Author: Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped comments on what it considers to be the two main contenders, Mihran & Emmy and Eva Rivas, as Armenia's entry into this year's Eurovision Song Contest. The blog says that it is not entirely happy with all the choices on offer, but at least notices how coverage in the past has now transformed itself into extra hits today.

Scary Azeri in Suburbs comments on Artush and Zaur, a homo-erotic novel telling the love story between an Armenian and Azerbaijani man. The blogger says that while the book is a brave attempt to overcome taboos, she found it more funny than touching in its depiction of various sexual encounters.

bnamarduk [AM] posts a video on YouTube of what it alleges is illegal hunting in a nature reserve in Armenia. The same environmentalists posted another such video last year which resulted in the dismissal of those involved.

Önər Blog [AZ] posts a video [EN] made by the OL! Azerbaijani Youth Movement for the Democracy Video Challenge. OL! has been exemplary in its use of new media in the region and was co-founded by now imprisoned video blogging youth activist Adnan Hajizade.

AZ Cookbook, Food from Azerbaijan & Beyond, turns two and marks the occasion with a recipe for cream cheese-swirled brownies.

The Armenian Observer comments on the recording of a song by French-Armenian crooner Charles Aznavour and other French singers. The blog notes that Aznavour also recorded a song in the aftermath of the devastating 1988 Armenian earthquake.

On the same day that an appeal court hearing for imprisoned blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli was adjourned, but this time at the request of the defense, supporters of the two men protested outside the Embassies of Azerbaijan in London and Paris. The demonstration in France was jointly arranged with Reporters Without Borders while social media guru Dan McQuillan was at the London demo.

Paris demonstration © Ehsan Meliki, used with the permission of Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli Support Committee

The Presidency of the European Union, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders have condemned the verdict. Amnesty International has declared both men to be prisoners of conscience.

Background to the case can be found in Global Voices Online's Caucasus 2009 Blog Review and on Threatened Voices.

Global Voices Online's Caucasus editor interviews journalist Seda Muradyan on her documentary film, From Home to Home, for the Frontline Club blog. The film tells of how Armenians and Azerbaijanis in two villages made an extraordinary deal as the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh flared up.