This interview with Rusif Huseynov, Co-founder and Director of the Topchubashov Centre in Baku, Azerbaijan, was held on 10 February 2023. In it, Huseynov shares his opinion and commentary on the view from Baku on apparently dashed hopes for a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the impasse on the Lachin Corridor, Ruben Vardanyan, and the state of Track II diplomacy in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

This interview with Kamal Makili-Aliyev, an Associate Professor of International Law and Human Rights at Malmö University in Sweden and author of “Contested Territories and International Law: A Comparative Study of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict and the Aland Islands Precedent,” was held on 17 February 2022.

This interview with Ahmad Alili, Director of the Baku-based Caucasus Policy Analysis Center (CPAC) was held on 28 October 2021.

This interview with Richard Giragosian, Director of the Yerevan-based Regional Studies Center (RSC) was held on 27 October 2021.

This interview with Arnold Alahverdian, one of the co-founders of Bright Garden Voices, an online platform to engage ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis living outside of the South Caucasus, was recorded on 1 March 2021.

This interview with Dr. Arman Grigoryan, an Associate Professor at Lehigh University in the United States, was held on 19 February 2021. An Armenian citizen, his focus is on ethnic conflict and nationalism. 

This interview with Azerbaijani activist and journalist Nigar Fatali was recorded on 12 November 2020, just days after the 9-point ceasefire agreement.

This interview with Azerbaijani photographer and journalist Jahangir Youssif was recorded on 2 November 2020, a week before the 9-point ceasefire agreement.

KARABAKH BLOG POSTS

Some Thoughts on Media and Conflict Discourse in the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict

Some Thoughts on Media and Conflict Discourse in the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict

“In War,” as the saying goes, “truth is the first casualty.” 

While the source of that quote is often contested, what isn’t is that it applies to every single war fought in living memory and probably before. As almost everyone knows, it was definitely the case during last year’s fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh.

New Site Getting There, Though With Archive Materials

New Site Getting There, Though With Archive Materials

My first web site went online in late 1994. Working at The Independent newspaper on Old Street in London at the time, I would meet up with researcher friends at the University College of London (UCL) a few tube stops away for a beer after work most nights and one night they didn’t want to go to the pub just yet. Instead, they wanted to show me the World Wide Web, something we take for granted today, but at that time was only available to a select few.

Developing Effective Frameworks for Countering Ethno-Nationalist Narratives in the South Caucasus

Developing Effective Frameworks for Countering Ethno-Nationalist Narratives in the South Caucasus

Nationalist and ultra-nationalist narratives increasingly resemble those disseminated by violent extremist groups. Not only can themes be similar, but so too are the ways in which they are amplified and disseminated online via different mediums and platforms. They also target specific demographic groups, but there are few if any attempts to address or effectively counter them. This is especially true in the South Caucasus.

Armenia-Azerbaijan Opening Remarks

Armenia-Azerbaijan Opening Remarks

I’ve been covering the Karabakh problem since first visiting in 1994 and I remember being told by one academic back then that it would take 20 years to find a lasting solution to the conflict. Sadly, as way of a reality check, it’s now been 27 years since that 1994 ceasefire.

Armenia-Azerbaijan: The Risks for Georgia

Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso has published my latest update on how the 2020 Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan might affect Georgia’s two largest ethnic minorities. In 2016, OpenDemocracy published a similar piece of mine following the 4-day war. Local ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani civil society activists warn that radicalisation among some individuals in the two communities continues, but that the situation still nonetheless remains relatively calm. This is an issue that does need to be monitored, however.

KARABAKH-RELATED ARTICLES

ARMENIA–AZERBAIJAN: THE RISKS FOR GEORGIA

Two sizeable communities of Armenians and Azeris live – mostly separate – in Georgia. The current conflict has exacerbated the spirits of the two minorities, particularly on social media, arousing the concern of analysts

Published by Osservatorio Balcani e Caucasus, October 2020

UNLIKELY NEIGHBOURS: CO-INHABITED VILLAGES IN GEORGIA

It’s been a year since clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces left around 200 dead in what has now become known as the “Four-Day War.” Despite the carnage, and still locked in a bitter dispute over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, peace between the warring sides is as elusive as ever. 

Published by Stratfor, May 2017

A NARRATIVE OF PEACE: ETHNIC ARMENIAN-AZERI COEXISTENCE IN GEORGIA

Walking past Tbilisi’s Meidan Square towards Heydar Aliyev Park, it’s difficult not to notice dozens of tourists posing in front of a floral fixture that has become a main attraction for visitors to the city. “Tbilisi Loves You,” it reads.

Published by Meydan TV, May 2017

 

Tsopi

CULTURE THAT UNITES RATHER THAN DIVIDES

An Azeri teahouse, and naturally Azerbaijani can be heard spoken inside. A dozen men, identical in appearance, sit at tables, chain smoking and drinking cups of çay (tea). “Salam,” we say, before approaching the waitress. The owners of another Azeri teahouse, ironically run by ethnic Armenians just around the corner, directed us here, saying that the waitress too is Armenian. She is, even though the teahouse is owned by an ethnic Azeri. We take our seats at a table with the intention of once again exploring the reality of peaceful coexistence in at least one part of the South Caucasus.

Published 2010

MUSICAL DIALECTS OF THE SOUTH CAUCASUS

Published by Osservatorio Balcani e Caucasuso,  June 2013

LACHIN: THE EMPTYING LANDS

The local residents of Suarassy seem oblivious to the hidden danger as they herd cattle down a road known to have been mined during the Armenian-Azerbaijani war of the early Nineties. Despite the mangled military lorry rusting in a ditch to one side, none of their cows have so far detonated seven anti-tank mines still believed to be buried underneath, so they reckon the road is safe.

Published by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) 2006

LACHIN CONFRONTS A DEMOGRAPHIC CRISIS

The flag of the unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh flies over the local administrative buildings in the center of Lachin, the strategic lynchpin connecting the disputed territory with the Republic of Armenia. The town and surrounding area, regarded as vital for Karabakh’s security, appear to be experiencing an unsettling demographic shift.

Published by Eurasianet 2006

LACHIN: LIFE IN NO MAN’S LAND

Anyone taking the road from Goris to Stepanakert has passed through Lachin, the strategic main artery in the lifeline between Armenia and the self-declared Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. Few actually visit the town now of course, perhaps unsurprisingly given the destruction evident throughout. The only interest for many passing through is that Lachin lies not in Karabakh, but within what the international community considers sovereign Azerbaijani territory.

Published by Transitions Online 2001

CLEARING THE KILLING FIELDS

A few kilometers from the border of the officially unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, a shepherd sits with his grazing cattle in the lush pastures of Armenian-controlled Azerbaijan. The scene could grace the front of any postcard from the scenic Caucasus.

The twisted carcasses of rusting vehicles along the roadside tell a different story, though. The shepherd is sitting in a minefield.

Published 2004

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

KARABAKH-RELATED PHOTO GALLERIES

LACHIN: LIFE IN NO MAN’S LAND

Documenting the lives of Armenian settlers in the town of Lachin, the crucial artery connecting Armenia with Nagorno Karabakh, in the early 2000s.

LANDMINES AND UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE

Following the first Karabakh war, the work of the HALO Trust inc learning the disputed territory of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO).

REFUGEES IN ARMENIA

Refugees and Internally Displaces Persons (IDPs) in Armenia.