Armenians go to the polls on February 18 for the fifth presidential election since gaining independence. What the campaign has lacked in suspense, it has more than made up for in strangeness.
Sasun Mikaelian, a former member of parliament, was serving an eight-year jail sentence on charges of organizing mass disturbances after the disputed February 2008 election. He was also found guilty of illegal arms possession.
For the first time in nearly a century, Armenians have been allowed to conduct a religious service in a recently renovated island church in eastern Turkey, in an event that Ankara intended as a show of tolerance toward its Christian minority.
RFE/RL's Armenian Service spoke to residents of the Armenian village of Akhurik, located on the railway line between Kars, Turkey, and Gyumri, Armenia, about what an open border and restored transportation links with Turkey would mean for them.
Ever since the Turkish government closed its border with Armenia in 1993, the village of Akhurik has served as the end of the line for westbound train travel in Armenia.
