Yerevan has just weeks to decide between proceeding with deeper relations with the EU or maintaining its traditional close ties with Russia. At this key moment, several strange moves by Moscow seem to be pushing Armenia to the West.
RFE/RL takes a look at what the future holds for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine in the run-up to November's Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, where several decisions about the countries' relationship with Brussels will be ironed out.
Apparently capitulating in the face of mass public protests, in a written statement on July 25 Yerevan Mayor Taron Markarian announced the "suspension" of a 50 percent increase in the cost of municipal transport that went into effect five days previously.
Armenia and the European Union have successfully concluded negotiations on the creation of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area.
The Georgian village of Tsopi, located just a few kilometers from the Armenian border, is home to both ethnic Azeris and ethnic Armenians. Although tensions linger between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh war of the 1990s, the two groups coexist peacefully in this remote Georgian setting.
Chefs from around Armenia competed in making the longest tolma as they gathered for a national cuisine festival in Armavir Province on July 10. The event celebrated the traditional dish most commonly made with grape or cabbage leaves wrapped around meat filling. The winner managed a 7-meter-long tolma.
The world’s largest public-opinion survey on corruption shows that more than half of respondents believe graft has worsened in their country in the past two years.
Vardavar is a festival in Armenia where people drench each other with water. Although now a Christian tradition, Vardavar's history dates back to pagan times. The ancient festival is traditionally associated with the deity Astghik, who was the goddess of water, beauty, love, and fertility. The festivities connected with the religious observance of Astghik were originally named “Vartavar” because Armenians offered her roses as a celebration (“vart” means “rose” in Armenian and "var" means "rise"). This is why the event was celebrated at harvest time․ Vardavar is currently celebrated 98 days (14 weeks) after Easter. During the day of Vardavar itself, it is common to see people pouring buckets of water from balconies onto unsuspecting pedestrians below. It is also a means of refreshment on summer days in July, which is usually hot and dry. (Photos by RFE/RL correspondent Karen Minasyan, 20 PHOTOS)
In a controversial new paper, a U.S. linguist argues that special sounds occurring in almost all of the languages of the Caucasus exist under the "direct influence" of the region's high altitude.
What do you call free, internet-based classes taught by professors from top U.S. schools? They're known as "massive open online courses," or "MOOCs." But some are simply calling them an educational revolution.
Thomas de Waal of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, author of the book "The Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War," talks about the conflict around the ethnic-Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
RFE/RL Armenian Service correspondent Sargis Harutyunyan spoke with author Thomas de Waal, a senior associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to mark the 10th-anniversary edition of his book "The Black Garden: Armenia And Azerbaijan Through Peace And War." He talked about how the conflict over the ethnic-Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan has changed over the last decade.
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