Խաղաղաշինության և կոնֆլիկտի հաղթահարման ռեսուրս կենտրոնը հայտարարում է «Դասախոսությունների և քննարկումների շարքի» կազմակերպման մասին:
ՀԱՅՏԵՐԻ ՆԵՐԿԱՅԱՑՄԱՆ ՎԵՐՋՆԱԺԱՄԿԵՏՆ Է` փետրվարի 28, 2006
Շարքն ուղղված է 16-ից 30 տարեկան երիտասարդությանը: Այն նպատակ ունի խթանել և դրդել երիտասարդներին, որպեսզի նրանք ծանոթանան նշված և նմանատիպ այլ խնդիրներին և ներգրավվեն դրանց լուծման մեջ.
- Պետականության կայացում
- Մարդու իրավունքներ
- Լեռնային Ղարաբաղի կոնֆլիկտ
- Զինվորական ծառայություն
- Դավանանքի ազատություն
- Հասարակություն և կոնֆլիկտ
- Ազգ և էթնոս
Մանրամասն տեղեկություններ եւ հայտի ձեւը՝
http://www.hra.am/file/rc_app_form-arm.doc
February 14, 2006
Accord Journal has recently published an entire issue regarding the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Featured articles within the publicatoin include authors such as: Elmar Mammadyarov (Azerbaijan Foreign Minister), Vartan Oskanian (Armenia Foreign Minister), Thomas deWaal (author of book Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War), Girard Libaridian, Rasim Musabayov and much more.
To read these articles, please visit Accord’s website:
http://www.c-r.org/accord/nk/accord17/index.shtml
Happy reading!
February 13, 2006
Between today and yesterday, President Kocharian and President Aliyev have been meeting in Paris, France as the world anxiously watches and hopes for a peaceful settlement of the NK issue. Onnik has recently written a series of posts covering these recent peace talks on Nagorno Karabakh and does an excellent job in alluding to details, providing background and currents events concerning the conflict. Also, Notes from Hairenik Blog provides some insight into aspects within the peace negotiations that should really be of concern and more than “vochinch” to Armenians.
As the presidents are once again meeting, civil society has been talking as well. There are concerns within Armenian civil society about some of the points which are being raised over and over again within the proposed resolution. As it has been mentioned before, international peacekeeping troops would be brought to this region to protect the borders and Armenian soldiers would have to leave the liberated lands or occupied territories. Yet, where is all this attention coming from? Why is it that after almost 15 years later the international community is so concerned about the resolution of the conflict? Some Armenian civil society leaders are skeptical about this heightened concern over the Transcaucasus region. There are concerns which have been expressed one of the indirect reasons for this heightened attention to bring international peacekeeping troops into to Nagorno Karabakh would be so that they could have some pressure and influence on Iran and its agenda to develop nuclear power. As the West is continuing to feel pressured that it is losing its control and drifting further away from the Near East region, the recent increasing attention towards the Nagorno Karabakh conflict could be an attempt to gain influence once again- especially by deploying peacekeeping troops.
Within the past few months alone, more international organizations have been visiting the Transcaucasus region and consulting with Armenian and Azerbaijani organizations and emphasizing the importance of a resolution as soon as possible. Yet the sentiment among NGO leaders here is that these talks are not going to resolve anything. They will simply be a “political agreement”. These NGO activists propose a “stage by stage” approach to this conflict resolution process in order to ensure security and stability in the region. In discussing some of the key points to the proposed NK resolution, Christian Garbis also points this out in Notes from Hairenik:
Oh, and one other thing–Azeris would be allowed to return to their native homes if they so desired, the reason why they would consider doing so is also unthinkable since it’s hard to believe that Armenians and Azeris could once again live somewhat peacefully together. From the recent reports I have been reading, the Azeri side is still not willing to give up on the idea that Karabagh be returned to Azeri control. So what’s to come of all this?
On the other hand, Armenia’s civil society is pointing to the importance of the overall democratization of this region in order to resolve all conflicts. They argue that in order to obtain an agreement that the people will agree with, the people must be involved in the negotiation processes. They must feel that they are being represented in the entire process. It is more important to focus on the implementation of democracy in Armenia and work on issues regarding transparency, corruption and human rights protection.
Ultimately, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is interrelated with the authorities in Armenia and Azerbaijan and their willingness to cooperate with their citizens.
Furthermore, these leaders are skeptical that the international community will seek to increase the democratic processes in this region because they believe the international community maintains the importance of a peaceful resolution, even though they are agreed upon with not-so-democratic regimes.
February 10, 2006
Sanne, an EVS volunteer who recently came to Armenia for six months, has written a post about her experience as a volunteer in Armenia.
She writes:
So, with a complete blank mind, some expectations, a bit of knowledge from the travelguide I had been reading, Marieke and I arrived at Zvartnots Yerevan Airport: Armenia. What was to be expected?
I can’t really call it a ‘great shock’, because you are prepared in a way, but arriving in a country where you can’t read the signs (Armenian has a unique and quite difficult alphabet), don’t understand what the people are saying (most of them don’t speak English), where you don’t know anyone and everything looks like a documentary one sometimes sees about former soviet countries, or even war-zones like former Yugoslavia, I can say that at the moment of arrival I thought it a big challenge to stay there for the coming 6 months. This length of time felt an enourmous amount of time and made me panic a bit.
Now being back I can say my time in Armenia was over too soon and it is funny to overthink my reaction at that time with the knowledge I now have about Armenia and Armenians. Or at least my experience with it.
She describes her observations about Armenia and is an interesting detailed account of her emotions and first thoughts about arriving in Armenia.
February 10, 2006
Once upon a time (not too long ago) there were two volunteers from Holland who came to Armenia through the EVS program. Both Sanne and Marieke, with their blonde hair and not-so-typical-Armenian physical appearance, came trotting halfway across the globe to try to make some changes in this country. What ended up happening in the end, well that is probably best left unsaid, but for both Sanne and Marieke, I believe they not only were able to make changes in Armenia but Armenia was able to make changes in them.
Sanne describes the European Volunteer Service organization and how one can get involved in international volunteering in her recent blog post. [ check it out ] She was involved in BEM Youth Progressive Action Center and particularly interested in civil society development here in Armenia.
And Marieke was also involved at BEM Action Center. She was also interested in civil society development but also brought her journalism experience to contribute at the organization.
When it was time for these girls to leave in December, they really had mixed feelings about going. They both were quite hesitant about going back to Holland. It turned out the weather in Armenia really did not want them to go back either! For that entire week, maybe even 2 weeks, Armenia was experiencing such horrible fog that no flights were leaving from Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport. Maybe it was fate, Sanne and Marieke? Either way, I do hope you both are able to find ways of coming back to Armenia soon - as your presence is missed.
For these two volunteers from Holland, I don’t think they ever thought they would have been influenced the way there were by volunteering in Armenia. Right now is the best time to start looking into such volunteering activities like EVS service that these girls were involved with. University students are probably looking for things to do this summer. Recent graduates might not be happy with their current jobs or just looking for a change in their life. Why not look into volunteering in Armenia? International internships and other opportunities are not only an excellent resume builder but really tend to be life-changing experiences.
And for Diasporans who are thinking about their summer plans, there are many different summer programs that one can become involved with in order to come to the Homeland. For example, check out Depi Hayk or Birthright Armenia www.birthrightarmenia.org. I will continue to provide posts and ideas about volunteering opportunities to Armenia, especially as I know there are many young people throughout the world that may be particularly interested.
Should you be interested, please let me know and I will be more than glad to provide you with some advice and or websites that can give you more insight about how you can come to Armenia and volunteer.
February 8, 2006
