Cilicia.com

Armenia-EU free trade pact

Raffi K — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:48:42 +0000

This has been in the works a while, and will be a really big deal. An economic union and free trade pact between Armenia and the European Union. That’s 500 million customers for Armenian products. It will also make imports cheaper. The European Union on Monday decided to launch negotiations on a deep and comprehensive free trade area with Armenia in order to boost economic growth and investment with the Eastern European Partner. That does not include political union – at least not yet. But I think after free trade comes, and the easier travel regime that has been proposed …

Saint Valentine invades Armenia

Raffi K — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:18:43 +0000

Like it or not, certain American holidays are becoming popular worldwide. Halloween is becoming more and more popular in Armenia, and so is Valentines day. This year there were decorations, gifts, balloons being sold on the streets, flowers, special cakes, and a number of restaurants were fully booked by couples. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a fully booked restaurant here before. You could see the couples strolling around town on the night of Valentines day – many more than usual. Valentines day came the day after Trendez this year, and from what I saw completely overshadowed it in …

Snow storm

Raffi K — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:42:36 +0000

Yerevan (and the region) experienced quite a snow storm last week. Yerevan usually doesn’t get a whole lot of snow, even though it’s cold in the winter, since there isn’t much precipitation. A few inches here, an inch there. On Wednesday/Thursday it snowed almost non-stop. The snow piled up to one or two feet and things got pretty messy. There were snow plows working on the streets, but it wasn’t enough and the sidewalks were a disaster too. Then it finally warmed up a little and things got slushy and then cold again without snow, so the slush turned to …

Disgruntled Librarians

Raffi K — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:13:02 +0000

Yesterday, on the way to the Meghu shop that sells honey, I came upon a library which was a few doors down on Kievyan . I’ve seen libraries in Yerevan as I’ve walked about many times, and always thought I should enter one… but then decide I’ll do it another day. Well yesterday was the day. From the sidewalk I could see the old books lining the shelves and when I got to the door I entered a space that seemed devoid of people. But then I noticed there was an office door and a woman inside indicated I should …

Amazing gourmet artisanal heavenly Armenian honey

Raffi K — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:33:53 +0000

One of my favorite shops in Yerevan was the Meghu store. I discovered it many years ago – a concept I had never seen or heard of before or since. It was on Sayat Nova Street and a few steps down from street level. You’d walk in and there was a wall of honey jars of various sizes, all full of thick honey in varying shades of gold, some clear, some crystal white. There were many to choose from, and it would of course be impossible to choose from them if you couldn’t taste them. But you could. They’d pop …

Your wish is their command – Turk under investigation for denial

Raffi K — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:05:26 +0000

It would be funny if it weren’t genocide denial… okay, maybe it’s still funny. Turkish EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis, clearly a genius, challenged France while he was in Switzerland by stating publicly: “We are today in Switzerland and I am saying the 1915 incidents were not a genocide. Let them come and arrest me,” What is funny about this is that the French law is not on the books at this point, but guess what, Switzerland’s is! This chicken appears to have been ignorant of that fact, and was trying to posture by denying the Armenian genocide outside of …

snow, snow, and more snow

Arina — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:28:58 +0000

having grown up in New England, there is nothing more fabulous than a beautiful snow that blankets the city and serves for some great entertainment (snow fight, anyone)? My older daughter Alexandra has been anxiously awaiting Armenia’s first real snow fall and it finally started coming this past week. And lots of it. While we haven’t been hit as badly as some other parts of Eastern Europe, we did get some accumulation that did provide for some wonderful entertainment. And this is the first year in my almost ten years in Armenia that I recall the city actually clearing roads …

Hemshin Repatriation

Raffi K — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:48:40 +0000

There are millions of Hemshin Armenians in the neighborhood of Armenia. These are Armenians from the region of Hemshin that accepted Islam a few hundred years ago and many didn’t talk about being Armenian… and now many don’t even realize they’re Armenian. But their language is without any doubt an Armenian dialect and their traditions remain quite close to Armenian ones. There has been talk on both sides (from some Hemshin and some Armenians) about bringing our communities closer over the years. Now there’s this interesting article about potentially having hundreds or thousands of them that ended up in Kyrgyzstan thanks to …

Much Faster Reform In 2012

Raffi K — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 01:06:39 +0000

Armenian PM Vows ‘Much Faster’ Reform In 2012 To that I say less promises and more deliveries, thank you very much! Shnorhavor Nor Dari jhoghovurt!!

European Court and Buzand Street in Yerevan

Raffi K — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:48:43 +0000

One of the best immediate benefits to Armenia joining a number of European bodies after independence was their agreement to join the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). This article in the Armenian Weekly is about the residents who used to live in the very heart of central Yerevan. Their homes were taken with eminent domain in order to build the Northern Avenue – a pedestrian bulevard connecting the Opera to Republic Square. Most of the homes were very dilapidated, due to the fact that for about 75 years they had been slated for demolition in order to build this street. …