The IT sector in Armenia has grown dramatically since the Caucasus country’s independence from the Soviet Union. It is the fastest growing sector of the economy, expanding by an average of 20% annually. Once considered to be a Silicon Valley of the USSR, Armenia has truly launched a triumph of various tech startups that are…
On 9 May, people throughout the former Soviet Union, from Russia to Armenia to Kyrgyzstan, commemorated the most well-known and celebrated day of the region – the victory over fascism and Nazism in the Great Patriotic War. The celebration of the 70-year jubilee of the 1945 victory in Moscow was simply exceptional. In fact, it was the…
What shall be after the centennial of the Armenian Genocide? Perhaps, we will not know it in the coming years. We may not feel it even within this decade. But clearly the “After Centennial” will be a turning point not only from a purely historical perspective but also, hopefully, in the consciousness of the people.…
“The possibilities for moving forward remain but we should not take matters for granted.” In advance of the Centennial of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, The Abovyan Group sat down with Ara Sarafian, Director of the Gomidas Institute in London, to talk about the Genocide issue, Turkish-Armenian relations, the Kurds, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Hrant Dink, William…
By Lilit Grigoryan and Pietro Shakarian Ajara is a unique region in the Caucasus. A state within a state, it is an autonomous republic of Georgia, located in the southwestern corner of the country on the Black Sea coast, with Turkey to the south. It is home to a significant Armenian community and has served…
One of the most fascinating cities in Armenia is the town of Meghri. Situated on the Iranian frontier 230 miles away from Yerevan, in the southern extremity of Armenia’s historic Syunik province, Meghri is a town of 4,600 people. It can take several hours to reach Meghri, at least six if traveling by taxi and…
…here are two articles from the New York Times archives on architecture in Georgia. In one, written in 2013, the author asks whether Tbilisi’s new skyline (along with the modern marvels cropping up in Kutaisi and beyond) are “slapdash commercialism ruining the culture’s authentic history or a step toward a more progressive society.” In his…
Recently, there has been a major controversy in Armenia over a proposal to build a statue of the Soviet statesman and Bolshevik revolutionary Anastas Mikoyan in Yerevan. Some Armenians regard Mikoyan as a remnant of the country’s Soviet past from which they want to move beyond. Others ponder possible political motives behind this sudden proposal.…
In the spring of 2013, major news outlets in Russia, the Caucasus, and the U.S. were abuzz with the news about “Stalin’s long shadow” (NYT), alarmed that “Stalin lives on” (Tert), and that he is “more popular in Russia now than at the end of the Soviet Union” (HuffPost). These articles referred to a survey,…
The 2014 Sochi Oympics in Russia are due to start just a week from this Friday. Yet, when I was in Yerevan recently, I was somewhat surprised to see a total absence of discussion on the upcoming games. After all, Yerevan is located only 500 miles away from Sochi. Would not the Armenians stand to…
The Abovyan Group (Աբովյան խումբ) 