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
Tbilisi’s Armenian Community Celebrates Christmas
Almost two weeks after Christmas was celebrated elsewhere in the world, and a day before Georgia celebrated Orthodox Christmas, Tbilisi’s ethnic Armenian community celebrated its own on 6 January this year. According to the census in 2014, some 53,000 ethnic Armenians reside in the Georgian capital while some 168,000 ethnic Armenians make up Georgia’s second largest ethnic minority, not including those residing in the breakaway region of Abkhazia.
Georgia celebrates EU candidate status
On December 14, the European Council granted EU candidate status to Georgia. An important step, celebrated the following day in the capital Tbilisi, both by the authorities and the population. However, the path towards the EU still remains ahead.
New Narratives Necessary for an Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace
Commonspace, a publication by LINKS Europe, has published my latest on the need for positive and alternative narratives in the Armenia and Azerbaijan conflict. This has been a problem for decades and while any grim reality needs to be reported on that should not be at the expense of genuine real-world positive examples that can at least represent a glimmer of hope for two societies that remain isolated from each other.
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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