Religious diplomacy should be factored into the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process

Religious diplomacy should be factored into the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process

by | May 14, 2023 | Armenia, Azerbaijan, Commonspace, Religion

“Religion has taken a place in the narratives that depict two warring sides locked into perpetual battle, and the international media nearly always frames the conflict as one between “Christian Armenia” and “Muslim Azerbaijan”, implanting that image in the minds of readers,” writes Onnik James Krikorian in this op-ed for commonspace.eu. “Thus, at some point, the question of religious diplomacy to dispel such inaccuracies should also be factored into future Track II diplomacy efforts,” he adds.  

On 15 October 2020, as war waged between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a baptist cleric convened a multi-confessional joint service for peace in Tbilisi. Despite the tensions and hostilities, Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili invited Armenian and Azerbaijani clergy to come together. 

 

The service was held at the “Peace Cathedral” in the Georgian capital, a repurposed space to, as Songulashvili says, respond to “ugliness with beauty.” It seeks to encourage interfaith dialogue between the three Abrahamic faiths – Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.

 

Ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis make up the two largest ethnic minorities in the country – numbering around 168,000 and 233,000 according to the 2014 Georgian census. In total, that is around 10.8% of the population, leaving some concerned that the 2020 Karabakh war could influence inter-ethnic relations.

 

“It took some effort to convince the Azerbaijani and Armenian clergy that we should come together and pray immediately,” Songulashvili told media at the time, “but as we came together, talked to each other and prayed together for peace, the tensions evaporated.”

 

[…] 

The full article can be read here. 

 

CONFLICT VOICES e-BOOKS

 

Conflict Voices – December 2010

Short essays on the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict
Download in English | Russian

 

Conflict Voices – May 2011

Short essays on the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict
Download in English | Russian

Sevan Bıçakçı: Istanbul’s King of Rings

Sevan Bıçakçı: Istanbul’s King of Rings

by | May 11, 2023 | Caspian Post, Minorities, Turkey

 @ sevanbicakci.com

During my brief stay in Istanbul on the way back to Tbilisi from a visit home to England I visited the atelier of renowned Turkish jeweller Sevan Bıçakçı. Sadly, like the first time I visited it another stay in Istanbul in 2021, Bıçakçı wasn’t there, but I did get to sit down with his Creative Director, Emre Dilaver. My new piece for The Caspian Post.

Sevan Bıçakçı is a name that echoes throughout the world of fine jewellery. Renowned for his impeccable craftsmanship, Bıçakçı’s masterpieces are created using the intricate intaglio reverse carving technique, which involves painstakingly carving details into precious stones from underneath, creating a breath-taking sense of depth when viewed from above. His attention to detail is unparalleled, with some pieces taking months to complete, and are coveted by collectors and celebrities alike.

 

[…]

 

Walking into his five-story atelier in Istanbul, with ornate oriental knives as door handles, it is clear that the city’s vibrant culture, rich history, and stunning architecture have undoubtedly influenced Bıçakçı’s creations. Replete in its charm and history, the city is the perfect setting for an artist like Bıçakçı, who effortlessly combines centuries old traditional techniques with modern innovation to create timeless works of art with Ottoman and Byzantine influences.

  

[…]

 

“Sevan is a genius,” says Bıçakçı’s Creative Director, Emre Dilaver, as we sit in the atelier’s viewing room, just a stone’s throw from Kapalıçarşı, Istanbul’s renowned Grand Bazaar. “His jewellery is pretty much like Istanbul, layer upon layer and he does that in an incredible way. He doesn’t compare to anyone else. It’s about representing the culture—elements of the culture that we started to miss today. We want to remember it and create jewellery so that not only us, everyone else can remember.”

.

In 2009, Bıçakçı won a prestigious Jameel Prize established by London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, which awards artists who explore Islamic influences through contemporary arts and crafts. Though highlighting how creativity knows no race or religion, this was all the more significant because not only is Bıçakçı a non-Muslim, but he is also a Turkish citizen of ethnic Armenian origin. 

The full article can be read here.

CONFLICT VOICES e-BOOKS

 

Conflict Voices – December 2010

Short essays on the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict
Download in English | Russian

 

Conflict Voices – May 2011

Short essays on the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict
Download in English | Russian

U.S. Hosts Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers for Possible Roadmap to Peace Treaty

U.S. Hosts Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers for Possible Roadmap to Peace Treaty

by | May 10, 2023 | Armenia, Azerbaijan, Balcani Caucaso, Nagorno Karabakh, United States

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov @ Official Photo .

As talks between Yerevan and Baku continue, with a spate of meetings between the leaders scheduled in the near future, following last week’s bilateral negotiations between the two foreign ministers in the United States, Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa has published another of my updates on the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalisation process.

On 1 May 2023, the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov were hosted in the United States by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Though some had speculated that such a meeting was being planned, what appeared to be a general stagnation in the normalisation process between the two countries meant that few expected it.

 

Nonetheless, a day before the ministers and their delegations headed off to Washington D.C., the Azerbaijani Turan News Agency and Armenian Hraparak both published pieces saying that the meeting would take place. Turan also said its sources had informed them that the meeting could last ‘several days,’ an unprecedented development since the 2020 war.

 

An announcement posted on the website of the Armenian National Assembly confirmed that the same day – parliamentary vice-president Ruben Rubinyan would join Mirzoyan as part of the delegation in the U.S. from 29 April to 5 May. There was also speculation that a ‘roadmap’ towards the normalisation of relations could be signed, though none was announced or signed.

 

Speaking in Yerevan on 28 April, French foreign minister Catherine Colonna had also said that there was the possibility Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev could meet on the sidelines of the upcoming second European Political Community (EPC) event in Chisinau, Moldova, on 1 June. Colonna had already visited Baku the same week.

 

[…]

 

On 8 May, the Financial Times reported that sources told it that Aliyev and Pashinyan would meet once again for talks facilitated by European Council President Charles Michel this weekend. It also reported that the 1 June meeting on the sidelines of the EPC is still on the cards, adding that German chancellor Olaf Scholz and French president Emmanuel Macron would join them.

The full article can be read here.

 

 

CONFLICT VOICES e-BOOKS

 

Conflict Voices – December 2010

Short essays on the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict
Download in English | Russian

 

Conflict Voices – May 2011

Short essays on the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict
Download in English | Russian

Opinion: time has never been on the side of an Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal

Opinion: time has never been on the side of an Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal

by | Apr 27, 2023 | Armenia, Azerbaijan, Commonspace, Nagorno Karabakh

© United World International 

Commonspace yesterday published another opinion piece of mine on the current peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“Time is not on the side of peace between [Armenia and Azerbaijan] and never has been,” writes Onnik James Krikorian for commonspace.eu. “The wounds of the past are still raw and will continue to fester unless there is concrete progress, whether through the efforts of the European Union, United States, or Russia.” He adds that “in such an environment, it is imperative for local and international actors to become proactive again, with absolutely no space for complacency or hope for a new but unsustainable status quo to emerge.”

 

Next month will mark the 29th anniversary of the 1994 ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan that ostensibly brought an end to the first Karabakh war. Almost to the day, it will also be 2.5 years since the November 2020 trilateral ceasefire statement halted what most refer to as the second Karabakh war. Despite initial hopes, the current peace process appears to have stalled.

 

This current failure to end another sorry chapter in relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan does not bode well for the future, to put it mildly.

 

Time is not on the side of peace between the two warring nations and never has been. The wounds of the past are still raw and will continue to fester unless there is concrete progress, whether through the efforts of the European Union, United States, or Russia. Furthermore, last year’s full scale invasion of Ukraine by Moscow further complicates the situation.

 

[…]

 

In such an environment, it is imperative for local and international actors to become proactive again, with absolutely no space for complacency or hope for a new but unsustainable status quo to emerge. Even if the international community once again shifts its focus from conflict resolution to conflict prevention as it did a decade ago, the 2020 Karabakh war demonstrated how ineffective that was as strategy.

The full opinion piece can be read here.

 

 

CONFLICT VOICES e-BOOKS

 

Conflict Voices – December 2010

Short essays on the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict
Download in English | Russian

 

Conflict Voices – May 2011

Short essays on the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict
Download in English | Russian

Armenia-Azerbaijan, tensions rise as Baku establishes border control on Lachin Corridor

Armenia-Azerbaijan, tensions rise as Baku establishes border control on Lachin Corridor

by | Apr 27, 2023 | Armenia, Azerbaijan, Balcani Caucaso, Nagorno Karabakh

© fifg/Shutterstock

A few days ago, Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa published my latest on the recent tensions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. However, some argue, they also represent the possibility that negotiations on Yerevan-Baku peace treaty might come to fruition. Most others disagree, of course, but the situation can perhaps be best described as unclear. 

Azerbaijan has announced the establishment of a border post on the Lachin corridor – a significant development in the aftermath of the 2020 Karabakh war. The installation of the post on 23 April represents another assertion of sovereignty by Azerbaijan not only on the strategic land route from Armenia but also on the besieged breakaway region of Nagorno Karabakh to which it connects..

 

The step also poses additional challenges and implications for Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population as mediation efforts appear to falter. This follows over 133 days of travel along the road being seriously restricted by what is claimed to be an environmental protest by Azerbaijani activists. Only the Russian peacekeeping contingent and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have used the route since.

.

 Baku charges that the highway, along with an alternative route only recently confirmed, was being used for “the rotation of personnel of Armenian armed forces that continue to be illegally stationed in the territory of Azerbaijan, the transfer of weapons and ammunition, entrance of terrorists, as well as illicit trafficking of natural resources.”  

 

Yerevan denies the claims.

 

The installation of an Azerbaijani post on the strategic highway, however, had long been anticipated and can also be linked to the lack of progress on unblocking regional transport and communication routes in the region, as per the November 2020 trilateral ceasefire statement. Both the Lachin Corridor and a land link between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan via Armenia were included, but disagreement over border and customs controls frustrated progress on the second.  

 

[…]

 

Some, however, believe that the checkpoint highlights the need for a resolution to the conflict. “The events […] on the Lachin corridor indicate that we are now moving on from the Ceasefire Agreement”, tweeted Tim Potier, a Tufts University International Law professor. “It is too early to be sure, but I believe that these events mean Armenia and Azerbaijan are closer to signing a peace treaty, not further away”.  

 

Yet, few others share that optimism and many warn that Karabakh is likely to experience further depopulation amid an increasingly uncertain and unpredictable future. There is nonetheless at least consensus among international actors that the conflict must be resolved, though how remains unclear.  

The full article can be read here.

 

CONFLICT VOICES e-BOOKS

 

Conflict Voices – December 2010

Short essays on the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict
Download in English | Russian

 

Conflict Voices – May 2011

Short essays on the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict
Download in English | Russian