JANUARY
•Armenia’s foreign minister, Eduard Nalbandian, expressed his frustration with Azerbaijan’s military build-up continuing, despite imposed limitations by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty limits the number of tanks and armored vehicles a country can acquire, but Azerbaijan is going over the limit, with impunity, Nalbandian complained.
•Amnesty International released a report on domestic violence around the world. According to the report, one in four women in Armenia is a victim of domestic violence. The Gumri-based organization, Ajakits, helps to end the condition, though under difficult conditions. Ajakits was founded by Gayane Seppelin, with her mother, Heghine Mkrtchyan in 1997 after Seppelin’s sister came to her mother seeking refuge from an abusive partner.
•The members of UTN1 (Unknown to No One), an Iraqi boy band, performed in Geneva, Switzerland to the delight of many young girls. Of the group’s five members, two are Armenian. The two founded the group in 1999 and they hope to export their voice outside their native land.
•President Abdullah Gul of Turkey spoke out against an apology campaign for the Armenian Genocide by Turkish intellectuals. The Internet campaign, which was launched by a group of 200 intellectuals in December 2008, received about 30,000 signatures.