A local child in the ethnic Azerbaijani village of Tekali in Georgia. Situated directly on the border with Armenia and Azerbaijan, it was also host to Track II meetings in the early 2010s, offering a rare opportunity to include local ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani residents of the surrounding region, and also from nearby regions in Armenia and Azerbaijan. © Onnik James Krikorian 2012
This Saturday marks the fifth anniversary of the Second Karabakh War. To be honest, and personally speaking, it had always seemed the continuation of the first waged between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the early 1990s. After all, in the three decades between both, the conflict had nearly always been described as ‘frozen’ rather than resolved – at least until it wasn’t.
Whatever it is called, the 44-day-war claimed around 7,000 lives on both sides and was hardly unexpected. Since 2011, with no breakthrough on the horizon, that had been clear for almost a decade. The International Crisis Group had already warned of a war breaking out by accident even if others demonstrated no sense of urgency. For some, however, it was not a case of if but rather of when.
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On the eve of this year’s anniversary, however, a new mood might finally be emerging. In the past two years there has been remarkable progress and it finally seems that the sides are on the verge of an agreement. This is especially the case since August when Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and U.S. President Donald Trump met in Washington.
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Perhaps for the next anniversary such projects can exist again, using the same mass media in order to reach the maximum number of people across entire society. It could well prove a much needed opportunity for mutual reflection, setting the scene for the future with images that humanise. A picture is worth a thousand words. In some cases, and more often than not, they can say even more.
The full piece is available here.
