Soviet washing machines and the cyberspace social revolution in the Caucasus

Caroline Berger finds out how social media is nurturing communication between two countries in conflict, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Earlier this month I found myself lost in the sleepy alleyways of Tbilisi’s Old Town. The Georgian capital is dotted with reminders of the time when it was hidden behind the iron curtain, such as the elderly woman who I passed on the street, guarding her precious Soviet-era washing machine. Yet there’s also an element of post-modern innovation blossoming in the springtime sunshine. Just down the road, a conference hall full of entrepreneurs, youth activists and bloggers buzzed with new ways the internet can bring social change to the Caucasus - countries which fall on dividing line between Asia and Europe, and a region better known for conflicts than cyberspace.
Over a 48-hour period, digital media gurus from around the region and the globe demonstrated how new online tools can help empower individuals and bring about a change in society faster and easier than traditional methods. These digital gurus are designing projects ranging from using online tools to battle censorship issues, to using social media as a platform for people living in isolated, poor and rural areas.
At Oxfam, we’ve begun investigating ways to help farmers access markets via the internet in Azerbaijan, and help rural families in Armenia access legal assistance through online consultations with urban lawyers. So I jumped at the chance to connect with others in the region who are also using online tools to bring about social change.
Here in Tbilisi, two prominent bloggers from opposing sides in a longstanding frozen Caucasus conflict - Armenia and Azerbaijan - are proving that social media can in fact begin to bring about social change - or even be a harbinger for peace. Two ordinary, digitally-minded citizens have opened up new opportunities for restoring dialogue between citizens from states that otherwise would not communicate. Arzu Geybullayeva, a regional analyst in Baku, and Onnik Krikorian, the Caucasus regional editor of Global Voices, first made contact through Arzu’s prominent blog, “Flying carpets and broken pipelines“. For Arzu and Onnik social media has become an unprecedented tool to foster cross-country dialogue, free from heavily monitored phone lines and tightly controlled censorship laws. Facebook and individual blogs have become platforms for ordinary Azerbaijanis and Armenians to share their views.
Conflict continues
The bitter conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region continues to plague the Caucasus. While negotiations have intensified over the past year, relations remain tense on the frontline and the future of this territory is unclear. Since the early 1990s, Oxfam Azerbaijan has been helping thousands of Azerbaijanis displaced by the Karabakh war by improving irrigation systems, facilitating better access to markets and providing agricultural training. However, due to sensitivities and current international agreements, Oxfam Armenia does not currently operate in Nagorno Karabakh. In the future, social media may help to open up new communication channels and, ultimately, bolster development in the region as a whole. In the long run social media could even play a role in an eventual resolution of the conflict.
Even if civil society has only taken its first infant steps into the world of social media in the Caucasus,   Onnik and Arzu are proving that it can be a vehicle for change, as it was in Iran’s “Twitter Revolution” documenting political protests, or the Ushahidi mobile texting mapping platform that helped track thousands of people trapped in the Haiti earthquake.
There is still a long way to go before a social media revolution takes place in this fascinating ex-Soviet region. Despite its bustling and sophisticated capitals, many people in rural areas still have no access to the internet. Back in Tbilisi, conference members agreed: if and when the revolution hits, these new digital tools should be used in conjunction with - not replace - traditional media. Much like the Soviet washing machines still whirring and buzzing in a new digital age.
Where we work: Azerbaijan
Where we work: Armenia