Global Voices Online

Unzipped comments on the latest intrigues and recent scandal to hit Armenia. They include allegations from a senior member of Armenian Public TV that the bodyguards of a prominent government parliamentarian were responsible for an attack on a cafe which left one dead, and speculation that a regional energy project might yet bring about a solution to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh.

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.