Far from the animosity that defines our political reality, music has for centuries brought Armenians and Azerbaijanis together in a way that may once again offer us a way forward. [Read more…]
Interview | De Waal: ‘Is it time to come up with a bigger offer to Abkhazia?’
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.
Opinion | Accepting our past is the only way we can move forward
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.
Those closest to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict ‘most supportive of peace’
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…]
‘Enhanced security’: Armenian settlers in Nagorno-Karabakh
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.
Interview | ‘My reconciliation policy is not about just getting territories back. It’s about people’
Ketevan Tsikhelashvili serves as Georgia’s Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality (smr.gov.ge)
Ketevan Tsikhelashvili has served as Georgia’s State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, responsible for coordinating the country’s conflict resolution policy, since 2016. Tsikhelashvili sat down with OC Media to discuss the ministry’s successes and failures, her new peace initiative, and the barriers to and prospects for peace.
Abkhazia denounces Georgia peace initiative, US and EU offer support
Daur Kove, Abkhazia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs (/Apsnypress)
Abkhazia has denounced Georgia’s recent ‘peace initiative’ to simplify trade and movement of people for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, while the US, EU, and a number of other countries welcomed the initiative.
Georgia unveils ‘unprecedented’ peace initiative for Abkhazia, South Ossetia
Sukhumi (Dominik K. Cagara/OC Media)
Georgian authorities have unveiled a wide ranging plan ‘to encourage contacts, movement, and relations’ with people in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The plan includes efforts to simplify trade, including from Abkhazia and South Ossetia to the EU, and encourage students from Abkhazia and South Ossetia to study in Georgian institutions and abroad. The initiative will also include changes to Georgia’s Law on Occupied Territories.
Salafis and Sufis make peace in Pankisi
(OC Media)
The Salafi community and Sufi Council of Elders in Pankisi Valley, northeast Georgia, agreed to cooperate on 14 June and to work together on issues in the valley. [Read more…]
‘If war breaks out again, I will go’ — the polarisation of young Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Georgia
Emzar, owner of a carpet shop in Tbilisi (Gita Elibekyan/OC Media)
Despite Georgia’s attempts to better integrate and include ethnic minorities, young ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis in the country are becoming more politically invested in the affairs of Armenia and Azerbaijan than in their Georgian homeland.
