OC Media

OC Media

Opinion | Kashia doesn’t need support, queer people do

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Guram Kashia against the backdrop of anti-queer pro­test­ers (Back­ground photo: Giorgi Gogua /Liberali. Front photo: Reuters)

Dato Parulava is a staff writer at OC Media and Liberali.

In the face of abuse and threats over wearing a rainbow armband at a match, Georgia’s football captain, Guram Kashia, has received an unprece­dent­ed out­pour­ing of support. Regard­less of how much this support means for the queer community, we need to ask whether it is really for them, given that Kashia’s most prominent sup­port­ers have avoided men­tion­ing queer people entirely. [Read more…]

Opinion | Labelling Georgia’s far right ‘pro-Russian’ is reductionist and counterproductive

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‘March of Georgians’ in Tbilisi on 14 July 2017 (Luka Pertaia/OC Media)

Shota Kincha is OC Media’s staff writer.

Georgia’s liberal rights groups, neolib­er­al political parties, and their sup­port­ers in the media have con­sis­tent­ly tried to discredit neo-nation­al­ists by simply labelling them ‘pro-Russian’ — a misguided claim that only mirrors the opposite claim that rights groups follow an anti-Georgian ‘Soros agenda’. To address growing far-right author­i­tar­i­an­ism in Georgia, the under­ly­ing social and economic roots of the problem need to be addressed, as well as the legacy of author­i­tar­i­an­ism of the previous ruling class. [Read more…]

Opinion | Georgia should shake up its conflict policy, and recognise the Abkhazians and Ossetians as sides

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Sokhumi (Dominik K. Cagara /OC Media)

Paata Zakareishvili served as Georgia’s State Minister for Rec­on­cil­i­a­tion and Civil Equality (formerly the minister of rein­te­gra­tion) from 2012–2016.

More than 25 years have passed since the beginning of Georgia’s armed conflicts — more than enough time for Georgian society and the political elite to assess what happened and why. It’s important that we evaluate where our progress stands in solving these conflicts, and whether we, as a country, need to reeval­u­ate our aims and revise our policy — whether the achieved result are accept­able or not and if not, what we can change. [Read more…]

Analysis | From Ivanishvili’s chosen to a ‘united opposition’ candidate — how Georgia’s aspiring presidents stack up

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With the date now set for Georgia’s pres­i­den­tial elections, it’s still not clear who will run and who will not. In what is set to be the country’s last direct pres­i­den­tial election, could a political upset challenge Georgian Dream’s dominance? [Read more…]

Analysis | Can ‘New Armenia’ disentangle democratic change from geopolitics?

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Meeting between Nikol Pashinyan and Vladimir Putin on 14 May in Sochi (/primeminister.am)

Mikayel Zolyan is a historian and political analyst from Yerevan, Armenia. He teaches at the Brusov Uni­ver­si­ty of Languages and Social Sciences.

Armenia has for decades pursued a so-called ‘multi-vector’ foreign policy, main­tain­ing its security agreement with Russia while securing funding from the West. But now that real demo­c­ra­t­ic change is occurring, will the gov­ern­ment of the ‘New Armenia’ be able to maintain the balancing act?

[Read more…]

Opinion | The EU Parliament makes it clear — no deal for Azerbaijan unless it improves its rights record

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Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev (L) arrives for a meeting with European Com­mis­sion President Jean-Claude Juncker at the EU Com­mis­sion head­quar­ters in Brussels, Belgium on February 6, 2017. (François Lenoir /Reuters)

Philippe Dam is advocacy director for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch.

The European Par­lia­ment, the EU’s elected rep­re­sen­ta­tives, have made clear they will not ratify a deal with Azer­bai­jan unless it improves it’s human rights record. The European Com­mis­sion should now follow through with a clear message — Azerbaijan’s crackdown on dissent must end and political prisoners freed.

[Read more…]

Opinion | Bank reforms touted by Georgia’s Prime Minister–to-be could spell the end of predatory lending

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Mamuka Bakhtadze (/OC Media)

Tato Khundadze is editor at European.ge.

Just two months after announc­ing sweeping reforms of Georgia’s banks, 36-year-old Finance Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze looks set to become the new Prime Minister. While the country’s banks have become among the most prof­itable in the world, they have done so at the expense of ordinary Georgians. If Bakhtadze and his replace­ment at the finance ministry follow through on these reforms, they could be the first step in address­ing some of Georgia’s most pressing economic woes.

[Read more…]

Keeping up with the Pashinyans: Armenia’s first month after the revolution

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Screen­shot from one of Nikol Pashinyan’s live videos (/Facebook)

Mikayel Zolyan is a historian and political analyst from Yerevan, Armenia. He teaches at the Brusov Uni­ver­si­ty of Languages and Social Sciences.

One month after Armenia’s Velvet Rev­o­lu­tion brought an end to about two decades of Repub­li­can Party rule, Nikol Pashinyan’s gov­ern­ment has inspired hope among many, but also has a lot of promises to fulfil.

[Read more…]

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