Dear Ambassador Tahir Taghizadeh I am writing to express my gravest concern at the wholly unacceptable messages left by your President on Twitter on August 7th 2014. To any independent observer these can only be seen as a “threat of… Read More ›
war
20 Years of Peace in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)
20 years ago at 12.01am on May 12 1994, a ceasefire was finally enacted to stop the unnecessary bloodshed in the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. It was not a peace agreement, it didn’t actually resolve any political or territorial position –… Read More ›
Aghdam: This is no Hiroshima. (Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh)
Before 1991, Aghdam was a major Azerbaijani city nestled within the natural arc shape of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO). It contained around 50,000 people, industry and an airport which also served the people of Nagorno-Karabakh with it being around… Read More ›
Azerbaijan’s continuing siege of Stepanakert (Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh)
Whilst it might be considered that the Karabakhi Armenians won the war to defend their right to live independently from Azerbaijan, they are losing some of the main, post-ceasefire, elements of “passive warfare”. Azerbaijan is successfully winning the propaganda war… Read More ›
Northern Ireland : Echoes for Artsakh
One of the advantages of being an island state is that one’s borders are easily defined, and there will be little dispute with one’s neighbours over what constitutes sovereign territory. A situation which is much more ambiguous where many countries… Read More ›
Karin Tak: The spirit of Artsakh
Artsakh’s unique geographical and historical position has shaped and influenced the characteristics of the people who live there. Whether that is a general legacy of the various interactions within the South Caucasus, or the ancient traditions and cohesion amongst the… 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 ›
Nagorno-Karabakh : Armenia and Azerbaijan conflict begins to escalate
It’s difficult to say whether this is coincidental, or a matter of policy, but the conflict, and killings between Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) and Azerbaijan have taken a worrying trend during the period of Hillary Clinton’s visit to the region. In… 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 ›
An Englishman remembers the Liberation of Shushi
My fifth visit to Artsakh was planned to coincide with the 20th Anniversary of the Liberation of Shushi, with the intention of becoming involved in events and witnessing the way that such an occasion was to be commemorated. My expectation… Read More ›