Armenia and the information war

[Federate]

Re: Armenia and the information war

Հաղթել ենք Ադրբեջանի պրոպագանդիստ Գեորգի Վանյանի դեմ։
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Festival Shut Out: Public outcry leads to cancellation of Azeri film screenings in Yerevan


Hours before an Azerbaijani Film Festival was to be launched in Yerevan today (November 12), the festival was cancelled, as the cultural centers chosen as hosts bowed to public outcry on media social networks and refused to participate.


The two-day film festival called ‘Stop” and initiated by the Caucasus Center of Peaceful Initiatives, aimed to create a dialogue between Armenia and neighboring Azerbaijan, and organizers say, the festival did not bear any political context.

“Our task was to start a dialogue, because we do not have the culture of talking to each other,” says George Vanyan, organizer of the festival, head of the Caucasus Center of Peace-Making Initiatives says. “The festival was supposed to be held still last year, however, all the cinema halls were busy then. And only this year, it was possible to find a place for the festival; however, only a few hours before the opening ceremony, the festival did not take place again.”

Five films were to be included in the festival.

A wave of protest arose in Yerevan, while the organizers and their supporters were severely criticized and threatened on social networks.

“The real image of Azerbaijan is full of hatred, history distortion. We hold film displays, where it is evident that in Azerbaijan film is used as a tool for an anti-Armenian propaganda, and holding such a film festival [in Yerevan] is senseless,” Karen Vrtanesyan, founding director of ‘Heritage’ cultural NGO, among those who opposed it, told ArmeniaNow.

http://armenianow.com/arts_and_culture/25820/azerbaijani_film_festival_cancel_yerevan

[Mos]

Re: Armenia and the information war

Imagine if Azeris tried to do an Armenian film festival in Baku, the organizers would most likely be hanged in town square or something....

[arakeretzig]

Re: Armenia and the information war

Serzh Sargsyan: in case of new war our blow will be final and deadly
November 15, 2010 - 17:06 AMT 13:06 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan delivered a speech after the military exercise in Nagorno Karabakh.

The President said:

“The exercises that we observed today have really been very impressive. This is the greatest proof of the fact that every month and every year our army matures even further, becomes more combat ready, more organized, more controllable, and more disciplined. What we have is enough to deal the potential enemy a lethal blow. However, we will not be complacent about that but will continue to constantly amplify capabilities, skills and armaments of our Armed Forces because developments in the neighboring country are extremely troublesome. They link all their failures and problems to Armenians. Anti-Armenism has become state policy. Unfortunately, they prepare their own people for war; we, on the contrary, prepare our people for peace, explain the importance of solving the issue through peaceful means. We state publicly, yes, we are ready to make some concessions, ready to solve the issue when the final status of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic is determined, i.e. the issue of security of the people of Nagorno Karabakh is resolved.

And to solve this issue, Officers and Soldiers, you always must be stronger, your combat readiness must intensify, your weapons must be faster, your willpower must prevail, your dedication must be boundless. I have no doubt that if the time comes, we will not only do what we did in 1992-94 but will go even further and solve the issue finally; the issue will be closed for good. What’s to be done to reach our goal? We must constantly be vigilant, be ready. Nobody should doubt your resolve just as I don’t doubt it, because provocations go on, shooting goes on, people continue to die and not every one gives this conduct of Azerbaijan a proper assessment. It means that we have to be vigilant, it means that our military exercises, which have been very close to combat situation, must become a warning for the others, while for us they must become a norm of life. During the military exercises, the officers should display their knowledge, soldiers – their abilities, the command should constantly improve their skills. This is our approach, we have no other way. As Commander-in-Chief, as President of Armenia, Officers and Soldiers, I promise that you will have no need of anything. We will acquire modern gear, which we possess also today, we will have everything to be able to protect the most precious thing we have – lives of our soldiers and officers. What we have is quite enough to fulfill with honor the most important task we face.

We hear warmongering every day, every day we hear threats and attempts to scare us. But we have been there already. My veteran friends, who are present here today, officers of senior generation remember how in the beginning of 1992 only lazy in Azerbaijan was not talking about drinking tea in Stepanakert or Shushi. Their dream remained unfulfilled and many of them took it to the otherworld. At the time they too thought that they were very strong, that they could solve the issue and very fast. We don’t want war and never wanted, but at that time we had to defend our Motherland. If the time comes again, our blow will be final and deadly.”

.....

[bell-the-cat]

Re: Armenia and the information war

Հաղթել ենք Ադրբեջանի պրոպագանդիստ Գեորգի Վանյանի դեմ։
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Festival Shut Out: Public outcry leads to cancellation of Azeri film screenings in Yerevan


Hours before an Azerbaijani Film Festival was to be launched in Yerevan today (November 12), the festival was cancelled, as the cultural centers chosen as hosts bowed to public outcry on media social networks and refused to participate.


The two-day film festival called ‘Stop” and initiated by the Caucasus Center of Peaceful Initiatives, aimed to create a dialogue between Armenia and neighboring Azerbaijan, and organizers say, the festival did not bear any political context.

“Our task was to start a dialogue, because we do not have the culture of talking to each other,” says George Vanyan, organizer of the festival, head of the Caucasus Center of Peace-Making Initiatives says. “The festival was supposed to be held still last year, however, all the cinema halls were busy then. And only this year, it was possible to find a place for the festival; however, only a few hours before the opening ceremony, the festival did not take place again.”

Five films were to be included in the festival.

A wave of protest arose in Yerevan, while the organizers and their supporters were severely criticized and threatened on social networks.

“The real image of Azerbaijan is full of hatred, history distortion. We hold film displays, where it is evident that in Azerbaijan film is used as a tool for an anti-Armenian propaganda, and holding such a film festival [in Yerevan] is senseless,” Karen Vrtanesyan, founding director of ‘Heritage’ cultural NGO, among those who opposed it, told ArmeniaNow.

http://armenianow.com/arts_and_cultu...cancel_yerevan

One again Armenia snatches defeat from the jaws of victory, then ignorantly waves it around like it were something of actual value.

[ninetoyadome]

Re: Armenia and the information war

Armenia: Azerbaijani Film Festival Cancellation Doesn’t Stop Controversy in Yerevan
November 15, 2010 - 2:26pm, by Marianna Grigoryan
Armenia Azerbaijan Culture Nagorno-Karabakh Politics


An attempt to screen Azerbaijani short films in the Armenian capital of Yerevan has failed, blocked in large part by a blitz of opposition spread by social networking websites. But the organizers say they are undaunted and will try to go ahead with the film festival at a later date.

The festival, organized by the Caucasus Center of Peace-Making Initiatives, a local non-governmental organization that promotes conflict resolution, had been scheduled for November 12, following nearly a year-long search to find a venue willing to host the program. The festival, called “Stop!” in reference to its attempt to stop ethnic intolerance, also failed to open last year.

Gevorg Vanian, the director of the Caucasus Center of Peace-Making Initiatives and the festival’s initiator, blamed a last-minute refusal from the festival’s venue to stage the screenings for the cancellation, but added that “everything is much more deeply-rooted and complicated” than the venue snafu. At the same time, he tried to remain upbeat, exuding a show-will-go-on spirit.

“The festival of Azerbaijani films in Armenia has not failed; it has rather been blocked,” Vanian said. “I won’t give up on my plans; I assure you I’ll be consistent in my efforts at organizing the festival.”

“By showing these films, we’re trying to initiate a dialogue within Armenia,” Vanian said when announcing the festival last October. The US Embassy in Yerevan, which supported the project, said that it had backed the festival “to promote an appreciation for tolerance, multiculturalism and the expression of diverse views and opinions.”

The planned 93-minute-long program eschewed films about Azerbaijan and Armenia’s 22-year-long conflict over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Instead, it featured four short films about daily life in Azerbaijan, shot between 2007 and 2008.

Armenian opposition to the festival proved particularly virulent on Facebook. Writer Lusine Vayachian, who provided technical support for the festival, came under attack after posting an announcement about Stop! on the social network. “Are you not afraid that the day will come, and you and your Aliyev-like degenerates will redeem impudence with blood?” one Facebook user wrote Vayachian in reference to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Meanwhile, another showing of Azerbaijani-made films had an easier time. In response to Stop!, the non-governmental cultural organization Zharang (“Heir”) held screenings of Azerbaijani and Turkish films with the title “Hatred towards Armenians in Turkish and Azerbaijani movies.”

“Our young people must understand how they are being presented in the neighboring countries,” said Zharang Chairperson Karen Vrtanesian. “[A]nother big question is how we are going to communicate with the people who were brought up on this stuff.”

A former Armenian ambassador to Canada, Ara Papian, fears that holding a festival like “Stop!” in Yerevan without a similar event in Baku would encourage the outside world to think that ethnic tolerance needs to be encouraged only among Armenians – an impression that he asserts would be perceived “as a sign of weakness.”

“The level of tolerance in Armenian society is several times higher than that of the Azerbaijani society,” claimed Papian, who heads the Modus Vivendi Center, a local think-tank.

Vanian commented that his goal was to “create a free platform and present the real Azerbaijan” without influence from the “universal, total propaganda” that is widely circulating in Yerevan.

Some nationalist youth groups were strongly opposed to the festival. A November 11 statement from five youth organizations argued that Armenians “have no moral right to show Azerbaijani films” so long as Azerbaijan pursues an “anti-Armenian” policy. The youth wing of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutiun called the film festival “blasphemous” and a sign of “disrespect for Armenia and the Armenian people.”

One young Yerevan resident wondered why the festival organizers continue to fight such sentiments. “I don’t understand why they keep trying to hold such a festival for months when this idea gets no support from society,” commented 22-year-old student Anush Soghomonian. “Do all these refusals, criticism and obstacles have no impact?”

But the controversy over the Azerbaijani film festival left some young Armenians cold. “I really don’t understand why people make so much fuss about this festival,” commented 30-year-old Yerevan accountant Satenik Manukian. “Don’t attend it if you don’t want to; as for me, it’s interesting how Azerbaijanis live and what they think.”

Nane Abgarian, a 25-year-old Yerevan student says she has found Azerbaijani friends via various international youth programs; no harm is done in “getting to know” Azerbaijani culture, she asserted.

“This is a festival and not propaganda,” she said.

Editor's note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance journalist based in Yerevan.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/62382

[Tigranakert]

Re: Armenia and the information war

One again Armenia snatches defeat from the jaws of victory, then ignorantly waves it around like it were something of actual value.

You biased cat. Why don't your fellow non-Armenian brothers organize such a thing in Azerbaijan, but only in Armenia? It's a two-way street. This American-financed promotion campagin serves a certain goal, simultaneously ignoring the Julfa Destructions and anti-Armenian racism in Azerbaijan. We Armenians are not so stupid to fall for your stupid traps. Why did you learn Armenian history, just to denigrate it and to make negative comments? How can you live with yourself, being a snake as you are.

[Federate]

Re: Armenia and the information war

Hope it doesn't simply stop at an "offer". About time!
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ARFD offers to create agency resisting Azerbaijani-Turkish false propaganda

November 16, 2010 | 18:20

It is time to create an agency on agitation and propaganda issues at the Armenian Government, ARFD MP Ruzanna Arakelyan said speaking at the parliament.

According to her, creation of such structure is conditioned by necessity to efficiently resist Azerbaijani and Turkish lies. She stressed that there are many organizations in Turkey and Azerbaijan engaged in agitation against Armenia.

“It is time for us to intensify our moves, as our responses to Azerbaijani-Turkish false propaganda are mainly not adequate. Frequently, we are just silent in response to their lies. Silence is not efficient response,” the MP stated.

http://news.am/eng/news/38307.html

[ninetoyadome]

Re: Armenia and the information war

Azerbaijan suffers another defeat in its “struggle” with Armenia
November 17, 2010 - 18:46 AMT 14:46 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - On November 15-19, Nairobi (Kenya) is hosting the 5th sitting of the intergovernmental committee of states parties to the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. 47 nominations have been put on its agenda, including a nomination of the Republic of Armenia: “Symbolism and Craftsmanship of Khachkar – Armenian Cross-stone.”

However, this time Azerbaijan again could not stand aside, making another attempt of politicizing the matter.

The press service of the RA Ministry of Culture reported that on November 16 an Azerbaijani representative demanded to amend the Armenian nomination as follows: “Symbolism and Craftsmanship of Armenian Khachkar – Armenian Cross-stone. Thus, he attempted to prove that khachkar craft belongs not only to Armenians, i.e. it is typical also for the Caucasian Albanians, whose successors are allegedly Azerbaijanis.

To appeal against Armenia’s nomination, an action was organized at the initiative of the Azerbaijani government, during which representatives of Azerbaijani communities of various countries sent 143 letters to UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, urging her to prevent acceptance of the nomination.

Armenia’s representative, Deputy Minister of Culture Arev Samuelyan noted for her part that the stance of the Armenian side is clear. She urged not to politicize the matter and refrain from considering topics, which have no relation to discussion of values expressing national identity.

The intergovernmental committee accepted all the other nominations and offered to postpone consideration of the Armenian nomination until November 17. At the same time, UNESCO offered to organize negotiations between the Armenian and Azerbaijani parties to find an acceptable decision.

As a result of long discussions, the intergovernmental committee has not considered statements of the Azerbaijani side and accepted the Armenian variant of the nomination: “Symbolism and Craftsmanship of Khachkar – Armenian Cross-stone.”

http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/culture/news/56940/Azerbaijan_suffers_another_defeat_in_its_struggle_with_Armenia

here is the UNESCO article

Intangible Cultural Heritage committee completes examination of nominations for UNESCO Lists
With the inscription of the Armenian cross-stones art. Symbolism and craftsmanship of Khachkars, presented by Armenia, the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage today finished the examination of 47 nominations presented by 29 countries for inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It now includes 213 inscribed elements.
Khachkars are outdoor steles carved from stone by craftspeople in Armenia and communities in the Armenian diaspora. They act as a focal point for worship, as memorial stones and as relics facilitating communication between the secular and divine. Khachkars reach 1.5 metres in height, and have an ornamentally carved cross in the middle, resting on the symbol of a sun or wheel of eternity, accompanied by vegetative-geometric motifs, carvings of saints and animals. Khachkars are created usually using local stone and carved using chisel, die, sharp pens and hammers. The carvings are then ground using fine sand. Small breaks and rough surfaces are eliminated by plaster of clay or lime, and then painted. Once finished, the Khachkar is erected during a small religious ceremony. After being blessed and anointed, the Khachkar is believed to possess holy powers and can provide help, protection, victory, long life, remembrance and mediation towards salvation of the soul. Among more than 50,000 Khachkars in Armenia, each has its own pattern, and no two are alike. Khachkar craftsmanship is transmitted through families or from master to apprentice, teaching the traditional methods and patterns, while encouraging regional distinctiveness and individual improvisation.

As for the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, four new elements have been added for a total of 16.

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/intangible_cultural_heritage_committee_completes_examination_of_nominations_for_unesco_lists/

[Tigranakert]

Re: Armenia and the information war

Bravo. Couldn't have said it better myself. We also have people whose only goal is to undermine the Armenian republic and denigrate it. How can a non-Armenian like bell-the-cat be so interested in the Armenian culture, yet be so negative about it? It's not for love he studied our history, we all know why. We should be careful for people like him.

Ruben Gevorgyants: Vanyan “is an anti-Armenian” element

Today during a meeting with the reporters, president of Armenian Cinematographers' Union Ruben Gevorgyants spoke about the necessity of the nationalist movement, and noted that today we unfortunately need it.

“We are a country at war, and if our struggle was much stronger, georgi vanyans would not be born,” the speaker stressed and added that such people “should be shot under the walls” as it is an “anti-Armenian element.”

The head of the Cinematographers’ Union is irritated with the fact that Georgi Vanyan is finding place for speeches which he thinks, is in the interests of Vanyan only.

“His goal is simple, he should dream now that someone hits him on the street, and he will immediately run to Embassy and obtain a citizenship of any country,” stressed R. Gevorgyants and added. “Even if he was my brother I would be against.”

The president of the Cinematographers' Union noted that Azerbaijanis are waging a fierce fight against the Armenian people, starting from the kindergarten. Anti-Armenian films are shot, anti- Armenian propaganda is being conducted, and on that background the organizers of the Azerbaijani Film Festival “are like worms.”

"They have no right to be called “Armenians”, - Gevorgyants stressed.

[Federate]

Re: Armenia and the information war

Good article presenting some important figures. It seems we have in a year span taken the lead in Internet penetration in the Caucasus. Also demonstrating the power of the Internet which is one of the main goals of this thread.
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Armenia: YouTube, Facebook Emerging as Reform Tools in Yerevan
November 17, 2010 - 1:51pm, by Marianna Grigoryan

An estimated 700-percent increase in the number of Armenian Internet users since 2009 is changing the way Armenians lobby for social change and protest perceived abuses of power, some media observers say. Others contend, however, that the YouTube and Facebook revolution remains in its infancy, with state-controlled television still dominating the public discourse.

The effects of Armenia’s Internet usage explosion have already been seen this year: several cell-phone videos posted on YouTube prompted unprecedented investigations into physical abuse of soldiers within the army and of teachers’ use of violence against students in public schools.

“The Internet’s influence is growing larger with the increase in the number of Internet users,” commented Gegham Vardanian, an online producer at Internews, a media support non-governmental organization.

Internet World Stats, a portal for international Internet access statistics, claims that Armenia’s number of Internet users has increased by 700 percent since 2009. Some 47.1 percent of Armenia’s population of almost 3 million is now online, according to the Public Services Regulatory Commission. By comparison, just 6.4 percent of Armenia’s 2009 population was estimated to have Internet access. Armenia currently holds the highest Internet access rate in the South Caucasus, just ahead of Azerbaijan at 44.4 percent of the population, and far outpacing Georgia’s 28.3 percent of the population.

Lower-priced Internet service packages offered by Armenia’s three main cell phone companies (Vivacell-MTS, Armentel-Beeline and Orange Armenia) appear to be encouraging growth. Prices for 126 kilobytes/second and 256 kilobytes/second now range on average between 6,000 and 9,000 drams (about $16.50 - $25) per month – a noticeable decrease from a few years ago when Internet access was not widely affordable.

One of the more active non-governmental organizations in online media development in Armenia, the Open Society Foundation-Armenia, has underwritten a project to try and enable cell phones to display and use Armenian-language fonts. Conceivably, the option could accelerate the spread of cell-phone-based Internet usage. [The Open Society Foundation-Armenia is part of the Open Society Foundations network. EurasiaNet.org operates under the auspices of the Open Society Institute, a separate part of the foundations network.]

If Internet usage rates are even “maintained, we’ll have a situation when people sitting in front of their PCs at home are able to initiate huge changes in the country,” predicted Edgar Arakelian, who oversees a 3,300-member-strong Facebook campaign against opening foreign-language schools.

Two sets of YouTube videos have already illustrated the potential for using the Internet to promote reforms.

In September, a cell-phone video entitled “The Real Face of the Army” that showed a drunken army officer pulling soldiers’ ears, hitting them in the face and pouring water on their heads kicked off a series of video postings that documented the physical abuse of Armenian soldiers.

Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian at first declared that he did not believe that such an incident could happen in the Armenian army. Within a few days, however, as popular outrage at the videos increased, a criminal case was filed against the offending officer.

Soon afterwards, two videos appeared on YouTube, shot by students, showing Yerevan public school teachers hitting and yelling at students. Within several hours of the videos’ publication, the teachers in question had resigned. The schools’ principals received official reprimands.

Vardanian, the Internews producer, said the incidents show that reform-minded citizens are discovering the power of the Internet to mobilize support for struggles against individuals and institutions that traditionally have proven resistant to change. “The latest developments create the impression that the Internet fight is more effective in terms of establishment of civil society and protection of rights than any other options,” commented artist Diana Galstian.

The local head of one international media advocacy organization notes that the social network revolution is not just the domain of disgruntled citizens. After the bloody crackdown on opposition protests against the 2008 presidential election results, the government took note of the change as well, commented Media Diversity Institute Director Arthur Papian.

With media restrictions in place post-crackdown, “it became apparent for everybody that social networks and video websites can basically replace” traditional media, Papian said. “So, the state, as well as the mass media understood the power of social media, which have appeared now in the focus of their attention.”

Civil society activist Izabella Sargsian, a blogger for more than a decade, believes that Armenia is no different from other countries that have turned to social networks like YouTube and Facebook as a way to overcome problems with freedom of speech. “Social networks have a great role, but we cannot say that the Internet can compete with TV in terms of influence,” Sargsian said.

Political PR consultant Armen Badalian believes that the uproar created by the YouTube videos had less to do with ordinary Armenians’ Internet usage and more to do with traditional media taking advantage of these online tools. “It’s not the influence of the Internet that is great; rather the [mainstream] media makes this influence large,” said Badalian, in reference to traditional broadcast media.

By themselves, such videos do not prove conclusively that the Internet is providing a significant boost to civil society development in Armenia, commented blogger Sargsian. While the YouTube videos are “indeed positive,” she said, “it’s not a total victory.”
Editor's note:
Marianna Grigoryan is the founder and editor-in-chief of MediaLab.am, a news site financed by the Open Society Foundation-Armenia.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/62398