments on Twitter at @gvcaucasus.

Շնորհավոր Նոր Տարի. Yeni İliniz Mübarək. გილოცავთ ახალ წელს. С Новым Годом. Happy New Year.

Bethlehem: Armenian and Greek Clergy Clash at Christmas

Onnik Krikorian — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:18:22 +0000

Armenian and Greek priests have once again clashed, but this time at the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, much to the astonishment and amusement of social media users worldwide. Apparently stemming from a dispute over which priests would clean which part of the church, such brawls are nothing new.

In November 2008, for example, Armenian and Greek Monks clashed at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Lisa Shafer: A Writer's Blog comments.

Okay, so Christmas is one of the biggest holidays of the year for the Christian world — even though most of how we celebrate Christmas is actually pagan (Dec. 25, trees, greenery, lights, gifts — all pagan. Gotta love that irony, too.). And Bethlehem is where it all began…..

So, I found this pic on yahoo today: Greek and Armenian priests, cleaning up a Bethlehem church they share with Catholics, broke into an all-out broom war this week over who was cleaning whose part of the church.

The whole thing had to be broken up by Palestinian police, who are, presumably, Muslim. The layers of irony here are just too much. It'd be hilarious if it weren't so petty and childish — and sad.

Twitter users particularly enjoyed reporting on the brawl.

@pixie_pete: Will Bethlehem priest tag fighting become a new Olympic sport? […]

@TCofLondon: Rival priests in Bethlehem brawl. This really is hilarious! […]

@metalvicar Rachel: It's a turf war…Priests tell each other to ‘get off my manor, you muppet' BBC News - Priests brawl in Bethlehem […]

@meneedbeer: Greek or Armenian priests: who's better at sweeping a Church floor? There's only one way to find out- FIGHT!! […]

@AhmNoHere: “No one was arrested because all those involved were men of God” WTF?!? […]

@Rohypgnosis: Phew! A good job they're all full to the brim of the ‘Love of Jesus' or it might have got REALLY nasty :D […]

@nickjtaylor: Peace on Earth indeed: […] Just one more reason I can't take religion seriously.

Fr Ray Blake's Blog, however, took a moment to reflect:

Greeks and Armenians fight in the sanctuary: is this a brawl, muscular Christianity or just two factions convinced they are right. Such outbreaks in the Holy Land are not unusual.

Even so, Fr Stephen Smuts Blog was not impressed:

[…] this time it’s between clergy in Bethlehem at the Church of the Nativity. Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic priests and monks who were armed with brooms got into it while cleaning the Church. Palestinian riot police were called in:

[…]

What a pathetic witness. See for yourself:

Globalisering, christendom en het Midden-Oosten, however, attempts to go deeper into reasons for the scuffle:

This is interesting stuff, especially because I suspect that today's broom fight reflects some of the increased tensions over the restoration of the church, badly needed for many years, initiated by the Palestinian Authority a year or so back, boosted by their recent UN bid, and contentious among the communities that use the church. Not that they are not convinced something has to be done, but paying for repairs, as much as cleaning, may alter the rights of usage of each and everyone in the church. Who’s to pay for what and when? Some tension over these major changes is quite understandable, as is some brawling by young and eager monks …

However, most of today’s commentators seem to have missed both its rituality and its link to current Palestinian affairs and this therefore does not explain the world wide fascination with these scuffles. Part of the fascination, of course, is the obvious tension between Christianity's ideals of peace on earth and its reality of fighting clergy - especially when the fighting is so visually satisfying with nice new brooms that seem to have been bought just for the occasion. No deaths, no seriously wounded … we all love to watch a good fight, especially when it confirms our preconceptions about Christianity, clergy, and the Holy Land – yes, of course, it must also have something to do with the fact that it happens in Bethlehem, in the Church of the Nativity, in the week following Catholic and Protestant Christmas, in preparation for Orthodox Christmas - if a fight seems out of place, then this one, there and now.

Indeed, any politics behind the incident were lost on most others, especially coming as it did at Christmas.

Armenia: Fans of Facebook Cocktail Bar

Onnik Krikorian — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:58:46 +0000

Global Voices' Caucasus Editor snaps a photo from mobile of a new cocktail bar in Yerevan, the Armenian capital. The bar is called ‘Fans of Facebook' and there's of course a group page on the popular social networking site.

Armenia: Activists Demand Controversial Governor's Dismissal

Liana Aghajanian — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:14:39 +0000

Surik Khachatryan, the governor of Armenia's southern Syunik province, has been making headlines in the last month for all the wrong reasons. After allegedly assaulting Armenian businesswoman Silva Hambardzumyan in a Yerevan hotel, Khachatrian avoided prosecution for assault because law enforcement agencies considered that he hit her “only once and did not injure her.”

This week, however, the controversial governor has been filmed in a video insulting and threatening environmentalists, including well-known activist Mariam Sukhudyan, in the village of Kajaran, located 50 miles from the border with Iran. The activists were there protesting a mining project that they say will harm the environment and cause residents to leave, another exodus that Armenia, which is facing an emigration crisis, can't afford.

The mining company on the other hand, says the project will help the country economically, but the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women has initiated a petition on social change site, Change.org, calling for Khachatryan's dismissal:

The Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women demands that Surik Khachatrian, governor of Armenia ‘s Syunik province, be immediately sacked for assaulting a woman.

The public slapping by the governor of businesswoman Silva Hambardzumian at Armenia Marriott hotel Yerevan in November, did not even receive public condemnation by our government. And recently, during his visit to Kajaran, Surik Khachatryan has threatened eco-activist Mariam Sukhudyan. This would be unacceptable in any civilized society. When a man, especially a government official displays such violent behavior and the government does not at least condemn it or punish it, it is a message to all that violence against women is condoned and an accepted practice in Armenia.

The Coalition condemns all forms of gender based violence. We consider that such acts reinforce a culture of violence and encourages violence towards women which is so rampant among Armenian families. We ask that the governor be sacked for such uncivilized behavior.

At time of writing, the petition had 524 out of 3,000 signatures and was slowly making its way through Armenian social media circles on Facebook, including on the page of a bicycling NGO and that of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women where Lara Aharonian, co-founder of the Women's Resource Center in Armenia, encouraged members to sign the petition:

If we stay silent, this is not going to stop, he needs to leave!

In the public group page Save Teghut Forest, championed by Sukhudyan and created to raise awareness about one of the many urgent ecological issues facing Armenia, group member Nora Kayserian did the same:

Please sign the petition to help throw out this fool!

Meanwhile, the two part amateur video posted on YouTube on Monday has been widely circulated on social networks and has garnered almost 30,000 views combined. With the group in heavy coats as winter settles in, Khachatryan can be seen engaged in a heated conversation with Sukhudyan and other eco-activists who traveled to Kajaran to protest against the sale of large portions of land to Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC).

When Sukhudyan presses him about standing by the villagers who oppose the mine, Khachatryan tells them to “shut up” and warns them to behave to avoid anything happening to them. “Why have you come here to do my job?” he asks Sukhudyan, who tells him that she does not want his job, but came only to support local residents.

“If you protect the rights of these citizens and force the reversal of the government's decision [to sell the land], which I know you have the power to do, I'll go about my business, but because I see that no one is standing by these villagers, I've come to be by their side,” she says in the video in Armenian.

Khachatrian tells the group in the footage that the homes of villagers homes will not be destroyed, but when another activist steps up to speak, the governor hurls an insult at the young woman, calling her a “dragonfly” and telling her to talk less. And when a Diasporan Armenian activist speaks up, Khachatrian tells him to go to his own country and preach there instead.

“But this is my country,” responds the activist, who has lived in Armenia for more than decade. No wonder then that the footage prompted Yerevan-based artist Kassouny to create a caricature of Khachatrian, complete with a fire-breathing dragonfly and boxing gloves, which he shared on his Facebook fan page.

Rafik Atayan, Kajaran's mayor, resigned last week over the transfer of land to ZCMC while at a press conference held after her assault Hambardzumyan accused Khachatrian of misappropriating more than $200,000 worth of mining equipment from a firm that belonged to her. No stranger to controversy, Khachatryan was also accused of beating up a teenage boy in 2008, but again cleared of charges.

Armenia-Azerbaijan: Garlic Wars

Onnik Krikorian — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:21:31 +0000

As Armenia and Turkey come to blows over a UNESCO decision to enter a meal eaten in both countries into its list of Intangible Heritage, the dispute over food now appears to have spread to once again include Azerbaijan.

Locked into a bitter stalemate over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, around 25,000 died in fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the early 1990s and a million forced to flee their homes. A lasting peace remains elusive.

As a result, Armenians and Azerbaijanis naturally prefer to overlook the many similarities they share, but inter-ethnic rivalry over culture and tradition is perhaps most fiercest over food. Kebabistan sets the scene.

Feeling burned by UNESCO's decision, another group of Armenians is now taking steps to safeguard what they believe to be the Armenian lineage of tolma, stuffed grape leaves or other vegetables, which are frequently also served in Turkey, where they are known as dolma.

[…]

The Azeris, meanwhile, appear even more focussed on protecting their cuisine from what they believe are Armenian efforts to encroach on their culinary territory. Azerbaijan has its own culinary watchdog, an organization called the National Cuisine Center, whose director, Tahir Amiraslanov, appears to spend most of his time on an effort to teach the world that Armenian cuisine is actually Azeri cuisine. […]

Stay tuned. In this food fight, there is clearly more to come.

Arthur Chapman on Flickr

And it wasn't long before more did come, albeit in an unlikely form after one local historian in Armenia reportedly discovered that garlic from Azerbaijan was on sale in his local supermarket. Despite one local trader saying that the garlic was the tastiest as well as cheapest available, some local media responded hysterically.

Tamada Tales explains.

Armenians are constantly on the ball for possible attacks from implacable foe Azerbaijan, but who would have expected an enemy infiltration so unspeakably vile in nature? Garlic, grown on Azerbaijan’s hostile soil, apparently has found a way to penetrate the two countries' sealed border, and then had the effrontery to appear on vegetable stands in the Armenian capital, Yerevan.

[…]

A concerned citizen, Karapetian sounded the alarm, and reporters hurried to the scene. “Garlic of the company based on [President Heydar] Aliyev Street in Baku is gleefully sold in… an Armenian supermarket,” the puzzled historian said.

[…]

Apparently, some fear that the garlic could be an early sign of more deadly forms of warfare. Investigators have already whisked off the offending bulbs, but did they act in time before unsuspecting citizens added the Azerbaijani garlic to dolma or khorovatz sauce? Wrote one publication ominously: “Today it’s garlic, tomorrow it will be something else.”

Ironically, however, this isn't the first time that Azerbaijani produce has been available to Armenians. At the end of November, for example, Ianyan blogger and Global Voices author Liana Aghajanian discovered another example in an Armenian Supermarket in the United States.

Unlike the Armenian media, however, her Tumblr blog was more enthusiastic about the unexpected find.

Pomegranate diplomacy: Pomegranate juice, product of Azerbaijan, bought at my local Armenian market that is probably in many Los Angeles-area Armenian homes right now. Also, you can’t see it but the juice brand is called “Real Deal.” Too good.

Meanwhile, in Nagorno Karabakh itself, Armenians still have a fondness for Azerbaijani cuisine while there is also a demand for Armenian products in Azerbaijan too, as one Karabakh journalist explains on the Caucasus Circle of Peace Journalism.

Azerbaijani dishes are still in high demanded at the restaurants of Karabakh. All over the region people speak about the Azerbaijani cuisine with respect. Despite a conflict that is ongoing between the two nations for more than twenty years, in many restaurants patrons can taste typical Azerbaijani dishes alongside the rich offerings of Karabakh cuisne.

[…]

Despite a great choice on offer at stores nowadays, Igor Davtian does not change his habits: he definitely drinks only Azerbaijani tea, which is sent to him by his relatives from Russia.

“I brew tea in a very particular way. I do not trust my wife in this matter at all. She just cannot brew it to the same taste. I order tea and my relatives send it to me from Russia – but they themselves order it from Baku. At the same time, and my relatives told me that their neighbors in Russia are sending Armenian cognac to Baku. What can we do, that’s just what our lives came to,” Igor Davtian says.

[…]

Armenia and Azerbaijan do not only have territorial disputes: there is also much argument about music, patterns of carpet weaving – and surely about the origins of dishes as well. Armenians and Azerbaijanis still discuss who of them came up with the song “Sari Gelin” and who invented tolma. As of the “ethnic origins” of shashlik [GV Note: Barbecue], even Georgians enter the debate. But that is a different story…

With tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan the highest they've been in years, the heated debate over cuisine will likely continue to overshadow any possibility for a sometimes shared culture, or even trade, to bring the two sides together. Certainly that seems to be the case for some media outlets in the region.

Armenia: Policing Christmas

Onnik Krikorian — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:01:41 +0000

Unzipped comments on a new festive advert for the Armenian police. A recent Transparency International report on policing placed the force among some of the worst in the world, but the blog nonetheless welcomes the move and hopes that the image promoted will become reality.

Armenia: The British Ambassador's Facebook Diplomacy

Onnik Krikorian — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:41:25 +0000

While the British Ambassador to Azerbaijan recently made use of Twitter to answer questions in real time, his counterpart in Armenia, Charles Lonsdale, chose Facebook for a two-hour Q&A session to mark the completion of his term in the country. Indeed, today's online event represented an interesting case study in the potential for local political interaction online.

However, despite alarming rates of poverty, corruption and emigration, as well as significant concerns over media freedom and human rights protection, the first question asked by an ethnic Armenian outside of the former Soviet republic showed that priorities can be very different for those living or born abroad.

Because of this, perhaps, Ianyan blogger and Global Voices author Liana Aghajanian, although also based outside of Armenia, asked a question related to the often different priorities that many citizens do have inside the country.

Citing the example of the London-Armenian community, the British Ambassador responded by saying he believed that it would be wrong to consider the Diaspora a ‘homogenous bloc that has only one agenda' although there are ‘issues such as relations with Turkey, where there are different priorities and approaches.'

That's not to say that the foreign policy agenda isn't also a priority for some in Armenia though, with one person from a think-tank set up by a former Armenian Foreign Minister attempting to link Scottish Independence with a long-running territorial dispute with Azerbaijan.

Nevertheless, as many surveys show that foreign policy is not the main priority for most citizens, Liana Aghajanian again raised some of those issues instead.

Another question, one of three from the same person, and the only ones submitted during the two-hour period as opposed to before it, again brought the subject back to Nagorno Karabakh.

Dear Mr. Ambassador. There is the perception in Armenian expert circles that Britain has a one-sided position on the Karabakh issue taking into account economic (mainly oil) interests in Azerbaijan. Is it that view justified? Can the UK take a neutral position on this issue and to develop political and economic relations with Armenia.

In all, 13 questions were asked by 7 people, illustrating the problem with social media in Armenia. Although the Armenian government claims Internet penetration stands at 47.1 percent, few believe such figures especially when recent household surveys by the Caucasus Resource Research Centers (CRRC) put it at around half that.

The results of other CRRC surveys also indicate that 67 percent of Armenians have never used the Internet at all, with only 14 percent accessing it on a daily basis. Meanwhile, according to SocialBakers, although use is increasing, Armenia still has only 242,300 Facebook users out of a population officially put at 3,262,200.

Political engagement online also remains low as opposition attempts to stage a MENA-style uprising earlier this year showed. The point was not lost on the Ambassador himself in an answer to another question from Liana Aghajanian regarding the local media landscape:

“Internet access is increasing and will change the picture over time but it's still not an option for majority of people here,” the Ambassador wrote.