Arpi Bekaryan

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Arpi is a freelance journalist from Armenia. Her work has appeared in Chai Khana, the Caucasus Edition, Aravot, and Shant TV.

A bouquet of vegetables given to actors in a New Year's play in Stepanakert. Courtesy photo

Feature Stories

Food shortages spark creative New Year’s solutions in Nagorno Karabakh

by Arpi Bekaryan

•6 min read

With markets and supermarket shelves lying empty as the New Year approached, people in Nagorno-Karabakh shared, exchanged, and got inventive to work around shortages of staple foods. As the curtains fell on her New Year’s-themed play, Marta, an actor living and working in Stepanakert, was handed a bouquet by one of her fans. But instead of the flowers that she usually receives, this bouquet was made up of carrots, onions, and herbs: some of the most luxurious gifts that people can give each

Armenia

‘Women against the meat-grinder’: the Armenian women campaigning for peace

by Arpi Bekaryan

•7 min read

As fighting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh continues to flare up, talk of peace in Armenia is often subject to harsh criticism. Nevertheless, some activists are turning to feminism and mutual dialogue to prevent another large-scale war. Two months after the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War came to an end, Anahit Baghdasaryan chanced upon Caucasus Crossroad, a Facebook group created by Azerbaijanis and Armenians to provide a safe space for dialogue between people of either nationality. With news t

Armenia

Opinion | Back to the ‘no war, no peace’ limbo

by Arpi Bekaryan

•5 min read

By reversing the dynamic of ‘the victorious’ and ‘the defeated’, the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War revealed illusions and hypocrisies that suffused Armenia’s dominant narratives about the conflict. But despite this clarity, a new dynamic between Armenia and Azerbaijan has not developed. I had a ₼0.20 coin an Azerbaijani friend gave me some two years ago. I was keeping it in my wallet, separately from the other coins, so that it wouldn’t be seen and wouldn’t fall out somewhere and put me in a bad

Armenia

Opinion | ‘We did not speak, we only whispered’

by Arpi Bekaryan

•5 min read

As peacemakers, we have remained much too quiet and so failed in our mission. This war is proof that we must raise our voices. Each night before I go to sleep I make a list of the things I should do the next day. On the evening of 17 October, I sat down to write a list for the next day, and I saw my last ‘to-do list’ was written for 27th of September. Normal life stopped that morning. I turned the page and wrote a new list, believing with all my heart that this was it. I woke up at night f

Armenia

Opinion | How I learned not to hate

by Arpi Bekaryan

•4 min read

We must confront our anger and our trauma without resorting to hate. I have seen the seeds of hatred growing slowly in people who were chanting for peace just days ago, a week ago, two weeks ago… I have seen nationalistic posts from the people who taught me how to go beyond my nationality, how to have empathy towards ‘others’, how to learn their stories and understand their pain. I have been crying hysterically to the posts of people who were once my role-models, wishing with all my heart that

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