Armenia went farther than most of Iran’s neighbors, closing its border for two weeks. Azerbaijan, meanwhile, was the only country to have not closed its border with Iran at all.
The legislative efforts come after long struggles between the government and a hostile media, much of which is controlled by figures close to the former regime.
The controversial vote, along with new genocide-recognition resolutions in the U.S., has Turkey’s Armenian community feeling caught in the crossfire between a hostile Turkish majority and an assertive Armenian diaspora.
New Year’s is the main winter holiday in the post-Soviet world, after the communists took Christmas customs and melded them into the more secular January 1. But Georgia’s mekvle tradition long predates this shift.
The restoration has sparked arguments about whether the mosque should be considered “Persian” or “Azerbaijani,” and some locals question whether the Armenian-controlled territory should be rebuilding its mosques at all.
The Oscar-nominated “And Then We Danced” faced violent opposition from far right groups, and police were forced to guard theaters throughout the weekend.
From openhanded hospitality to fierce blood feuds, centuries-old customs are fading in Svaneti as the remote Caucasus highland becomes a trendy tourism destination.
The Georgian capital has become a stage set for a Hollywood action flick; some joke that the name of the film franchise is just driving as usual in the city.