Global Voices Online

Seetizen, the blog of a youth activist in Armenia, decries the latest action by the pro-radical opposition Hima youth movement — a list which labels various celebrities, political figures and others as “non-Armenian” because of their support for the authorities. And Nothing Else Matters also weighs in with its own criticism of what the blog considers to be tactics designed to divide rather than unite society. Interestingly, one of the names on the blacklist is Armenia's contestant in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, Sirusho.

Recent Links also in Central Asia & Caucasus

Musafirbek says that the president of Uzbekistan officially thanked the cotton-growers for gathering the harvest of this strategic product for Uzbekistan. However, those who sweat away, collecting this cotton (including children) were not mentioned in the president’s address.

Alexander Visotzky writes about the opening of a monument in Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan, where the authorities uncovered a 15-foot high bronze statue of incumbent president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Dafydd reports that the EU has lifted the arms embargo on Uzbekistan. Reasons given are abolishment of the death penalty and release of political prisoners.