Lachin: Life In No Man’s Land

Photographs © Onnik James Krikorian 2001-3. 

ARTICLES ABOUT LACHIN

LIFE IN NO MAN’S LAND

Following a 1994 ceasefire agreement that put fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh on hold, there are also disagreements on the return of lands surrounding Nagorno Karabakh too.

First published 2001

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.

First published 2006

Suarassy

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.

First published 2006

LATEST BLOG POSTS

Karabakh agrees to integration talks with Azerbaijan

Karabakh agrees to integration talks with Azerbaijan

On 19 September, following the death of seven Azerbaijanis in two separate incidents with landmines that Baku claims were laid by Armenian sabotage groups, fighting has once again broken out in the South Caucasus. In what Baku terms a “counter-terrorism operation” targeting ethnic Armenian separatist forces in what remains of the former Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), some suspect the incident was simply a pretext for wrestling back control of the breakaway region.

Renewed Fighting Overshadows Humanitarian Aid Reaching Karabakh via Lachin and Aghdam 

Renewed Fighting Overshadows Humanitarian Aid Reaching Karabakh via Lachin and Aghdam 

In what was termed a ‘counterterrorism operation’ by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence, fighting again resumed with ethnic Armenian forces entrenched in the former Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO). This followed earlier reports of seven deaths caused by landmines allegedly laid by Armenian sabotage groups on territory under Baku’s control. The Azerbaijani MoD said it responded by launching surgical strikes against military targets within Karabakh.