Thomas de Waal is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, a London-based think tank.
Thomas de Waal, senior fellow at Carnegie Europe and a prolific writer on the South Caucasus recently sat down with OC Media. He discussed democracy in Abkhazia and the international community’s role there, and the recent thaw in relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Javid Agha is an Ankara-based writer and social media observer focusing on Armenia and Azerbaijan, whose writing has been featured across the web including on the BBC. He is editor of Azerbaijani art and culture platform, VarYox.
In Azerbaijan, as in Armenia, remembrance of the victims of past atrocities often takes on a one-sided nature. Despite attempts to twist and politicise such events to serve nationalist causes, a more compassionate approach is needed to move forward, and a remembrance that above all, innocent victims are always sacred.
(Embassy of Armenia in Georgia)
The Georgian ambassador to Azerbaijan has been summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry after reports emerged that a statue of an ethnic Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh war veteran was renovated in a Georgian village. Azerbaijan called on Georgia to ‘take urgent measures’, while Georgia’s Foreign Ministry told OC Media that ‘making a scandal out of this is unacceptable’. [Read more…]
Having swept to power in a landslide electoral victory, the new government of revolutionary leader Nikol Pashinyan is now laying out its vision for a ‘New Armenia’ — with ambitious plans for peace and reform.
Kalbajar/Karvachar, Nagorno-Karabakh (Armine Avetisyan /OC Media)
Those who have experienced the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict first-hand and are most affected by the hostilities are more supportive of peaceful reconciliation, a report from UK-based peacebuilding group International Alert suggests. [Read more…]
Karvachar, Shahumyan District, Nagorno-Karabakh (Armine Avetisyan /OC Media)
The authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh are hoping to incentivise more people to settle in the sparsely populated areas of Nagorno-Karabakh to encourage economic growth and strengthen its sense of security. However, the unresolved conflict with Azerbaijan casts shadow on these plans.
A still from a video at the summit
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have vowed to reduce tensions and set up a direct hotline between the two sides, after a meeting in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. [Read more…]
Turaj Jafarova with her daughter (Seymur Kazimov /OC Media)
The Nagorno-Karabakh war left thousands in Azerbaijan with lasting scars — both physical and psychological. For many of the loved ones of disabled veterans, being a carer is a full-time task. But carers say they receive little support, and they must get by on the small disability benefits available.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Facebook)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has concluded a three-day long tour to the South Caucasus. During her trip Merkel faced questions about Georgia’s Western ambitions, her position on the region’s conflicts, and human rights abuses in Azerbaijan, and also suggested Georgians may soon be able to work in Germany. [Read more…]
(Anahit Danielyan / OC Media)
When confronted with unfair dismissal or other violations of their labour rights, people in Nagorno-Karabakh face an uphill battle through the courts to gain restitution. But for some, the judicial hoops or fears of being left unemployed are simply too much, and justice remains out of reach.
