AN INTERVIEW WITH GEGHAM MANUKYAN
Gegham Manukyan is a member of the Central Committee of the Dashnaktsutiune Armenian Revolutionary Federation in the Republic of Armenia. He was interviewed during festivities celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK] organised by the Yezidi community in Armenia, and staged at the Russian Theatre in Yerevan. This interview was conducted by Onnik James Krikorian in Yerevan, Armenia, on 2 December 1998.
GM: The PKK has representatives in many countries. Most of these conserns are as a result of Turkish propaganda, and it is absurd to suggest that there are PKK military bases in Armenia.
LATEST BLOG POSTS
Alaverdi Monastery, Kakheti, Georgia
My last post reminds me that I haven’t even done the tourist thing in Georgia. Even though I’ve been visiting the country since 1999, and while I’ve traveled around various parts of the country, it’s always been on work. From time to time, however, that will mean I’ll chance upon a cultural site. The Alaverdi Monastery, for example.
Developing A Holistic Approach To Armenia-Azerbaijan Peacebuilding Initiatives
A comment made earlier today on a previous post regarding the need to diversify the dissemination of news and information online in the area of peace building in order to reach the largest number of people, especially when Internet penetration remains quite low, reminded me of another need which I had also briefly alluded to in a different post. Arif Khalil pointed out the potential for physical activities and events to break down stereotypes and engage a much larger and wider society in the ‘real world,’ and in particular mentioned using theater to spread a message of peace and coexistence.
Skype in Conflict Zones: An example from the South Caucasus
In a situation where Armenia and Azerbaijan are meant to be negotiating to end the conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, civil society should be very active. However, it doesn’t appear as though it is, and not least because few people actually believe that a breakthrough is possible, especially when cross-border activities are far simpler to conduct in the area of Armenia-Turkey relations. Indeed, and to be quite frank, it is difficult to consider that much is going on at all. Meanwhile, the situation isn’t helped by the fact that few Azerbaijani civil society activists visit Armenia, and even fewer Armenians visit Azerbaijan. In short, an environment conducive to peace or conflict resolution doesn’t seem to exist.