Tag: Armenian

One of the distinctive characteristics of the Karabakh Movement was that in less than three years, it drastically changed how the Soviet value system was perceived. The visual and verbal manifestation of this was evident through the transformation of the language and texts of the posters and signs used during the Movement.

Demonstrators led by Nikol Pashinyan, leader of the Civil Contract party, have shut down a major square in Yerevan, paralyzing the downtown core of the capital to protest former President Serzh Sargsyan’s candidacy for the office of prime minister.

Tatevik Hayrapetyan writes that the Karabakh Movement was a catalyst for domestic developments in Azerbaijan. Unlike in Armenia, however, alternative forces like the Azerbaijani Popular Front in Azerbaijan, couldn’t find a way to collaborate with the local Communist Party. The issue of Karabakh and anti-Armenian propaganda was thereby used in their struggle against the Communist regime.

Vardges Baghryan, a journalist from Artsakh recounts his personal memories from the Karabakh Movement and the war. He recalls the siege on the village of Karintak and how the future freedom and independence of the people of Artsakh was forged.

For decades, production of historical texts in Armenia was in the tight grip of Soviet state ideology. Post-independence, some topics previously repressed or omitted found their way back into Armenian history textbooks, however “memory gaps” remain.

In an exclusive interview with EVN Report’s contributor Varak Ketsemanian, Alexander Balistreri of the University of Basel reflects on some of the larger historical and historiographical problems pertinent to the region around Kars a century ago and sheds light on the political and military developments that shaped the policies of the Armenian government and the larger regional powers.

Gender discrimination is a deeply cultural problem, Rafik Santrosyan writes. The incident last month in Yerevan City Hall where a group of men beat a woman councilor highlight how patriarchal relations, toxic masculinity and internalized misogyny have influenced the public discourse.

“There are no invalids in the USSR!” This much heard expression exemplifies how people with disabilities were stigmatized in the Soviet Union. How pervasive is the exclusion of people with disabilities in post-Soviet Armenia? Anais Bayrakdarian talks to experts working in the field and writes that the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable.

Is corruption inherent to the post-Soviet Armenian political culture, and if so, does this make the political culture of Armenia incompatible with democratic values? Dr. Nerses Kopalyan examines how conflictual matters that should be resolved in the public sphere are almost always resolved within the cultural rules of the private sphere.

A native of Bourj Hammoud bids farewell to her hometown following an attack on writer Raffi Doudaklian in what appears to have been an attempt to silence his words. In this deeply personal essay, Roubina Margossian reflects on her complicated relationship with the town.