Khramort, Nagorno Karabakh
© Onnik James Krikorian 1994
Onnik James Krikorian is a journalist, photographer and media consultant from the United Kingdom. Published by The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, National Geographic, Geographical, The National, Stratfor, New Internationalist, EurasiaNet, Transitions Online, Institute of War for Peace Reporting, UNICEF and others, he has also fixed for the BBC, Al Jazeera English, The Wall Street Journal, and National Geographic.
He has over thirty years experience in the national and international media, including working contracts at The Bristol Evening Post, The Independent, and The Economist. For five years, from 2007-2012, he was the Caucasus Regional Editor for Global Voices.
He has covered the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh since visiting the disputed territory for The Independent in 1994. In August 2008 he also covered the Russia-Georgia war. This has led to related work as a trainer in conflict-sensitive reporting as well as new and social media.
He has also been a consultant for international organisations on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE).
LATEST BLOG POSTS AND ARTICLES
Is this how Karabakh was meant to end?
By a decree of its de-facto leader, Samvel Sharamanyan, the self-declared and internationally unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) was dissolved and will cease to exist by the end of 2023. NKR was declared by the Karabakh Armenians in 1991 to replace the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, which was established by the Soviets in 1923. Thus, the dissolution of NKR ends a hundred years during which Nagorno-Karabakh had its own political status and identity.
Nagorno Karabakh’s Demise: A Long-Predicted End to a Bitter Dispute
Some might argue that the writing was on the wall even in 1998 when Armenia’s first president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, was forced to resign by then Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan, former Defence Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, and Interior Minister Serzh Sargsyan, with the full support of then de facto Karabakh leader Arkhady Ghukasyan. Ter-Petrosyan warned what would happen next if proposals from the now defunct OSCE Minsk Group were not accepted, but few listened.
Karabakh: following ceasefire, Armenia and Azerbaijan prepare for talks
Following the 20 September ceasefire agreement between Baku and the de facto authorities of the former Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), many eyes are now on Spain and the European Political Community (EPC) summit scheduled in Granada on 5 October. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev are expected to meet for talks that will also involve France, Germany, and the European Council.
FROM THE ARCHIVE
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
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.
First published 2004
POVERTY IN ARMENIA
Natural disaster, conflict, blockade, corruption, and economic collapse following independence has seen poverty sky-rocket in the former Soviet Republic of Armenia.
First published 2003
FROM THE ARCHIVE
SUFFER THE CHILDREN
YEREVAN, Armenia — A mother waits patiently to enroll her son at an Auxiliary Boarding School for children with learning disabilities somewhere in the heart of the Armenian capital. It doesn’t seem to matter to the staff that the twelve-year old isn’t disabled, all the school requires, the Director says, is a medical certificate.
First published 2003
BEING YEZIDI
Caught between competing ideological interests, members of Armenia’s largest ethnic minority struggle to define their identity. Some allege arguments about the origins of the Yezidis are politically motivated.
First published 2004
CHILDREN OF THE SOUTH CAUCASUS
At just eight months of age, Tiesa and her two sisters were abandoned by a roadside. They survived by eating roadkill — frogs, in fact — and drinking water from puddles before being discovered. The children, two of them with learning disabilities, were placed in Tbilisi’s Infant House, an orphanage by any other name.
First published 2014
PORTFOLIO OF SERVICES
JOURNALISM
Over 30 years on short to mid-term contracts with leading publications and freelancing for international broadcast, print, and online media.
PHOTOJOURNALISM
Over 25 years of personal and commissioned photojournalistic projects on poverty through minorities to conflict.
CONSULTANCY
Over 15 years on conflict sensitive journalism, media literacy, and Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE).
COMING SOON
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Galleries including Nagorno Karabakh in 1994, Landmines and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO), Street Children in Tbilisi, the August 2008 Russia-Georgia War, Poverty in Armenia and Georgia, and much more.
LATEST VIDEO PROJECT
BOOKS
Electronic PDF format versions of two published books of my articles and photographs from the mid-2000s.
FROM THE ARCHIVE
CONTACT FORM
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