Stories from Quick Reads and Armenian
Armenia: Reflections on Homosexuality and Fascism
Unzipped: Gay Armenia reflects on Brotherhood, a 2009 Danish film about homosexuality and fascism, in the context of the neo-Nazi firebombing of D.I.Y., a gay friendly bar in Yerevan, earlier this year.
Armenia-Georgia: Typography Without Borders?
Behance features a typographic project to write the Georgian word for hello phonetically in an Armenian script stylized in such a way that it resembles Georgian. Although some letters in the Armenian and Georgian alphabets can resemble each other depending on the fonts and case or styles used, they are...
Armenia: Military Doctor Dies after Oligarch MP Guard Beating
Unzipped updates its readers on the recent beating of three military doctors at a restaurant owned by one of Armenia's most infamous and controversial oligarch MPs. Following the death of one of the victims from his injuries, the blog posts a subtitled video detailing the attitude of Ruben Hayrapetyan, also...
Nagorno Karabakh: Opposition Presidential Candidate Interviewed
CivilNet posts a video interview with Vitali Balasanyan [AM/EN], a former military commander and candidate running against the incumbent and defacto president of the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh in an election scheduled for 19 July. Although the vote is not recognized by the international community as legitimate, in another...
Armenia: Army Doctors Beaten In Oligarch's Restaurant
Unzipped comments on the severe beating of three army doctors dining out at a restaurant owned by notorious oligarch MP and Armenian Football Federation President Ruben Hayrapetyan. Better known by his ‘Nemetz Rubo’ nickname, the blog notes that the violent assault, allegedly by his bodyguards or security guards, is not...
Armenia: Fascist Rubo (Hayrapetyan)
With anti-gay hysteria breaking out in nationalist and official circles, Unzipped: Gay Armenia now reports that Ruben Hayrapetyan, a ruling Republican Party MP and President of the Armenian Football Association, has joined in by declaring that homosexuals should be ‘punished.’ One of Armenia's notorious oligarchs also known as ‘Nemetz (German)...
Armenia: State Sponsored Fascism
Following support from government officials and representatives of the nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashanktsutyun (ARF-D) for two Neo-Nazis accused of firebombing a gay-friendly bar in Yerevan, Unzipped: Gay Armenia asks if the country is moving towards a form of state sponsored fascism that threatens the rights and well-being of its own...
Armenia: Blogger Calls for Resignation of Homophobic Dashnak MP
Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on the continuing controversy surrounding Artsvik Minasyan, an MP from the nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation–Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D). The blog says that in addition to bailing out a Neo-Nazi arsonist in police custody, Minasyan continues to make homophobic statements in the media following the 8 May firebombing of...
Nagorno Karabakh: Cultural Destruction and Preservation in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict
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...
Armenia: NGOs Condemn Arson Attack on Gay-Friendly Bar
Unzipped: Gay Armenia posts the text of a statement by a group of NGOs including the Helsinki Citizens Assembly in Vanadzor, Women's Resource Center, and Pink Armenia, among others, condemning the 8 May arson attack on D.I.Y., a gay-friendly bar in Yerevan. The blog also reports that two members of...
Armenia: US Ambassador urges free, fair and credible elections
Ambassador Heffern's Video Blog's comments on the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia. Posted on the U.S. Embassy's YouTube Channel, the American diplomat stresses the need for free and fair elections, details some of the changes introduced in the electoral code, and urges the government, opposition and civil society to ensure...
Armenia: Ushahidi deployed for parliamentary elections
Georgia was the first country in the South Caucasus to deploy a bespoke crowd-sourcing and crisis mapping platform for its local elections in May 2010, but Armenia will be the first to use Ushahidi to monitor the conduct of national elections in the form of the upcoming May 2012 parliamentary...
Armenia: Eurovision propaganda fiasco
Unzipped comments on a call by Armenian singers to boycott this year's annual Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Armenia and Azerbaijan remain deadlocked in a conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh and the call to boycott was ostensibly made in protest at the killing of an Armenian...
Armenia: Homophobia as PR for the Yerevan Municipality
Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on homophobic comments left on the Facebook page of the new Mayor of Yerevan, Taron Margaryan, in response to recent environmental protests in the city. Noting that the discriminatory remarks were made by municipal employees, including the person responsible for public relations, the blog says that...
Armenia: Rabiz and Public Diplomacy
Global Chaos examines the rabiz genre of Armenian music and questions the role it plays in public diplomacy especially in reaching out to the country's large and influential Diaspora.
Azerbaijan: Remembering Hrant Dink
The Önər Blog [AZ] remembers Hrant Dink, the slain Turkish-Armenian journalist, editor and human rights activist who was murdered in Istanbul four years ago today. The post is also available in Armenian. 1+1=3 [AZ], another Azerbaijani blog, also posts an entry in memory of a figure who stood for reconciliation...
Caucasus: Expedition 206
Having already visited Georgia, Expedition 206 arrived in Armenia. The initiative, sponsored by Coca-Cola, will see three bloggers visit 206 countries in 365 days. iReport [AM] posts photographs as well as an account of the travelers meeting with 20 local bloggers and says that they will travel to Azerbaijan tomorrow....
Ukraine: Anthem in 14 Languages
Ukraine's national anthem performed in 14 languages (Ukrainian, Greek, Tatar, Gagauz, Polish, Romanian, Georgian, Yiddish, Romani, Russian, Hungarian, Belarusian, Armenian, Azerbaijani) – at Ukrainiana.
Armenia: More homophobic media reports
Unzipped: Gay Armenia continues to monitor the level of homophobia evident in the local media and comments on reports that members of the country's LGBT community meet next to the capital's municipality building.
Armenia: Homophobia PR defensive
Following the recent controversy surround a music video clip which contained elements that many considered homophobic, Unzipped: Gay Armenia updates readers by saying the band, VO.X, is now on the defensive and has launched a damage-limitation PR exercise in response. The blog, however, remains unimpressed and says that “being a...
Armenia: Music video homophobia concerns
The Armenian Observer posts a video by a British-Armenian band, VO.X., saying that the song, I Love Armenia, contains some powerful messages. However, while Unzipped:Gay Armenia agrees to some extent, it also notes that the messages are not always positive. This is especially true for what the blog says is...