Thursday, January 31, 2008

ART: Invitation For Exhibition - Marika Asatiani from Tbilisi 01-31-08

E I N L A D U N G _ Z U R _ A U S S T E L L U N G

I N V I T A T I O N _ F O R _ E X H I B I T I O N
(for english version scroll down)

Die Künstlerresidenz *blumen* hat das Vergnügen, Marika Asatiani aus Tiflis (Georgien) zu begrüssen. In ihrer Antrittsausstellung PLACE AS A PAUSE zeigt die Künstlerin eine Auswahl aktueller Fotografien erstmals in Leipzig. Hierzu laden wir Sie/Euch herzlich ein.

M A R I K A A S A T I A N I
PLACE AS A PAUSE

1.– 17. Februar 2008
Eröffnung: Donnerstag, 31. Januar 2008 / 20 Uhr
Öffnungszeiten der Ausstellung: donnerstags – sonntags / 15-20 Uhr
Atelierbesuche nach Vereinbarung.

Marika Asatiani ist von Januar bis April 2008 Stipendiatin der Künstlerresidenz *blumen*.
In ihren Arbeiten beschäftigt sich die Fotografin vor allem mit ihrer georgischen Heimat. Nach dem Ende der Sowjetzeit und der so genannten Rosenrevolution 2003 prägen politische und gesellschaftliche Neustrukturierungen, vor allem die rasante Adaption westlicher Lebensmodelle, die Kaukasusrepublik. Traditionelle Gewohnheiten und insbesondere das architektonische Erbe des Kommunismus bleiben als Spuren sichtbar. Die von Asatiani fotografierten Bushaltestellen sind Sinnbilder dieses Zustands, hier aber werden sie aus ihrer banalen Funktion überhöht. Als autonome Bauplastiken verweisen sie in ihren abstrusen Formen auf die eigentümliche, zum Teil chaotische Geschichte Georgiens. Auch die Aufnahmen spontaner Zusammenkünfte im öffentlichen Raum, die das Straßenbild des Landes bis heute prägen, zeigen das Überdauern kulturell gewachsener Verhaltensweisen.

Asatianis scheinbar dokumentarische Perspektive verbleibt nicht beim bloßen Registrieren ortsspezifischer Begebenheiten. Zugleich stilisiert sie die Alltagswelt. Immer wieder scheint in ihren Bildern im vermeintlich Bedeutungslosen eine ästhetische und poetische Kraft auf. Die Fotografien lassen keinen Zweifel daran, dass die beobachtete Wirklichkeit letztlich stets eine zeitlich gebundene Konstruktion ist. Mittels fokussierter Darstellung von Gesten und Orten fasst die Künstlerin die Gegenwart als Moment zwischen Vergangenem und Zukünftigem im Bild.
Marika Asatiani, 1977 in Georgien geboren, studierte Soziologie und Fotografie in Tiflis und London. Heute lebt und arbeitet die Fotografin und Videokünstlerin in Tiflis. 2007 erhielt sie den Camera-Austria-Preis für zeitgenössische Fotografie.

place a pause >>>

VORSCHAU:
POST INDUSTRIAL BOYS aka Gogi.Ge.Org, Georgien (live)
Februar 2008
Der genaue Termin wird rechtzeitig bekannt gegeben.
Mehr Infos zu Gogi.Ge.Org unter: www.goslab.de

AKTUELL
Gogi.Ge.Org war am 24. Januar, 22- 23 Uhr, zu Gast beim Leipziger "Radio Blau".
Podcast unter: www.radioblau.de


Photographies by Marika Asatiani (Set)

The artist residency *blumen* has the pleasure to welcome Marika Asatiani from Tbilisi (Georgia). The exhibition PLACE AS A PAUSE presents a choice of her recent photographies for the first time in Leipzig. To this occasion we cordially invite you.

M A R I K A A S A T I A N I
PLACE AS A PAUSE
February, 1 – 17, 2008

opening: Thursday, January, 31th at 8 p.m.
opening hours: Thursday – Sunday, 3 - 8 p.m.
Studio visits by appointment.

Marika Asatiani is participating in *blumen*’s artist-in-residence program from January till April 2008. The photographer's works show a deep involvement with her home country Georgia. After the fall of the soviet regime and the so-called Rose Revolution in 2003 the Caucasian republic was affected by social and political restructuring, especially by the adoption of western life models. Traditional habits and especially the communist heritage remain visible as traces. Bus-stops photographed by Asatiani are allegories of this state, but here they surpass their banal function. As autonomous architectural sculptures their absurd shapes refer to the peculiar, often chaotic history of the country. As well her pictures of spontaneous assemblies in public space, that shape the appearance of the street till this day, show the outlast of culturally grown behaviour.

Asatiani's documentary approach doesn't stick with the mere represention of site-specific objects and incidents. At the same time it imbues the works with universal meaning. Asatiani finds aesthetic and poetic power in what otherwise looks meaningless. Her photographs undoubtedly show that eventually the reality depicted is always a construction bound in its time. By focusing on gestures and places the artist embraces the present moment as something between past and future in a picture.

Marika Asatiani, born 1977 in Georgia, studied Sociology and Photography in Tbilisi and London. Today the photographer and video artist lives and works in Tbilisi. In 2007 she was awarded the Camera-Austria-Preis for contemporary photography.

place a pause >>>

UPCOMING:
POST INDUSTRIAL BOYS aka Gogi.Ge.Org, Georgia (live)

February 2008
exact time tba
More informations: http://www.goslab.ge/

CURRENT:
... and on "Radio Blau" (Leipzig): January 24, 2008, 10-11 p.m. (MEZ), podcast: http://www.blogger.com/www.radioblau.de


/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

blumen* Kolonnadenstr. 20 04109 Leipzig
www.residence-blumen.de
contact@residence-blumen.de

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Wednesday, January 30, 2008

NEWS: Georgia News Digest 01-30-08

A service of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies

Attached PDF file easily navigable with Bookmarks pane
Archives and associated files at
groups-beta.google.com/group/genews/files

1. Opposition parties lay out demands
2. Opposition memorandum
3. Opposition posts demands to national administration
4. Opposition leader warns of protest rallies from mid-February
5. video: Opposition threatens president with 'permanent protests'
6. Opposition to start consultations over single electoral block
7. Opposition forces to put forth demands to authorities
8. Gvaramia ready to discuss opposition memorandum
9. One of the leaders of opposition: Conclusions and decisions made by “Michnik’s group” must bear legal force
10. Gamqrelidze presented government with ultimatum. 'Saakashvili works according to Communist principles'
11. Sarishvili advises authority not to locate foreign forces on territory of Georgia
12. Sarishvili begins to collect signatures against NATO bases
13. Labor Party refuses to sign opposition memorandum
14. Imedi license again under review, News Corp. role murky
15. “Labourists” demand every citizen of Georgia to become shareholder of GBG
16. Okruashvili lawyers demand his release
17. Ombudsman urges General Prosecutor to investigate action of police employees of Oni
18. Zurab Adeishvili officially informed parliament about his resignation
19. Levan Bezhashvili: Authorities are set to discuss any issue in oppositional memo
20. Gvaramia supporting idea of re-checking voters’ register
21. Legal Affairs Committee to hear candidacy of Eka Tkeshelashvili
22. Media council elaborated recommendations concerning the selection of members of GPB Board of Trustees
23. Labor Party presented its own version of reorganization of Public Broadcasting 24. Bush's final State of the Union [excerpt]
25. Russian, Georgian diplomats discuss normalization of bilateral relations
26. Russians reply to provocations by warning of nuclear war [excerpt]
27. Economic security and national security: Connected in Georgia
28. Saakashvili "interpreted" Russian minister on Kosovo
29. Estonian PM to pay official visit to Georgia
30. Russian election official calls into question OSCE monitoring body's future [excerpt]
31. Russian peacekeepers accuse Georgian media of filing "fabricated" reports
32. Irina Sarishvili: Reintegration campaign of geo gov’t will trigger new conflict spots
33. Russian MFA: Kosovo will set a precedent
34. Who to talk to about Abkhazia
35. Abkhaz separatist official expects no changes in Georgian Russian relations
36. Abkhazia not to renounce independence - separatist official
37. Georgia urges Russia to observe electoral norms in breakaway regions
38. Non-aggression deal to ease tensions in Abkhaz conflict zone – Churkin
39. UN SC to discuss Georgia-Abkhazia conflict zone situation
40. Tskhinvali said under water blockade
41. South Ossetia unwilling to cooperate with renamed Georgian body
42. S-Ossetian leader asks Putin for helping to organize his meeting with Saakashvili
43. Kokoyty positive on Georgian-Russian ties
44. ‘Reintegration’ in ministry name angers Tskhinvali
45. audio: Georgian music documentary
6. 24-year-old man was abducted from village Shamgona, Gali district
47. Azerbaijan Interested in Azerbaijan-Georgia-Ukraine Gas Route
48. GOEL acquires oil gas blocks in Georgia
49. License for magnesium mine sold for USD 16 m

full digest: Georgia News Digest - Ansicht in Groups BetaNeu!

Jonathan Kulick, Ph.D., Director of Studies, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, 3a Chitadze, Tbilisi 0108, Georgia (Republic),
jonathan.kulick@gfsis.org, office: +995 32 47 35 55, mobile: +995 95 33 33 40, USA voicemail: 310.928.6814

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

ART: Contemporary Art Center STAMBA

IDEA ---------------
Contemporary Art Center STAMBA will be completely dedicated to development and popularization of contemporary art and culture. STAMBA will be a meeting point for artists between each other and artists and persons who are interested in art. This will be a place for exchanging ideas, information and opinions. The aim of contemporary Art Center STAMBA is to introduce to the audience works and tendencies of contemporary art in Georgia and from all over the world, to encourage experimental artists in creating innovative and interesting work. Our programming will include all contemporary art forms: painting, sculpture, photography, multi-disciplinary installations and performance pieces, theatre, dance, live Art, video and film, electronic, classical and popular music. The Center will provide artists and audience with live and dynamic program of workshops, seminars, screenings, music events, discussions…
STAMBA will invite local and guest curators for art projects. Board of Trustees, which consist of Artist of various fields, is responsible for directions and program of the center. The Center consists of one exhibitions space, on room for screening and a café, which will also function as a exhibition space. It will be also available to purchase informational and promotional publications (books, catalogues, DVDs, magazines) about art at the Center.

AIMS ----------------
- To support development of contemporary art in Georgia.
- To introduce to the broad audience works of Georgian and international contemporary artists. Encouraging and facilitating new audiences to engage with the work of contemporary artists.
- Organize workshops, discussions about any kind of aspects, tendencies, authors of contemporary art. Generating informed and critical debate about the work of artists in contemporary society. Evaluating the relationship between the public and the artwork presented in the context of Project
- Publicizing and promoting artists' work nationally and internationally.

MEMBERSHIP -------------------
Membership means entering any exhibition organized by Stamba without entrance fee, exclusive invitation to exhibition openings closed for public, film/video screenings and other events. Discount on all ticket and 10% discount on all items purchased from Stamba shop. All membership holders of Stamba space who work in field of art is eligible ..ting his/her portfolio in Stamba art/musical archive. Archive will be accessible for curators, artists and any interested parts.

----------------------

link: STAMBA project space

BLOGGER: Tony Hanmer überwintert in Svanetien


more: http://geosynchronicity.blogspot.com

Tony Hammer wohnte in Großbritanien, Kanada, Rhodesien, Österreich, Russland, Aserbaidschan; und gegenwärtig residiert er den Winter über in einer der höchst gelegenen Regionen Europas: in Georgien - in Svanetien. Hammer ist vielseitig interessiert, vor allem an dem Kaukasus, seinen Einwohnern, wahrscheinlich ist er gar ein Anthropologe. Auf jeden Fall ist er auch ein ausgezeichneter Fotograf, der auf seinem Blog beeindruckende Luftaufnahmen von Svanetien und Ushguli zu bieten hat!

Für Heiner: Er notierte, dass 14 Leute aus Deutschland für eine Stunde "Heli-Skiing" 2700 $ bezahlten (inklusive Helikopter, drei Piloten, ein Guard, einen vollen Tank, etc.)

Jedenfalls macht er neben seinem Englisch-Unterricht hoch oben in den Bergen bei weniger als minus 22 Grad Celsius, noch exzellente Fotos, filmte, schrieb, las und bloggte aus dieser schönen und bizarren Winterlandschaft!

Tom, all the best for you!!! And I wish you a great time there! Ralph

NEWS: Georgia News Digest 01-29-08

A service of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies

Attached PDF file easily navigable with Bookmarks pane
Archives and associated files at
groups-beta.google.com/group/genews/files

1. document: Strategic Defence Review: Final Report 2007 (unclassified)
2. PM hires more silver-haired people for cabinet
3. Parliamentary committees continue consideration of new staff of cabinet today
4. EastWest Institute official - Georgian PM’s favourite minister
5. Government pushes for economic package in parliament
6. New governmental program submitted to the parliament for discussion
7. Parliament discusses government’s legislative package at an accelerated pace
8. Sharashidze reckons economic growth key priority
9. Divided country: Saakashvili or Gachechiladze? What do the people think?
10. Kvitashvili plans to create consultation committee on health care system
11. Labor Party demands nullification of step tariff on power from government
12. Labor Party accuses power company of machination
13. Shalva Natelashvili to be sent in Vienna for medical care
14. “People’s Party” accuses opposition in deal with authority
15. People's Party accuses opposition of agreement with administration
16. Tycoon tells of plot to kill him in London
17. MPs sanction arrest of tycoon's campaign head
18. Georgian opposition held meeting with representatives of diplomatic corps
19. Public Defender to request president to release Shalva Ramishvili
20. Memorials of Sandro Girgvliani and Irina Enukidze opened in Shardeni Street 21. Giorgi Kapanadze: ‘Public Broadcaster must be impartial and objective’
22. Call for applicants: P.B. Board members replaced every two years
23. Irakli Batiashvili: ‘Problems must be solved peacefully’
24. The Kremlin wises up [excerpt]
25. Georgia, RF may settle relations by mutual compromises
26. editorial cartoon—Russian embargo
27. Georgia's exports to Russia down 30% to $53 mln in 2007
28. Double standards for Kosovo’ – Gogi Khutsishvili
29. Shamba gives no details of Bagapsh’s visit to Moscow
30. Iakobashvili evaluates Shamba’s statement as prudence of Abkhazian side
31. Iakobashvili responds to Shamba
32. Iakobashvili: “Sokhumi and Tskhinvali face carefulness”
33. ‘Reintegration’ in ministry name angers Sokhumi
34. South Ossetian separatist minister says West "biased" in favour of Georgia
35. Press center established in Java Administration
36. Georgian Railway heads for the private sector: Opposition objecting to privatization
37. Term for temporary administration in Standard Bank is extended for 1 month
38. “November standoff … a wet blanket for investors” - Esben Emborg
39. Helping financial media move forward
40. High time for Georgian consumers
41. Catholicos-Patriarch – In press we do not see good done by humans
42. Working in Georgia - ‘Stimulating, and never dull’: Interview with His Excellency Denis Keefe
43. Everything cannot be settled by breaking in and shooting
44. Money trap for money collectors
45. What became the reason for the resignation of Shida Kartli regional governor?-
46. Fight for positions and neglected people
47. Journalists are "voluntary trafficked victims"
48. It took only 13 seconds to vote at Sagarejo polling stations
49. Nostalgia or unbearable living conditions-Dukhobors abandon villages in Ninotsminda District
50. Argument among journalists ended with the fine of 2 000 Lari
51. Employment program provides temporary stability

full digest: Georgia News Digest - Ansicht in Groups BetaNeu!

Jonathan Kulick, Ph.D., Director of Studies, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, 3a Chitadze, Tbilisi 0108, Georgia (Republic),
jonathan.kulick@gfsis.org, office: +995 32 47 35 55, mobile: +995 95 33 33 40, USA voicemail: 310.928.6814

NEWS: Georgia News Digest 01-28-08

A service of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies

Attached PDF file easily navigable with Bookmarks pane
Archives and associated files at
groups-beta.google.com/group/genews/files

1. Cabinet profiles
2. Unpopular key figures gone but not far in Saakashvili’s new cabinet
3. Georgia’s new cabinet: not the total make-over that some expected
4. Owners of Rustavi-2 and Mze might change
5. New government includes ministers who used to devour grants
6. Gurgenidze forms new government
7. Saakashvili says opposition can join government "in future"
8. Davit Gamkrelidze not eager to seriously comment on new cabinet
9. Ministerial candidate says Russia to take part in conflict settlement
10. Tbilisi calls for changing mandate of RF peacekeepers – official
11. Minister-designate on multi-vector approach to resolve conflicts
12. Will methods of conflict settlement change?
13. Ban Ki-Moon calls Georgian-Abkhazian sides on resuming confidence
14. Inaccurate media reports fuel alarm in Gali– UN Abkhaz Report
15. Report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia
16. S. Ossetian settlement initiatives will promote peace in conflict zone - Russian diplomat
17. Georgian official visits breakaway region to meet separatist minister
18. Georgia not to expel Russian peacekeepers from Abkhazia, S Ossetia
19. Saakashvili suggests expanding peacekeepers' mandate in conflict zones
20. Search for 23 fugitive peacekeepers in Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone continues
21. Pupils-refugees from Abkhazia and South Ossetia to take rest in Upper Abkhazia
22. New road map between Moscow and Tbilisi: Georgia will start re-integrating Abkhazia with church
23. Georgia, S Ossetia must sign no-war pact - Russian FM
24. S. Ossetian settlement initiatives will promote peace in conflict zone - Russian diplomat
25. There is an information vacuum in Tskhinvali region
26. MP defects from secessionist authorities in Tskhinvali
27. Georgia unveils Strategic Defense Review
28. Three cheers for Georgia’s Strategic Defense Review!
29. Mikhail Saakashvili wins an away game
30. PACE passes resolution on Georgia
31. Many PACE MPs revise their attitude to Georgia—Kosachev
32. Georgia’s President addresses PACE: Re-elected Saakashvili emerges relatively untarnished in Strasburg
33. What's in today's Russian newspapers?
34. Enlargement to the east divides Nato nations
35. Shalva Pichkhadze: there’s a danger of growing distrust towards the West!
36. America seems to care more than the European Union about eastern Europe
37. No easy road to Europe for Georgia
38. For Georgia, neutrality is not an option
39. State Department official Bryza sees room for improvement in Georgia
40. “Too early to evaluate Rose Revolution’s legacy,” says expert
41. Saakashvili speaks of relations with Russia
42. Saakashvili speaks of ‘humanizing’ Prosecutor’s Office
43. Interview: Toomas Hendrik Ilves
44. The clever strategy of foreign governments
45. Opposition pins hopes on Lavrov: At what expense is Kremlin regaining its positions?
46. Opposition mulls options
47. CEC rejected Sarishvili initiative on holding referendum
48. Okruashvili might be put in hospital due to state of health
49. Parliamentary committee on procedural issues to consider Gelbakhiani’s case on January 28
50. Labors threaten to began rallies
51. As opposition mobilizes, all actors and no audience in the president’s camp
52. Irakli Batiashvili: “Merabishvili is Saakashvili` s important background”
53. Opposition prepares joint memorandum
54. Kartuli Dasi celebrated one-year anniversary of establishing
55. Labourists threaten with protest rallies
56. Assessing the Georgian media’s role in the presidential elections
57. Imedi TV assets frozen – agency
58. Imedi TV faces suspension of broadcast license
59. Video: Rebel TV station loses property
60. Patarkatsishvili’s property, including TV station, to be sealed
61. Statement from Badri Patarkatsishvili
62. Court comments on sequestration of Patarkatsishvili’s Property
63. Japanese journalists to produce reportage on Georgian wrestling
64. There will be no impact of the incidence in Societe Generale on Georgia and Georgian Bank Republic – SG Group
65. Three bids for Poti port, free economic zone
66. Foreign trade up by 40%
67. Opposition warns against privatizing Railway
68. Five companies express interest in Georgia’s Railway
69. Georgia steps up efforts to increase tourism in 2008 as Latvia aims to attract Georgians
70. Privatization irregularities surface in Adjara as quiet investigation gets underway
71. Citrus 2007 favored Georgia
72. Environment-friendly energy project in Georgia
73. Emissions and vehicle overpopulation Threaten air quality: cleaner fuel tops the list of ‘must haves’
74. Bird flu fears after Turkey reports cases
75. The postman blues
76. Hungry horses roam Tbilisi neighborhood
77. Georgian Azerbaijanis doubt in efficiency of national minority integration in society program
78. New long range artillery launcher was paraded at inauguration
79. Orthodox Church and Georgian statehood
80. Gvaramia intends to continue reforms in penitentiary system together with Akhalaia


full digest: Georgia News Digest - Ansicht in Groups BetaNeu!

Jonathan Kulick, Ph.D., Director of Studies, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, 3a Chitadze, Tbilisi 0108, Georgia (Republic),
jonathan.kulick@gfsis.org, office: +995 32 47 35 55, mobile: +995 95 33 33 40, USA voicemail: 310.928.6814

BLOGGER: Onnik Krikorian is one of the best blogger from the caucasian area

Now I will give my readers some posts of Onnik Krikorian - one of the best bloggers from the Caucasus. He is writing and taking photos for different medias. for the Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan & he has got also his own blog: http://oneworld.blogsome.com


Caucasus: Polarized Politics von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
This being the year of elections in the South Caucasus, Marilisa Lorusso's Blog says that reasoned political debate has given way to aggression and a polarized environment that will be difficult to reconcile later. The post also rounds up the latest election-related news from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Azerbaijan: Children's Show von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
An American in Azerbaijan says that he is becoming increasingly frustrated by working with a local television station on a show for children. Exasperated by a tight deadline, the blogger says that his work is frustrated by a “lack of vision” from ANS TV.

Azerbaijan: Ethnic Novelist von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Window on Eurasia says that a book by ethnic Azerbaijani author Eduard Bagirov is causing a stir as a best seller throughout the Russian Federation. In particular, notes the blog, Bagirov's books generally examines the “extraordinary difficulties Azerbaijanis and other non-Russians living in the Russian capital now face in trying to cope with the rising level of xenophobic attitudes among Russians.”

Azerbaijan: Fashion Trends von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Leigh’s new adventure in Azerbaijan takes a look at trends in fashion in the former Soviet republic. In particular, the blog notes, women are significantly more stylish and less conservative than men.

Caucasus: High Speed Internet von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Social Science in the Caucasus says that 3 percent of Georgians have Internet access at home, but that it's quality leaves something to be desired. While Azerbaijan has the fastest download speed in the region, the Caucasus still lags behind the developed world.

Azerbaijan: Living is Easy? von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Carolyn & Jesse's Azerbaijan Peace Corps Blog says that life in Azerbaijan during the winter isn't so easy, but it is interesting. The two PCVs describe living through the cold season in the land of fire.

Azerbaijan: Analyzing Black January von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Asking Tough Questions in Tough Places analyzes another blog post on the 18th anniversary of Black January in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan: The Day the Soviet Union Died von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Window on Eurasia remembers the events and circumstances surrounding Black Friday, 20 January 1990, when Soviet troops went on the rampage in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku. The blog says the event marked the end of the former Soviet Union.

Azerbaijan: Funeral Rites von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Leigh’s new adventure in Azerbaijan reflects on the funeral rites and customs practiced in the country.

Armenia: Azerbaijani Response von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Blogian says that the Azerbaijani media as well as parliamentarians have responded to the blogger establishing a website and blog detailing the destruction of an ancient Armenian cemetery in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan.

Armenia: Ethnic Hatred von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
The Armenian Observer posts a digest of translated excerpts from blog posts examining ethnic hatred between Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Turks.

Azerbaijan: Economic Illumination von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Window on Eurasia ponders whether studying images of former Soviet republics at night can't provide an insight into their economic well-being. If it can, the blog says, economic growth in Azerbaijan far outstrips that in neighboring Armenia and Georgia.

Armenia: Another Blogger Outraged at Azerbaijan Event von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Blogian weighs into the controversy that surrounded the opening of a Days of Azerbaijan funded by the British Embassy in Yerevan earlier this week. Supporting the action of those bloggers who protested the event in person, Simon says that such an event is unthinkable on the second anniversary of the destruction of Armenian khachkars (stone crosses) in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan.

Azerbaijan: Schools von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Social Science in the Caucasus looks at a recent international study of schools in Azerbaijan and says that the results are concerning.

Azerbaijan: Sheki von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Carolyn & Jesse's Azerbaijan Peace Corps Blog posts photographs and an account of a visit to the Azerbaijani mountain town of Sheki.

BLOGGER: Observers Top-Ten List of Armenian Blogs in Armenian

Observers Top-Ten List of Armenian Blogs in Armenian
von The Armenian Observer Blog von Observer

For strange and mysterious reasons, despite years of existence of a very lively Armenian blogging community, the predominant languages of Armenian bloggers have been Russian and English, rather then native Armenian. The picture has started to change over the recent month however, a range of blogs writing in Armenian have sprang [...]

Sunday, January 27, 2008

REISETIPP: 10 gute Gründe nach Armenien zu reisen

Von Jackie Richard (www.bild.t-online.de)

Eine Hauptstadt ganz in Rosa, ein Denkmal für Charles Aznavour, Männer mit den spitzesten Schuhen der Welt und ein Berg, der fast vom ganzen Land aus gut zu sehen ist: In Armenien sind eben auch die Sehenswürdigkeiten was für fortgeschrittene Reisefreaks.

Das kleine Land im Kaukasus liegt eingekeilt zwischen der Türkei, Georgien, Aserbaidschan und dem Iran – und ist dabei nur so groß wie Brandenburg. Obwohl noch absoluter Reise-Geheimtipp, sind die Zuwachsraten im Tourismus zweistellig. Das hat mindestens zehn Gründe – und fast jeder ist schon eine eigene Reise wert:

Jerewan (1/2) Die Millionen-Metropole ist die einzige richtige Stadt im Land und viel lustiger als London oder Paris.

Nicht nur, weil man unerwarteter weise in zahllosen Edelboutiquen und kleinen Läden (vor allem Schuhe und Taschen!) fast genauso gut shoppen kann. Das Neuerworbene entspricht internationalen Standards und ist auf den breiten Boulevards unmittelbar einsatzfähig.

mehr >>>

Fotos: Ralph Hälbig

POLITIK: Gegenwind für Saakaschwili (Der Tagesspiegel)

Georgiens Präsident Michail Saakaschwili beschwört die Einheit des Landes – doch die ist nicht in Sicht. Natürlich will er auch die NaTo-Mitgliedschaft. Und von einer Annäherung an Russland wird gemunkelt. Natürlich gibt es weiterhin geopolitische Interessen, verschiedenster Player, Gelesen hatten ich auch schon von Kasakhstan, China, Iran neben den bekannten wie Europa, USA, Russland.
Aus rein nachbarschafftlichen Gründen begrüße ich auf jeden Fall, wenn sich Russland und der Südkaukasus - im gegenseitigen Interesse für Stabilität und Entwicklung, was auch den Europäern entgegen kommt, näher kommen. Und natürlich bedarf, um das landläufig metaphorisch auszudrücken, ein gewisses Augenmaß, Respekt und Reflexionsvermögen aller beteiligten. Und ein guter Wille natürlich auch - um das mal so daherzusagen.

mehr >>> Von Elke Windisch, Moskau 21.1.2008 0:00 Uhr

REPORTAGE (20): Sag mir wo die Blumen sind?


Von Patricia Scherer

Es wird meine letzte Reise sein, zumindest vorläufig, vielleicht auch für immer. Nach Georgien. Mein Schicksal ruft nach mir, es schickt mich auf einen anderen Kontinent in eine andere Kultur. So ist diese Reise ein bisschen wie ein Abschied, ein Adieu vom Kaukasus, ein Nachvamdis von Menschen, die mir ans Herz gewachsen sind. Es ist Winter in Berlin und in Tbilisi, und ich reise um ein Versprechen zu halten. Was daraus wird, liegt nicht in meiner Hand: die Verantwortung wird dann bei meinen Freunden und den Georgiern sein.
Doch bevor ich von neuen Erlebnissen erzählen, will ich alte zu Ende bringen. Ich muss schmunzeln, wenn ich heute daran denke, wie meine Mutter, in ihrem knall grünen T-Shirt mit Paillettenbesatz, gestützt auf einen Stock aus Ebenholz mit Silberknauf, den kleinen Weg von der Einfahrt zum Straßenkinderheim in Gildani beschreitet. Sie sieht lustig aus, und trotzdem hat sie Würde und ist vielleicht ein bisschen furchteinflössend. Wir haben uns vorgenommen mit den Straßenkinder einen Nachmittag zu verbringen und gemeinsam kleine Kunstwerke zu schaffen.
Keti und ich tragen meiner Mutter das Buntpapier, die Farben und einen Sack Kartoffeln hinter her. Ich dachte immer Kartoffeldruck wäre etwas Universelles im weitläufigeren Europa - so etwas, was jedes Kind kennt und schon einmal gemacht hat. Weit gefehlt: Mit großen Augen schauen mich Jungen und Mädchen an, während ich Kartoffeln halbiere, Sterne, Vierecke und Herzen ausschneide, sie mit Farbe bestreiche und Stempel auf das Papier drucke. Mir kommt es vor als hätte ich gerade ein kleines Wunder vollbracht. Hochkonzentriert gehen auch die Kleinsten ans Werk, und ich darf gar nicht mehr aufhören weitere Kartoffelstempel zu schneiden. Unter Aufsicht beginnen sie selber mit den kleinen, scharfen Messern Muster in die Erdfrüchte zu schneiden. Dabei wird mir ein bisschen mulmig. Ich muss an Adschiko denken und die vielen Narben auf seinem Arm; daran, dass Ritzen und Kleberschnüffeln für viele von diesen Kindern schon einmal zum Alltag gehört hat. Mit Adleraugen bewache ich meine kleinen drei Messer, doch meine Angst ist unbegründet: Die Kinder sind hoch konzentriert in ihre Kreationen versunken.

Die Älteren sollen eine Collage aus Zeitungsausschnitten machen: Ein Bild, dass ihre Wünsche und Ziele darstellt. Keti hat es geschafft, mehrere Verlage dazu zu bringen, uns umsonst ihre bilderreichen Magazine zur Verfügung zu stellen. Die älteren Jugendlichen sind schwer zu animieren. Meine Mutter hat viele dieser Collagen gemacht: Sie erzählt, dass diese Zielbilder etwas Magisches haben, dass man nichts darauf kleben soll, was man nicht wirklich haben möchte. Einmal, nachdem ihre beiden Töchter schon geboren waren, da hat meine Mutter ein Bild eines kleinen Jungen auf eine solche Collage geklebt. Das Foto gefiel ihr einfach, weil der Junge so fröhlich aussah und strahlte. Damals verschwendete meine Mutter keinen Gedanken mehr daran noch weitere Kinder in die Welt zu setzen; schließlich war sie schon über vierzig und hatte bereits zwei wunderbare Töchter. Etwa ein Jahr später wurde mein kleiner Bruder geboren. Frech, rothaarig und eben ein Sonnenschein. Diese Geschichte macht einige der älteren Jugendlichen hellhörig, und sie lassen sich doch dazu hinreißen, eine Collage zu machen. Einige kleben große Autos und die neusten Mobilfunkgeräte aus Werbeannoncen auf ihr Tonpapier, doch andere halten inne und denken wirklich über ihre Wünsche nach. Adschiko, der immer einen leicht abwesenden Gesichtsausdruck hat - er klebt kleine Häuser und ein Bild einer älteren Frau, die seine Großmutter darstellen soll, auf die Collage. Er erklärt, dass er zurück in seine Heimat Kachetien möchte und dort seiner notleidenden Oma ein Haus bauen. Ich bin gerührt, und möchte ihm am Liebsten die Stirn küssen, doch ich traue mich nicht ihm so nah zu kommen. Adschiko ist jetzt schon über 18. Bald muss er das Heim verlassen, so wie alle Jugendlichen, die inzwischen junge Erwachsene geworden sind. Einige von ihnen können weder schreiben noch lesen. Sie haben keine Ausbildung, und niemand scheint sich ernsthaft darüber Gedanken zu machen, was aus ihnen wird. Ein erneutes Leben auf der Straße ist so gut wie vorprogrammiert: ein Leben, dass wieder bestimmt sein könnte vom Kleberschnüffeln, der Modedroge Subotex und dem Ritzen. Was wird dieses Leben aus dem sanftmütigen Adschiko machen, der so zauberhaft aus dem Herzen Lächeln kann. Was wird geschehen mit den anderen Jungen: Lado, der als Elektriker arbeitet, aber zu wenig verdient um sich ein Dach über dem Kopf leisten zu können. Wird er vielleicht irgendwann seinem älteren Bruder ins Gefängnis folgen? Wie wird es Giorgi ergehen, der seiner Wut freien Lauf lässt in dem Moment, in dem er seiner Collage einen Titel geben soll, und wieder damit konfrontiert ist, dass er nur wenige Buchstaben kennt. Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind, wo sind sie geblieben, was ist geschehen? Irgendwie erinnert mich diese ganze Situation an dieses Hippie-Lied aus meinen Kindertagen. Where have all the young men gone, long time passing?
Da ist sie wieder, diese Kurzsichtigkeit. Diese Ohnmacht. Manchmal habe ich das Gefühl die Gespräche der Politiker in ihren großräumigen Büros laufen in etwa so ab:
Politiker 1: "Du, heute morgen, da bin ich über den Rustaveli promeniert, und da waren diese bettelnden und zerlumpten Straßenkinder. Sie verschandeln das Stadtbild. Wir müssen sie loswerden."
Politiker 2: "Ja, stimmt. Schrecklich. Umbringen wie die Hunde können wir sie ja nicht. Schließlich will unser Präsident ja der EU beitreten, und die dummen Europäer, die reagieren ganz komisch auf dieses Menschenrechte-Konventionsding, oder wie das heißt."
Politiker 1: "Weißt Du was, wir stecken sie einfach in ein Heim. An den Arsch der Welt, nach Gildani. Die Gegend ist sowieso schon so herunter gekommen, da kommt eh kein Tourist vorbei, und so ein europäischer Politiker schon gleich gar nicht. Da können wir sie aufbewahren, und einfach vergessen."
Politiker 2: "Gute Idee! Lass uns ein Dekret erlassen."
Politiker 1: "Muss das nicht vom diesem Parlament abgesegnet werden?"
Politiker 2: "Quatsch, die machen doch eh, was der Kaiser - eh, ich meine Präsident - sagt."
Politiker 1: "Und was ist wenn sie älter werden?"Politiker 2: "Älter? Wer? Die Parlamentarier?"
Politiker 1: "NEIN! Die Kinder von Straße."
Politiker 2: "Wieso?"
Politiker 1: "Na, das kostet doch Geld, die da aufzubewahren. Solange sie Kinder sind haben diese ganzen ausländischen Vereinigungen ein Herz, und zahlen dafür, das können wir von irgendwelchen Gutmenschen-Spenden finanzieren. Doch was dann?"
Politiker 2: "Ich glaube nicht, dass das ein Problem wird. Wir setzen sie wieder vor die Tür, diese kleinen Kriminellen. innerhalb von kürzester Zeit werden die stehlen und betteln. Wir haben jetzt so viele junge, dynamische Polizisten. Die fassen diesen Abschaum schon. Im Knast sind sie auch weg von der Straße. Vielleicht setzen wir noch das straffähige Alter herab um die Sache zu erleichtern - so auf 12 Jahre. Was denkst Du?"
Politiker 1: "Hervorragend!"Nach einer derart gelungenen Entscheidungsfindung wird wahrscheinlich zufrieden Tschatscha getrunken und eine importierte kubanische Zigarre geraucht.Kaum vorstellbar, dass Adschiko, Lado und Giorgi überhaupt wissen was das ist - eine kubanische Zigarre. Ob sie ihr wohl je in Rauchweite gekommen sind? Sag mir, wo die Zigarren sind, wo sind sie geblieben? Oder auch die wahren Helden, die klugen Köpfe, die Männer mit Herz, die integeren Politiker, die mitfühlenden Väter, die sieben Weisen, die Retter der Nationen ...


Patricia with her Mom in Georgia (mehr Fotos)

Teil 21: Georgisch-orthodoxe Stalinismen

Teil 19: Auf nimmer wiedersehen

GESCHICHTE: Gab es den "Meter-Mann" wirklich - Sächsischer Begründer und Erbauer der Stadt Goris?

Eben rief mich Mirko Sennewald von KULTUR AKTIV e.V. aus Dresden an und fragte ob ich etwas über den "Meter-Mann" aus Armenien/Karabakh wüßte? Ein kleiner Sachse soll dort einen typischen europäischen Stadtplan angelegt haben. Mirko selbst war dort, und beschrieb diese Architektur oder besser die Anlage der Stadt selbst schon als ungewöhnlich. Letztendlich kamen wir zu dem Schluß, dass auch dafür Blogs im Internet ausgezeichnet sind, auf diesem Wege, sozusagen auf der virtuellen Suche "nach Zeugen" genaueres erfahren zu können. Also, weiß jemand etwas zu der folgenden Geschichte?

Goris: Uploaded on December 4, 2006 by parapura

Eine Geschichte über die Gründung und Architektur einer Stadt

In Folge einer neuen Reform im Jahre 1868 wurden die Regionen Sunik und Arzach aus der Provinz Yerevan genommen und der Provinz Yelizavetopol (Gyumri) hinzugefügt. Goris wurde des offizielle Zentrum der Region (arm.: Mars) Zangezur. Zu dieser Zeit war das kleine Dorf Goris, mit seiner ungünstigen Lage, kein guter Standort, um ein administratives Zentrum der Region zu sein, mit zahlreichen wichtigen staatlichen Organisationen wie das Büro des Gouverneurs, ein Gericht, ein Finanzministerium, Polizei, Krankenhaus und andere wichtige Körperschaften und Einrichtungen. Somit war es die neue Aufgabe eine bessere Lage in der Nähe zu suchen, die geeigneter zum Leben und für Koordinationszwecke (zur Orientierung wurden 3 Dörfer erwähnt: Jeiva, Artsvanik und Goris).
Der Historiker Stepan Lisitsian war fähig die Geschichte die hinter der Auswahl stand, zu erzählen, die ein kleines Dorf zum Zentrum des Mars machte. Man sagt, dass Gouverneur Karaev in Zangezur herumwanderte und bemerkte, das das kleine Plateau von Goris ein Platz für Handel, als Treffpunkt für die Großhändler und für die Reisenden sein könnte.
Das bedeutet, dass es im Ort vor der offiziellen Terminierung als Stadt Handwerker-Unternehmen, Geschäfte und Wohnhäuser gab. Später wurden Spuren gefunden die bewiesen, dass es sogar lange davor altertümliche Siedlungen gab, die die Beliebtheit bewiesen.
Im Jahre 1868, wie vom armenischen Schriftsteller Aksel Bakunts festgelegt, wurde ein Plan von Goris erstellt mit der direkten Beteiligung des Gouverneurs und das kann man ohne Zweifel als sichere Quelle nehmen.

Das alles steht aber im Widerspruch zu der weit verbreiteten Meinung, dass der Plan für Goris von einem sächsischen Architekten erstellt wurde. Obwohl diese Meinung sogar im Landvermesser Lexikon Armeniens und in benachbarte Regionen erwähnt wird (1. Ausgabe, Seite 953).

Die Grundlage für diese Information ist ein Bericht von Gh. Alischan, der schrieb, dass 1850, ein in Sachsen geborener Reisender zum Design der Stadt beitrug.

Dieser "Meter- Mann" erwähnte in seinen Notizen, dass er überrascht war, in diesem kleinen Ort, verloren in den Bergen, einen sehr warmen Empfang mit Champagner und Bordeaux-Weinen erhalten zu haben. Weiter schreibt Alischan "dass der Sachse Nachforschungen betrieb und sich Landüberblicke verschaffte".
Dies bedeutet, dass der Sachse auf dem Lande und nicht in der Stadt arbeitete, die noch nicht offiziell errichtet war. Danach besuchte der Sachse das Dorf Tegh und zog nach Karabach. Höchstwahrscheinlich lag sein Hauptinteresse darin, eine Straßenkreuzung zwischen Nachitschewan und Schuschi zu sehen, und wenn er in Goris auftauchte, tat er es auf dem Weg. Es wurden keine offiziellen Fakten gefunden, die besagen, dass die Stadt von einem Sachsen designt wurde.
Jedoch wurden in den Archiven der Stadt keine anderen Namen von anderen Planern der Stadt gefunden. Der Schreiber Aksel Bakunts behauptet fest, dass die Stadt von dem ersten Gouverneur selbst geplant wurde. Obwohl sich der Sachse und der Gouverneur offensichtlich nie begegneten, da der Gouverneur mindestens 18 Jahre bevor Goris als Zentrum des 'Mars' und als Stadt eingesetzt wurde, dort weilte.
Es wird gesagt, Goris hatte erst im Jahre 1868 einen Gouverneur und erst dann, als die administrative Reform umgesetzt wurde.
Obgleich Stepan Lisitsian Gouverneur Karaev als Designer von Goris erwähnt, gab es nie eine Straße in der Stadt, die nach Karaev benannt wurde, aber es gibt Straßen namens Staratsku und Manuchar Bek, die als die offiziellen Gründer der Stadt anerkannt werden. Gab es also den Sachsen wirklich? Und Karaev, der sich nicht weiter verdient um die Stadt gemacht hat, wird eben deswegen nicht weiter geehrt? Wer ist nun der Planer dieser Stadt? Geklärt scheint das noch nicht zu sein. Mirko Sennewald möchte nun gern wissen, ob es ein Sachse (Region im Süd-Osten Deutschlands) war?


KULTUR AKTIV e.V.
Mirko Sennewald - Geschäftsführer -
Mail/Post: Louisenstr. 29, D - 01099 Dresden
Office/Besucher: Schoenbrunnstr. 1, D - 01097 Dresden
(open daily 9:00 - 19:00)
tel: +49-(0)-351-811 37 55
mobi: +49-(0)-177-802 75 95
Fax: +49-(0)-351-811 37 54
mail: sennewald@kulturaktiv.org
skype: kulturaktiv-mobil
www.kulturaktiv.org

BOOK REVIEW: The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus. By Charles King

TRACKING THE COMPLEXITIES OF THE CAUCASUS
1/18/08 A Book Review by Alex van Oss (www.eurasianet.org)

The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus
By Charles King2008 Oxford Press, 291 p., ISBN: 978-0-19-517775-6

Most Caucasus writing these days is either journalistic or academic, obsessed for the most part with conflicts or oil. The Ghost of Freedom manages to break the mold: Charles King, a professor of government and international affairs at Georgetown University, has produced a work that is at once informative, eclectic, and immensely satisfying.
In fewer than 300 pages King provides a comprehensive and gracefully written account of the South and North Caucasus, plus Black Sea regions of Russia, such as Sochi, site of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Excellent maps by Chris Robinson depict political boundaries of 1780, 1890, and 2008, showing dramatically how Persian or Ottoman territory one century became Russian the next, and now, independent. The title, "The Ghost of Freedom," comes from Pushkin’s 1821 poem "Captive of the Caucasus" whose Byronic protagonist, tiring of Mother Russia,
"...quit the confines of his native land, and flew away to a far off strand with freedom’s cheerful apparition..."
… Or its illusion. The hero gets captured by locals, finds romance, and then escapes. The poem inspired sundry other stories, operas, a ballet, a book, plus a film or two--all with the same title; and it prompted thousands of restless Russians to "go West" (go south, that is) and seek love, profit, epiphany, and adventure in the mountains.

***
So much for Pushkin. When pondering this seductive part of the world, it is useful to keep a couple of points in mind; first, the Caucasus is not Russia, and second, Russia is not the Caucasus. The Ghost of Freedom explains why the region is no longer the "jewel in the crown," or a proving ground for a Big Brother; nor can it in any way be considered a single political entity. Rather, its extremely variegated terrain also harbors distinct cultural ecosystems that at various times have been called a "museum of mankind," a "mountain of tongues," and even a "sculpture" (see below), with a bewildering array of languages, ethnicities, and views of history.
Indeed, the Caucasus can be likened to the classic children’s finger-puzzle in which 15 little sliding squares, enclosed in a frame, must be reconfigured in correct sequence. This is devilishly hard to do. In the living puzzle of the Caucasus there are of course many more pieces, which King rearranges in various illuminating ways, while neatly summarizing vast amounts of history.
King begins at the beginning, 25 million years ago, with the collision of continents that forced up most of the mountain ranges of Eurasia, including the Caucasus and its deposits of oil and gas. (By the way, this geological train-wreck is still in progress, albeit in extremely slow motion.) There has been much cultural as well as tectonic grinding in the Caucasus over the centuries. Scores of indigenous peoples and invaders have collided, traded, and genetically intermingled, leaving remnants and pockets of themselves in valleys, among alpine meadows, and in isolated auls (aerie-like highland villages) between the Black and Caspian Seas. The Caucasus has paid the price of being a cultural crossroads, and has weathered incursions from every quadrant: Persians from the southeast; Greeks and Romans (plus Byzantines, Arabs, Ottomans, and Turks) from the southwest; Huns, Avars, Mongols (and Russians, British, Germans, and so forth) from the north. The result--as cartographers soon discover to their dismay -- is what King describes as "borders on the move" (a concept reminiscent of certain ancient Caucasus legends that describe a time when the mountains could actually walk around...on ’legs’ of clouds!)
Maps are never the territory, of course, but King’s "surfeit of borders" precisely describes a neck of land historically chock-a-block with feudal clans and feuding vassalages, suzereinties, satrapies, and client states--and their shifting alliances. Add to this the poking and prodding by great powers and no wonder Caucasus politics displays a certain operatic quality (Bolshevik Revolution here, Rose Revolution there, charming folk dances and drinking songs over yonder, while oil wheeler-dealers and ’frozen conflict peacekeepers’ wait in the wings). Readers of The Ghost of Freedom will perhaps not be surprised to learn that the maneuvering continues, the United States being but the latest partner (or padrone) active in the South Caucasus. Tomorrow--who knows?--that role may revert to Russia, Turkey, or even China, and once again we would need to redraw the maps.

***
Today’s nations can be old or spanking new. Azerbaijan, King writes, is only a 20th-century construct; but even ancient entities such as Georgia and Armenia can wink on and off over the centuries:
"Two hundred years ago the map of the Caucasus looked very different from the one that exists today. Unified places called Georgia and Armenia had long ago disappeared, the former in the fifteenth century, and the latter in antiquity. Both were geographical rather than political expressions. A place called Azerbaijan, when the term was used at all, was more likely to refer to what one would now call northwestern Iran [p. 14-15].
"Modern maps that show great swaths of colored territory as clearly belonging to one or another khanate, kingdom, principality, or empire are fundamentally misleading about the real nature of sovereignty on the ground. The goal of any political power was to control the locus of extraction, such s a key bridge, port, mountain pass, or fortress. When borders did serve something like a modern purpose, they were usually meant not to keep people out but to keep them in." [ p.21]
The photographs in this volume are subtle and bear close examination. Two poignant images from the Library of Congress depict victims of war and massacres in 1919: one shows a row of Armenian orphans (bareheaded, barefoot), the other a similarly posed rank of Muslim/Turkish orphans (shod, hatted, holding staves). A 1935 photograph from the Hoover Institution Archives portrays Stalin’s henchman, Lavrenty Beria, standing next to three colleagues from Armenia, Abkhazia, and Azerbaijan. In retrospect it is a chilling artifact, for the following year the Armenian and Abkhazian would die under unusual circumstances after meeting with Beria (expiring by ’suicide’ and spasms, or possibly a ’heart-attack,’ respectively); the Azerbaijani was liquidated three years later. The Caucasus can be unkind to its own.
Battle and treaty dates can make for notoriously tedious reading; happily King manages to quick-march through history with panache, pausing frequently to clarify events and their wider implications (which events in the Caucasus always have). He also de-romanticizes the region:
"The legendary horsemanship and daring of Caucasus fighters were acknowledged even by their enemies. Russian painters depicted engagements between [Russian allied] Cossacks-of-the-line and their Circassian and Daghestani counterparts, with riders galloping at full tilt toward one another, meetings with the clash of saber and lance. However, such engagements were probably the exception rather than the rule. The Caucasus wars were always partly guerilla campaigns--what would today be called seasonal counterinsurgency operations. They rarely involved anything approximating pitched battles, at least of the type that Russian officers and men knew from their wars with other empires." [p.73]
The world learned about the Caucasus from travel accounts, 19th century Russian writers (Pushkin, Lermontov, Tolstoy, and others), and from press coverage of the long wars between highlanders and tsarist armies. To this must be added the allure of show business: Buffalo Bill Cody featured "Cossack" horsemen--actually Georgians--in his Wild West Show, while P.T. Barnum hawked "Circassian Beauties" (Irish, perhaps) as sideshow attractions. Exotic representations of the Caucasus continue to this day: John le Carré’s spy-thriller Our Game takes readers to some of the wilder-and-woolier parts of southern Russia; and John Ringo has a popular series of science fiction novels set in eastern Georgia: Ghost, Kildar, Choosers of the Slain, Unto the Breach.
The Caucasus was home to early Christian and Muslim states, and even earlier Jewish and Zoroastrian communities; paganism, once widespread, continues to exist. While never a paragon of tolerance, the Caucasus has avoided "clashes-of-civilizations"--although imperial Russia periodically used religion in its recruitment of Armenians to fight the Ottomans, and radical imams sought to unite the North Caucasus in jihad against the Russian advance. But somehow the spark never caught fire, due in part to the region’s heterogeneity. This was its strength and also its weakness. King describes the tsarist strategy of dividing and conquering the Caucasus by way of its geographical "flanks" (corresponding roughly to the Caspian and Black Sea watersheds):
"The middle ground... between the right and the left flanks was also home to a variety of peoples, some of whom were loyal to the tsar, while others lived in out-of-the-way areas and consequently posed no immediate threat to imperial power. Among the latter groups were the Turkic-speaking Karachai and Balkars; the Ossetians, whose villages helped insulate the road against highlander attacks; and the peoples of mountainous Georgia, the Svans, Khevsurs, Pshavs, and Tush. The great dream of some highland leaders was to unite the two flanks, which were separated by no more than 150 miles, into a single front. The great success of Russian policy was that it prevented them from ever doing so." [p.68]
The quaint term "Caucasian," as an ethnic category, harks back to Johann Friedrich Blumenbach’s On the Natural Variety of Mankind (1775), in which the German physician tried to link physical characteristics (such as skull size) to culture. Blumenbach considered Caucasians to be the world’s most ancient--and beautiful--white people. (Caucasians actually come in all shapes, sizes, and hues of hair and skin color.) Ethnography has often been politicized, and in the Caucasus Russian and Soviet academics demonstrated what King calls the "Enlightenment urge to taxonomize." As King puts it, Russian popular imagination fed upon the works of writers and painters (sometimes one and the same, as with Mikhail Lermontov), who in turn fed on volumes of ethnography. Their curiosity was wide and deep; King includes the instructions from the St. Petersburg imperial academy to a German explorer, Julius von Klaproth, in 1807; the academy wanted to know:
"Are there traditions respecting the existence of Amazons? Who are the likely descendants of the Scythians, the ancient steppe dwellers described by Herodotus? Where are the passes in the mountains? What is to be found in the districts south of the highlands, especially along the black Sea? What s the word for "tribe" in the Lezgin dialects? Are the women of the Caucasus as beautiful as is often claimed?" [p.104]
Another scholar, Semyon Bronevskii, toiled for years over a massive two-volume overview of earlier explorers’ notes, all the while working at administrative posts. The fruits of his labor, titled The Latest Geographical and Historical Information on the Caucasus, brought the Caucasus out of academia and into Russian consciousness--and King continues this tradition for western readers.

***
The Ghost of Freedom perforce covers a lot of ground. Divided into five chapters, the book describes geology and geography; imperial and colonial designs on the Caucasus (and staunch resistance to it); Caucasus ethnography and imagery in popular culture; the Bolshevik, Soviet, and independence periods--and much more. Thirty subsections bear catchy titles, such as "Ermolov Comes!," "There is Something to Be Gained on the Heights," and "Eros and the Circassian."
For the most part it is smooth sailing, but some sections are filled to bursting and dense. Chapter Two, for example, covers the complexities of Islam, Caucasus military strategy, fighting techniques, biographies of imams, Georgia’s bureaucracy, the Circassian diaspora--all fascinating, but a lot to absorb. More headings would have been helpful; as it is, readers will need to rely on the index or write notes in the margins (a shame, for this book is too handsome to mark up).
That said, King certainly writes engagingly: he leavens the narrative with anecdotes and verse, and swoops and soars on his magic Caucasus carpet from region to region and one time period to another. Such verve conveys a marvelous sense of the Caucasus as being almost a work of art, physically and culturally: a natural sculpture, no part of which can be truly understood without awareness of the whole--a whole which underwent considerable modification in the 1800s, as Russian troops fortified, cut down vast forests, and built military highways in order to extirpate resistance.

***
The Ghost of Freedom brings together current research, and also classic works by English, French, German, and Russian adventurers, and scholars. We read of Douglas Freshfield’s epiphanies while climbing in the Caucasus mountains in 1869--epiphany, King points out, being a crucial aspect of climbing in those days that was soon to be overcome by the newer craze of seeking ever greater technological challenges, not just a good view. (This is a pity: I recall my own delight at discovering in my local public library a rare masterpiece of Victorian nature writing by James Bryce, a British parliamentarian and ambassador to the United States. Bryce climbed Mount Ararat in 1876 in one of the earliest ascents on record. It was an arduous adventure; nevertheless Bryce took careful notes and describes every interesting pebble encountered, every geological formation, every species of flora and fauna, and every fog patch, cloud and shift of light. Evidently Lord Bryce carried no camera.)
Charles King offers a wealth of surprising and trenchant perceptions about, for example, the ambiguous role of British officers during the fighting between Russians and highlanders, and the fate of soldiers taken into slavery. There is a long Caucasus tradition of slaves, hostages, deserters, and renegades; the analogy to North America is inescapable: many soldiers in the Caucasus "went Indian" by choice, or by an offer they couldn’t refuse.
Sometimes Caucasus history can seem like musical chairs, and in this regard King tackles a delicate subject: the fact that Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, despite their ancient artistic and religious heritage, owe a considerable cultural debt to Russia and Europe. Printing, jurisprudence, pedagogy, theater, literature, music, philosophical inquiry, and more: all got a vitamin injection from 19th century graduates of universities in St. Petersburg and abroad. Consider the remarkable British-educated Mikhail Vorontsov, whom Tsar Nicholas I made commander-in-chief of Caucasus forces; he was certainly ruthless, but also cosmopolitan:
"Vorontsov was convinced that the Caucasus needed a genuine political, cultural, and economic center--much as Odessa had become the effective capital of New Russia--and Tiflis was to be it. Parts of the city had remained in ruins since the Persian onslaught of 1795. Vorontsov laid on plans for its rebuilding, creating wide thoroughfares and designing new residential districts...the first drama theaters were established in 1850 and 1851 (one for Georgian plays, another for Russian), and the famous Tiflis opera house was soon inaugurated, complete with an Italian company regularly performing well-known pieces...the booming cultural life in Vorontsov’s Tiflis was a sign of the city’s gradual rise from garrison town to urban imperial outpost." [p.86]
Baku was soon to boom as well, thanks to oil; Yerevan had to wait until after the First World War, when its population swelled from the influx of Armenians uprooted from Ottoman Turkey.

***
One of the lesser known chapters of world history concerns the 19th century mass expulsion by Russians of Circassians and other groups from the northwestern Caucasus and Black Sea coast. Highlanders and Abkhaz were forced into Anatolia, the Balkans, and further corners of the Ottoman Empire. Inadequately housed and fed, a great many perished from disease or in storms at sea. Up to 500,000 Caucasus peoples (often labeled as ’Circassians,’ regardless of origin) left in the 1860s; King puts the total from 1859-1878 at 2 million. These deportees resettled and often attained high military and administrative positions in their new homes. From revolutionary Russia and the Middle East, thousands emigrated to Europe and the United States, not infrequently maintaining their traditional vocations and codes of honor, and finding employment in diplomacy, various military or security agencies, and other government services. To this day there are Circassian villages in Turkey, Jordan, Israel, and elsewhere.
The ripple effects of Caucasus politics spread outwards, even to the United States, in the form of business ventures to political misadventures (an Armenian bishop was assassinated in New York in 1933) and political lobbying. Wrangling on Capitol Hill over official United States recognition of an Armenian genocide has, directly or indirectly, ended the career of one American ambassador to Armenia, obstructed the ratification of another, and threatens to be a perennial stone in many peoples’ shoes. On the matter of Ottomans, Armenians, and genocide, King states bluntly:
"In nearly all instances of large-scale violence, state manipulation and local circumstances come together in a contingent, complicated, and ultimately deadly mix. The Armenian genocide was neither explicitly ordered as a single act of violence, nor was it the unavoidable consequence of some ancient quarrel between Muslims and Christians. Rather, it was the result of communal fear, ethnic reprisals, government paranoia, and fitful experimentation with targeted killing as a tool of modern statecraft." [p 197]
King continually reminds us of the multiple dramas unfolding in Anatolia at the turn of the 20th century: the collapse of empires and the formation of new nations, the First World War, the brutality and chaos of times a-changing, and the eruption of local antagonisms into something widespread and genocidal. Such a saga ought to inspire great novels, films, and television series--of the scope and subtlety, say, of Paul Scott’s The Raj Quartet, about the final years of British rule in India--but they have yet to appear.

***
The last part of The Ghost of Freedom brings us into the present, and shows how today Caucasus is of a piece with the region in earlier times, and how post-Soviet changes have been a mixed blessing:
"The real story [post-Soviet] ... is not about deep-rooted sentiments of ethnicity or ancient grievances but about the ways in which personal ambition, structural incentives, and the simple presence of sufficient quantities of guns led to bloody conflict." [p.212]
The author evenhandedly describes the political ecology of the intractable "legacy conflicts" in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and in the North Caucasus. Too often the dreary occurrences in Chechnya, Ingushetia, and increasingly other regions--lawless police arrests, citizen ’disappearances,’ executions, systemic brutality, and also acts of terrorism, such as the occupation of the Beslan elementary school in North Ossetia--are viewed as remote and internal Russian affairs. Journalists traveling to those regions risk their lives. The sad truth is that Caucasus unrest only undermines Russia’s security, as it lines the pockets of the purveyors of weapons, narcotics, and contraband. Human trafficking and illegal wheeling and dealing, while not new or unique to the Caucasus, is increasingly profitable and international.
Paul Goble, a specialist on CIS minorities, asserts ominously that Russia has never controlled the North Caucasus without first controlling the South. But control need not be the result of invasion or occupation. Russia now owns and coordinates much of the Caucasus energy infrastructure, while militarily it fosters close ties with Armenia and maintains proxies and "peacekeepers" in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. However, Russia is not the only player in this region: newcomers to the game include the United States (which openly pursues its interests and maintains agents of influence, including military, in the South Caucasus), not to mention Kazakhstan and China.
Finally, The Ghost of Freedom touches upon an old and extremely important question: Is the Caucasus a part of Asia, the Middle East, or Europe? The first two certainly. As for the latter, I have heard all kinds of enthusiastic assertions: that, for example, Europe and the Caucasus have a natural affinity, and that everything from chivalry and horsemanship, to the "look" of Hellenic statues and temples, to Romanesque and Gothic construction techniques, to the fancy footwork of "Irish" dancing--in short, many of the key aspects of European culture arose in those parts. Be that as it may, the European Union, motivated by its need for Caspian energy resources, has finally begun to adjust its bureaucratic gears to become more usefully engaged in the Caucasus. Should Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan ever find themselves in the EU, it would mean radical changes in self-perception throughout Europe, and the Black Sea and Caspian regions. Charles King’s The Ghost of Freedom helps us understand why.

Editor’s Note: Alex van Oss is the Chair of Caucasus Advanced Area Studies at the Foreign Service Institute in Washington, DC.

NEWS: EurasiaNet Weekly Update 01-26-08

HE FOLLOWING STORIES APPEARED ON EURASIANET OVER THE PAST WEEK:

GEORGIA: PM ANNOUNCES CABINET SHAKE-UP
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav012408a.shtml

COPPER CONTROVERSY HAUNTS ARMENIAN TOWN
Marianna Grigoryan
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav012308.shtml

TRACKING THE COMPLEXITIES OF THE CAUCASUS
Alex van Oss
A Book Review by Alex van Oss
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav011808a.shtml

GEORGIA: OPPOSITION'S CRITICISM OF WEST ONLY GOES SO FAR
Nina Akhmeteli
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav011808b.shtml

Saturday, January 26, 2008

TRAVEL: Walking in Georgia - An illustrated talk by Peter Nasmyth

at University of Wales Newport

The Conferenc Suite
Caerleon Campus

07.00 - 09.00 pm

5. February 2008

Peter Nasmyth is an outstanding photographer who has made Georgia his home. Peter has an unrivalled knowledge of one of the most beautiful and widely unknown nations in Europe.

Newport Kutaisi Association





NEWS: Georgia News Digest 01-25-08

A service of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies

Attached PDF file easily navigable with Bookmarks pane
Archives and associated files at
groups-beta.google.com/group/genews/files

1. PM announces cabinet shake-up
2. New cabinet named
3. Saakashvili promises new faces in government
4. Saakashvili comments on new cabinet, opposition
5. Chances of parties in parliamentary election
6. audio: Saakashvili faces old challenges
7. Burjanadze visits Austria
8. General Prosecutor to become Chief President’s Administration
9. PACE to debate Georgia draft resolution
10. report: Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia
11. Remarks to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
12. Saakashvili says recent crisis "important lesson" for Georgia, Europe
13. Saakashvili says veto on Russia joining WTO could be lifted
14. Saakashvili ready to arrive in Moscow, begin relations from scratch
15. Saakashvili ready to settle all conflicts by peaceful means
16. Saakashvili ready for dialogue with Russia at all levels
17. Saakashvili hails Lavrov statement
18. Talk with Saakashvili at PACE to be sharp, substantive – Kosachev
19. Ganira Pashayeva participates in discussion of issue on Georgia’s commitments
20. Transformation of CIS into NATO: NATO's expansion into the post-Soviet zone continues
21. Georgia, Ukraine NATO membership bid "ritual dance" - Russian envoy
22. video: Interview: Dmitry Rogozin
23. Dangerous mobilization
24. CoE head denies willingness to invite secessionist leaders
25. video: Russia denies nationhood deals with Georgia's breakaway regions
26. Will the vector of Russian-Georgian relations change?
27. Political scientists to discuss perspectives of Georgian-Rrussian relations on Thursday
28. Sticks and carrots for everyone
29. The West no longer understands Lavrov
30. European Parliament issues resolution on South Caucasus
31. Russia accuses Georgia of ignoring Abkhazia, South Ossetia in plebiscite
32. Saakashvili welcomes Lavrov’s statement on breakaway regions
33. Strife between ethnic Russian, Chechen troops in Abkhazia
34. Commander denies Georgian reports of clash between Chechen, Russian peacekeepers
35. Tbilisi denies Abkhaz maritime incident
36. Caucasus on alert over Kosovo
37. Transnistria opens representation in South Ossetia
38. report: Georgia’s energy policy: Overview of main directions
39. Estonian company "Port Arthur Group" plans to build industrial center in Rustavi
40. Oil wealth has been a mixed blessing [excerpt]
41. Government to discuss several forms of alienation of Georgian Railways
42. Opposition aims at position of head of GPB information services
43. Nana Lezhava won’t return to journalism
44. Two Ukrainian organizations, involved in exit polls for Georgian presidential elections, enter into controversy
45. Constitutional Court Chairman leaves for European Court
46. Special program has been prepared for the integration of Azerbaijanis living in Georgia into Georgian society
47. Shalva Natelashvili’s condition is stable
48. Tbilisi mayor met with museum employees
49. NGOs demand Tbilisi mayor’s resignation
50. United opposition to publish memorandum with new demands
51. Attorney Shalva Khachapuridze to defend interests of Valeri Gelbakhiani
52. Prosecutors request for stripping ‘coup plotter’ of MP credentials

full digest: Georgia News Digest - Ansicht in Groups BetaNeu!

Jonathan Kulick, Ph.D., Director of Studies, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, 3a Chitadze, Tbilisi 0108, Georgia (Republic),
jonathan.kulick@gfsis.org, office: +995 32 47 35 55, mobile: +995 95 33 33 40, USA voicemail: 310.928.6814