Current Condition of Armenia

[Mos]

Re: Current Condition of Armenia

One can really tell that Armenia is a small country when stories like these are readily reported....

Woman robs her guest in Armenia




June 07, 2011 | 17:57
YEREVAN. - A 53-old woman stole a mobile from her guest’s bag in Vanadzor city of Armenia on May 23.

The latter has not appealed for police, the press service of Armenian police informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

An investigation is underway.

[Federate]

Re: Current Condition of Armenia

Not too fond of this guy, i've heard he's a fake.
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Hatspanyan will Be Set Free



Tomorrow on June 9 Sargis Hatspanyan, the Armenian French veteran and political prisoners, will be released from the penitentiary of Vardashen.

On May 30 Hatspanyan sent a letter to the Armenian National Congress. “I call for engaging in a dialogue with the “government”, considering the powerful advantage in terms of strength and position. I find this an exceptional chance which must not be missed, and not releasing me cannot be a hindrance to it. I believe in this responsible hour I will contribute to the final victory more greatly and accelerate it with this approach, therefore I demand to meet my request. I would also like to ask for your support and backing to achieve recognition of Robert Kocharyan’s illegal order to deport my from my country as invalid and to enjoy my right to live in Armenia with my family, my two children forever,” he wrote.

http://lragir.am/engsrc/country22128.html

[Federate]

Re: Current Condition of Armenia

LTP opposition has already started crumbling .
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Opposition Splinter Group Takes Shape

A group of prominent dissident members of the Armenian National Congress (HAK) have set up a new political party that will seek to position itself as an alternative to both the government and the opposition alliance led by Levon Ter-Petrosian.

The Free Democrats party held its founding congress and elected a governing board late last month. The board is headed by Khachatur Kokobelian and comprises several other former senior members of the Armenian National Movement (HHSh), a key party aligned in the HAK. The HHSh’s former chairman, Ararat Zurabian, is also expected to join the party.

Zurabian and Kokobelian resigned from the HHSh leadership in June last year in still unclear circumstances. Ter-Petrosian, who maintains a strong influence on the former ruling party, was rumored to have accused them of secretly cooperating with the government.

Another, even more prominent member of Free Democrats is Alexander Arzumanian, a former foreign minister who managed Ter-Petrosian’s campaign for the February 2008 presidential election. Like many other Ter-Petrosian loyalists, Arzumanian was arrested in the wake of the disputed vote and spent more than a year in prison.

Also sitting on the new party’s board are three other former HHSh figures that were controversially imprisoned following the March 2008 post-election unrest in Yerevan.

“The fact that those people, who had revolted and suffered, decided to continue their struggle with new forces means they still have that rebellious spirit but lack faith in the existing opposition structures,” Anush Sedrakian, the deputy chairwoman of Free Democrats told RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Wednesday.

According Sedrakian, the party’s creation was necessitated by what she called a lack of transparency within the HAK and in its ongoing dialogue with the government. She claimed that the Armenian authorities are now more tolerant of dissent than Ter-Petrosian and his entourage.

“In a sense, the Armenian National Congress (HAK) should reconsider its actions,” she said. “If it wants to continue to retain the electorate that it had, it must reconsider its tactics.”

“It must not apply the authoritarian system existing within HAK to the society. Unfortunately, both the Armenian authorities and opposition are guided by authoritarian principles,” added Sedrakian.

Free Democrats claim to already have 1,200 members. Sedrakian, who is also a well-known political commentator, also said that the party will contest next year’s parliamentary elections if the number of its members and supporters continues to grow “with the same intensity.”

Sedrakian further dismissed media speculation that the party is supported by the United States. The speculation was fuelled by the outgoing U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch’s Monday visit to the party headquarters in Yerevan during which she met with the Free Democrats leaders.

A short statement issued by the party gave few details of that meeting. Sedrakian also declined to elaborate on it.

http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24228857.html

[Mos]

Re: Current Condition of Armenia

LTP opposition has already started crumbling .

Good job Serzh..

[Federate]

Re: Current Condition of Armenia

Can someone please tell me what the difference is between the RPA and Bargavach Hayastan other than the fact that one is led by the President and the other led by Dodi Gago? Ideologically, they don't seem to differ much at all. What is 'Gago' offering that SS is not?
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RPA and Prosperous Armenia favorites in polls

June 22, 2011 - 17:43 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) and another coalition party - Prosperous Armenia - are leading in the public opinion poll conducted among the population of Yerevan on the next parliamentary elections, according to Gevorg Poghosyan, chairman of the Armenian Sociological Association.

“26,7% of respondents see RPA as the leader in next parliamentary elections, while 18,7% favor Prosperous Armenia,” the sociologist told a press conference in Yerevan.

They are followed by the Armenian National Congress (ANC) - 7,7%, ARF Dashnaktsutyun -7,4%, Heritage Party – 6,2%, People’s Party– 4,6% and Orinats Yerkir party – 4,1%, whereas 22-23% stated that they will vote for no one.

Poghosyan said that some months before elections the poll results are of interest for specialists and parties only, they are not interesting for ordinary people, since public attitude may change dramatically by the time of elections. He also noted that 40-50% of elderly respondents stated on their support to the People’s Party, the Heritage and ANC. While 31% of younger respondents supported Dashnaktsutyun.

The public poll engaged 600 residents of Yerevan, and the sociologist assures that the accuracy of the poll is ±3%.

Parliamentary elections in Armenia are scheduled for 2012.

http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/73029/

[Mos]

Re: Current Condition of Armenia

Can someone please tell me what the difference is between the RPA and Bargavach Hayastan other than the fact that one is led by the President and the other led by Dodi Gago? Ideologically, they don't seem to differ much at all. What is 'Gago' offering that SS is not?
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RPA and Prosperous Armenia favorites in polls

June 22, 2011 - 17:43 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) and another coalition party - Prosperous Armenia - are leading in the public opinion poll conducted among the population of Yerevan on the next parliamentary elections, according to Gevorg Poghosyan, chairman of the Armenian Sociological Association.

“26,7% of respondents see RPA as the leader in next parliamentary elections, while 18,7% favor Prosperous Armenia,” the sociologist told a press conference in Yerevan.

They are followed by the Armenian National Congress (ANC) - 7,7%, ARF Dashnaktsutyun -7,4%, Heritage Party – 6,2%, People’s Party– 4,6% and Orinats Yerkir party – 4,1%, whereas 22-23% stated that they will vote for no one.

Poghosyan said that some months before elections the poll results are of interest for specialists and parties only, they are not interesting for ordinary people, since public attitude may change dramatically by the time of elections. He also noted that 40-50% of elderly respondents stated on their support to the People’s Party, the Heritage and ANC. While 31% of younger respondents supported Dashnaktsutyun.

The public poll engaged 600 residents of Yerevan, and the sociologist assures that the accuracy of the poll is ±3%.

Parliamentary elections in Armenia are scheduled for 2012.

http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/73029/

I would say the difference is more symbolic than anything, but it could be said that RPA is more conservative, emphasising more nationalism and the church than Dodi Gago's party.

Though in my view - RPA is the way to go

[ninetoyadome]

Re: Current Condition of Armenia

Armenia: Building a Wired World, Slowly but Surely
June 23, 2011 - 2:07pm, by Marianna Grigoryan


Yerevan’s city government, a body not generally known for being digitally savvy, is making a break with the Analog Age. Seeking to encourage the use of public transportation, officials have authorized a pilot project to provide free Wi-Fi on five city buses.

The program is emblematic of the rapid growing popularity of the Internet in Armenia, especially Internet-based social networks. Some observers contend that the expansion of online access is altering how Armenians view their chances for fostering change. “Armenian users have started to use social networks for raising different issues that cause concern in society, for creating a news story,” noted Internews Media Support social media trainer Gegham Vardanian.

The Internet is encouraging people to become more aware about civic issues, some observers contend.

“For many people, the Internet today has come to replace absent trade unions, social protest campaigns and unbiased media,” said Lilit Bleyan, host of the E-Club series, which covers Internet trends for the А1+ news portal. “This is good because a long-awaited platform for free communication and activity has emerged at last. … It makes domestic social and interpersonal problems more vivid.”

Edgar Galstian, a 24-year-old design student, was among those taking advantage of the wireless connection recently on one of the five Wi-Fi buses. “Life has absolutely changed now. There is no life without the Internet,” he said. “Now I can have access to the Internet on my way home from work, can continue to talk with my friends and read the latest news.”

Galstian is still in the minority when it comes to Armenians and the Internet. But analysts predict that the Web’s influence seems likely to keep expanding at a rapid rate. Digital tools can play a significant role in the country’s 2012 parliamentary election campaign, some experts believe.

“The forthcoming elections will be extensively Internet-related,” predicted information security expert and blogger Samvel Martirosian. “No doubt, the [Internet’s] influence has certainly intensified, and the increased number of groups fighting against different problems, as well as the greater presence of political figures in social media . . . and blogs go to prove this.”

Politicians are scrambling to harness the Internet’s potential to mobilize supporters. “The future is with the Internet,” asserted Hovhannes Sahakian, an MP for the governing Republican Party of Armenia. “The political fight has moved to social networks, taking the form of initiatives, support groups and online petitions.”

Facebook, not surprisingly, is the social network of choice for many leading politicians. For example, Yerevan Mayor Karen Karapetian, who boasts nearly 14,000 Facebook fans, uses his Facebook page to maintain a running dialogue with constituents, as well as field complaints about garbage collection, playgrounds and infrastructure repairs.

Socialbakers.com , which compiles Facebook statistics from over 200 different countries, recorded 177,800 Armenian Facebook users on June 22, compared with 110,000 in January 2011. That number (5.99 percent of its population) ranks Armenia last for Facebook usage in the South Caucasus, after Georgia at 621,620 users and Azerbaijan at 405,180 users.

While Armenia’s usage rate may not appear unusually robust (high fees for broadband access are one frequently cited deterrent), Facebook gives Armenians a chance to talk about topics otherwise taboo for discussion among media, family or friends, said Bleyan, the journalist. “Almost every week [E-Club] covers new Facebook initiatives: some [people] fight against transportation problems, others engage in fund-raising, another group of people unites for a ban against illegal construction, and so on,” she said.

As elsewhere in the Caucasus, data on Armenia’s rate of Internet penetration is sketchy. A recent analysis of data from the Caucasus Research Resource Center’s 2010 Caucasus Barometer survey by then-University of California, Santa Barbara doctoral candidate Katy Pearce found that Internet access in Armenia increased from approximately 6 percent of the population in 2009 to 19 percent in 2010, the news site epress.am reported. By contrast, Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission claims that the rate increased by nearly 700 percent during 2009-10, reaching 47.1 percent of the country’s population of roughly 2.97 million – a figure that, if accurate, would rank Armenia as the most wired country in the Caucasus.

Pearce’s analysis found that Armenians who embrace technology trends are nearly as prevalent in villages (35 percent) and regional towns (29 percent) as in Yerevan (37 percent), the news site Epress.am reported.

The growth of web usage is fostering debate on the Internet’s potential impact on Armenian politics. If tariffs for Internet access are reduced, commented opposition journalist Khristine Khanumian, the Internet “will take a dominant stance” in Armenia. “[I]t provides for a diversity of positions, which can have considerable impact on the country," she said.

Leaders of the main opposition coalition, the Armenian National Congress, do not see the Internet acting as a “game-changer” in the upcoming parliamentary elections, though. The ANC uses social networks and websites to distribute video clips and statements from various ANC members, but party leaders note that the Internet’s value as an information tool does not extend much beyond Yerevan.

“It’s difficult to assess how decisive the role of the Internet will be during the elections, given the fact that 17 TV companies cover all of the country, including the most remote village, while the Internet is accessible mostly in Yerevan,” said ANC spokesperson Arman Musinian. “This is the reason I’m not very optimistic [about the Internet’s influence on the elections]; however, I am sure the [online] activity will only intensify.”

Editor's note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance journalist based in Yerevan and editor of MediaLab.am.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/63731

[Mos]

Re: Current Condition of Armenia

wireless internet in the buses?

Internet infrastructure needs to be improved greatly in Armenia, some of the internet cafes for example, have embarrassingly slow internet...

[Armanen]

Re: Current Condition of Armenia

wireless internet in the buses?

Internet infrastructure needs to be improved greatly in Armenia, some of the internet cafes for example, have embarrassingly slow internet...

Why so smug? It's a great idea, and the new mayor is doing a good job, he's the best mayor of Yerevan since 1991!

[arakeretzig]

Re: Current Condition of Armenia

wireless internet in the buses?

Internet infrastructure needs to be improved greatly in Armenia, some of the internet cafes for example, have embarrassingly slow internet...

tell me about it, often you can't see even 360p youtube videos, cuz its so slow...