I have always been intrigued by the oft quoted number, by those sympathetic to the Azerbaijani perspective of the war, of 875000 people being Internally Displaced People (IDP’s) or refugees from the war. Also, the lobbying campaign to allow them… Read More ›
War and its Legacy
Nagorno-Karabakh Liberation War: From Tragic Truce to Peaceful Votes
19 years ago, on May 12 1994, a ceasefire was finally declared to end the fighting in the terrible Nagorno-Karabakh Liberation War. Too many people had been killed, there was untold misery and suffering for millions of people throughout the… Read More ›
The ‘Khojaly Accusation’ of Thomas Goltz
I was intrigued by Shaunt Oozoonian’s report from the presentation at University of California, Irvine (UCI) called the “Khojaly Accusation of 1992”. This presentation included a viewing of the film by Thomas Goltz called “Azerbaijan through Foreign Eyes”. During the… Read More ›
Demonstration to mark 25th Anniversary of Sumgait killings of Armenians by Azerbaijanis
Between February 27th and 29th 1988, the 18,000 Armenians living in Sumgait, near Baku, in Azerbaijan were subjected to violence and killings in response to the vote by the population of Nagorno-Karabakh to join with Armenia. A group of Armenians… Read More ›
Do Azerbaijani’s in London really understand about Khojaly and Karabakh?
Each year in London there is a short march by the Azerbaijani community to highlight their perspective on the events in Khojaly and this year I took the opportunity to witness it directly and to endeavour to find out more… Read More ›
Azerbaijan’s insidious siege of Artsakh
During my last visit to Artsakh in early January it started to snow heavily in the last few days before I had to return to Yerevan. The main road from Stepanakert was sufficiently covered in snow to prevent the throughput… Read More ›
Artsakh Village War Heroes and Broken Hearts
Khndzristan is an unassuming village in the Askeran region of Artsakh populated by several hundred people living off the land, growing most of their food, and keeping animals. It is a life which is very close to nature, is short… Read More ›
21 ՔՍԱՆՄԵԿ : Recognising 21 Years of Independence for Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)
2012 will recognise the 21st Anniversary of the Independence of Artsakh / Nagorno-Karabakh and to celebrate this I have compiled a collection of 21 Images from my 6 visits to the region which represent 21 personal perspectives. Stepanakert has always… Read More ›
Operation Ring : Trading and torturing hostages in the Heart of Artsakh
In the spring of 1991, the Soviet Army and the Azerbaijani OMON initiated Operation Ring. The villages of Getashen and Martunashen in that area were subject to violent attack and the populations forcibly deported. On May 7, an operation was… Read More ›
Military Parade – securing the future; that’s what the little girl wants.
From the perspective of the “west”, the notion of a military parade seems very anachronistic and reflects back to the lost days of the Soviet empire. The show of strength seemed to be more about pandering to the needs of… Read More ›