Spotlight Artsakh

If they had survived it, and done so with grace and empathy, then what is to prevent us from doing the same, writes Shoushan Keshishian, about Vasuki, a survivor of the blockade of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

A young woman’s story of discovery, memory, loss and pain about a war that ripped apart the nation, but who comes to the realization that while Karabakh may have died on the battlefield, Artsakh, despite it all, is still alive.

The data collected by the Rapid Needs Assessment survey, conducted by Hub Artsakh, tells a harrowing story of increasing food insecurity and deteriorating emotional and physical wellbeing. If the blockade is not lifted, the result will be catastrophic.

Nothing in Artsakh is what it used to be. The Stepanakert market, once known as a feast of tastes and colors has now become a concentrated mosaic of all our misery, writes Tamara Grigoryan, a resident of the capital city.

After months of gradually deepening the blockade and experimenting with various methods of coercion to force Armenians out of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan seems to have found a slow-paced but high-impact weapon – deliberate starvation.

If concrete measures, such as direct intervention, imposing sanctions on Aliyev's family, and targeting Aliyev's reputation, are not taken, international actors involved in the mediation process will ultimately share responsibility for the events unfolding in Artsakh.

Diplomacy, or more accurately diplomatic coercion, may ultimately avoid another war, but the endgame that the mediators seem certain to impose on the Artsakh Armenians would be nothing short of a total unilateral capitulation, writes Karena Avedissian.

The persistence of the hate-induced discourses and practices in Azerbaijan before and especially after the 2020 Artsakh War is indicative of the structural role of hatred in the political order created by the Aliyev regime.

As Azerbaijan continues to tighten its noose around Artsakh, blocking all humanitarian assistance and aid from reaching the population, young people from Artsakh share pictures of their meals.

On July 29, Azerbaijani border services kidnapped and detained an elderly man who was being transferred from Artsakh to Armenia by the ICRC for medical treatment. Baku may now target and detain every male in Nagorno-Karabakh, writes Sossi Tatikyan.

What are Azerbaijan’s real intentions in relation to Nagorno-Karabakh? In this in-depth analysis, Sossi Tatikyan presents a number of similar scenarios, from the evacuation of Finnish Karelia during WWII to integration as a means of subjugating the people of Artsakh.

In Shushi, the Aliyev regime gathered a mix of journalists from state agencies of mostly authoritarian countries, pro-Azerbaijani analysts, and “useful idiots” for a Global Media Forum on July 21-23. Hovhannes Nazaretyan explains.

Without a clear recognition of the reality on the ground, especially Azerbaijan's obstructionist behavior, and without substantive enforcement instruments provided by international actors, a piece of paper cannot serve as a real peace deal, Tatevik Hayrapetyan writes.

Azerbaijan’s threat of military aggression and ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh’s indigenous Armenian population remains extremely critical. If not prevented, it will constitute another major blow to the international order.

Tamara Grigoryan, who lived and worked in Karvachar for a decade and who now lives in Stepanakert asks a fundamental question: Are we going to live in Artsakh as the owners of the homeland or not?

On February 22, 2023, by a near unanimous vote, the International Court of Justice ordered Azerbaijan to ensure free movement of persons, cargo and other goods along the Lachin Corridor. Sheila Paylan explains.

Artsakh’s entire economy is heavily dependent on Armenia, and the blockade of the Lachin Corridor has made it more vulnerable, giving Azerbaijan the ability to weaponize Artsakh’s energy supply and control over its critical infrastructure.

Azerbaijan’s behavior meets all of the criteria that triggers the implementation of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle. The international community must resolutely raise this issue in order to deter the Aliyev regime from continuing its predatory policies.

As Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor is now in its second month, all schools in Artsakh, starting from January 19, were shut down indefinitely because of the rolling electricity blackouts and shortage of natural gas supply.

The United Nations Security Council’s emergency meeting regarding the blockade of the Lachin corridor demonstrated a remarkable shift in the international community’s reaction to the Armenia-Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts.

Statements made by Ilham Aliyev over the past two years prove that Baku will never guarantee the rights and security of the people of Artsakh, since state sponsored hate propaganda has made Azerbaijan the number one threat to the survival of the Armenians of Artsakh.

By blockading the Lachin Corridor and triggering a humanitarian crisis, Azerbaijan is employing hybrid warfare tactics against the Armenians. This operation is pursuing short-, mid- and long-term objectives. Sossi Tatikyan explains.

In Nagorno-Karabakh, the consequences of upholding Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity entails the imminent threat to the indigenous Armenian population that is no different than Kosovo, Timor-Leste or South Sudan: the inevitability of ethnic cleaning and genocide.

The scope of gross human rights violations that ethnic Armenians were subjected to during and after the 2020 Artsakh War contributes to the body of empirical data that could be used if Armenia were to become a party to the Rome Statute.

A young Armenian woman, born and raised in Stepanakert, the capital of Artsakh, reflects on the changing, contradictory reality of her hometown two years after Azerbaijan launched a devastating war.

No analysis, no commentary, just facts: How Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev ideologically prepared Azerbaijani society for war not only against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), but also Armenia-proper.

Baku’s aggressive rhetoric must not be normalized. In spite of their geopolitical, oil and gas interests, major international players should define their red lines, refrain from a policy of parity and prevent further military aggression by Azerbaijan.

After its military victory in the 2020 Artsakh War, Azerbaijan elevated its war of narratives against Armenians to a new and increasingly aggressive level, often accompanied with disinformation.

As the Armenian villages of Aghavno, Berdzor and Sus on the Lachin Corridor were handed over to Azerbaijan on August 25, questions remain about why Yerevan was seemingly excluded from that process.

The 2020 Artsakh War and the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war are the first classic interstate wars in almost two decades involving the regular armies on both sides of the conflict, highlighting trends in warfare, including the effect of the latest technological solutions.

Azerbaijan’s motivations, strategy, manipulation, and attempts to legitimize its every military aggression against Artsakh are gross violations of the November 9, 2020 tripartite statement that ended the 2020 Artsakh War.

Two Armenian soldiers have been killed and 19 others injured after Azerbaijani Armed Forces, violating the ceasefire regime, launch an attack in Artsakh after days of mounting escalation.

The resilience to persevere through unspeakable trauma was embodied by the tenacity to celebrate the May 8 and 9 holidays in Artsakh with a full schedule of events.

There’s an air of restlessness in Artsakh. It derives from the uncertainty about where the Republic of Armenia stands. The feeling is that Artsakh and Armenia are on diverging paths, and a rift has appeared between their governments.

Latest developments in Nagorno-Karabakh demonstrate Azerbaijan’s intent to ethnically cleanse the indigenous Armenian population and highlight the necessity of introducing international norms in the peacekeeping architecture there.

Azerbaijan’s main goal is the removal of ethnic Armenians from Artsakh through the creation of conditions unfavorable for living, as well as creating an atmosphere of fear among the Armenian population.

After weeks of blocking gas supply to the population of Artsakh, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched an attack in the Askeran region, taking control of Parukh village and surrounding positions. While the international community has offered concern, sanctions are what’s needed.

Over a year after Russian troops were deployed to Artsakh, here’s what we know about the Russian presence there, with the historical background for Moscow’s drive for boots on the ground in Artsakh.

On December 7, the International Court of Justice announced its decision regarding the request for provisional measures by Armenia and Azerbaijan, marking the next stage in the ongoing conflict between the two states.

This is not a story about war. This is the story of what happens after the bullets, missiles, bombs and drones no longer fly through the autumn air. Maria Titizian recounts her journey to Artsakh last year, two days after the signing of the trilateral statement ending the war.

A year has passed since the end of the 2020 Artsakh War. The ceasefire statement signed by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on November 9, 2020, brought a new geopolitical reality to the region.

While the majority of women didn’t pick up guns to fight in the war, many used their skills to fight in their own way. On this first anniversary of the 2020 Artsakh War, Kushane Chobanyan presents the stories of six extraordinary women who were on the front lines.

Armenian cultural, religious and historical monuments and sites currently under Azerbaijani control in the aftermath of the 2020 Artsakh War are under immediate threat of vandalism and destruction.

For nearly three decades, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been buying large quantities of weapons from a number of countries. Hovhannes Nazaretyan presents a comprehensive list of weapons acquired by both countries since independence.

The military phase of the 2020 Artsakh War seems to have ended but the legal fight for restoring and upholding human rights is just beginning. Armenia’s Inter-State Application against Azerbaijan to the ECHR marks the beginning of that strategic process.

International human rights defending organizations have been speaking in a language of “neutrality” which, in the context of the war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during and after the 2020 Artsakh War, is anything but objective, writes Karena Avedissian.

The Yezidis of Armenia fought alongside their Armenian comrades during the 2020 Artsakh War. One Yezidi volunteer says that “this is our country, the graves of our ancestors are here and the future of our children is here.”

As part of its mirroring propaganda operation during the war that was intended to cloud the information landscape, Azerbaijan also systematically mirrored the Armenian side’s visuals as well.

Faced with loss and uncertainty, the Armenians of Artsakh are trying to come to grips with the defeat following the war and finding a way to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.

After 44 days of reluctant and often one-sided reporting of the 2020 Artsakh War and amidst the grey horror of cluster bombed homes, the red flames of Karvajar’s houses instantly made international headlines.

In the context of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, the “Albanian connection” has become a politicized issue of irredentism, hijacking the rich Christian heritage of Karabakh. The roots of this historiography go back to the Soviet policy of “nativization".

During the Artsakh War, Azerbaijan used mirroring propaganda to try and keep the two sides on equal moral terms, creating an information fog until international journalists began arriving to the conflict zone.

In Artsakh, there is a somber air of loss, uncertainty and grief. During 45 days of war, everyone and everything from soldiers to villagers, trees to structures were afflicted and irreversibly altered. A collection of images from November 12-14, a few days after the "peace" agreement.

Western countries imposed sanctions on Belarus’ Aleksandr Lukashenko for cracking down on democracy and attacking civilians. Ilham Aliyev has actually been more brutal but has not been penalized.

In the wake of the November 10 ceasefire agreement and introduction of Russian peacekeepers to Artsakh, details of its implementation are still being discussed. Meanwhile, opposition party leaders were arrested for allegedly planning Pashinyan’s assassination.

OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship format to remain unchanged. Protests continue in Yerevan. Pashinyan meets with President and parliamentary caucus.

Resolve is different from blind faith that “this too shall pass.” We need the entire Armenian nation to start getting ready for the next encounter, writes Raffi Kassarjian.

As Armenians are trying to come to terms with the imposed peace deal following the Artsakh War, thousands of people took to the streets in Yerevan demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his government.

The country is shaken after crushing terms were imposed to end the 2020 Artsakh War. As government buildings were vandalized overnight, attention has shifted to Yerevan. Updates to be provided as they develop.

As fierce battles for the defense of Shushi continue, a number of opposition forces demand the resignation of the Prime Minister and the government; a Russian military helicopter is shot down by Azerbaijani forces from the exclave of Nakhichevan.

Armenian forces were able to hold the strategic and symbolic city of Shushi even as Azerbaijani forces brought in additional reinforcements. The battle for the fortress town continues to be bloody.

The ongoing war in Artsakh has profoundly impacted the Armenian world. Photojournalist Eric Grigorian's photo essay reflects on those who have had to bear the heavy human toll in protecting and safeguarding the homeland. Images are from Artsakh, Goris and Yerevan, taken between October 24 and November 5, 2020.

Intense battles have been taking place around Shushi. Azerbaijani forces were able to advance closer to the city today. According to the Defense Ministry, Azerbaijan is putting all of its power into capturing the symbolic fortress town.

It had been almost two decades since Gohar Karapetyan last made the trip from Artsakh to Yerevan when she decided, on the morning of October 1, to repeat the journey, this time to escape a raging war.

Armenia’s Defense Ministry says that, after intense battles, the defense of Shushi has been successful. After heavy bombing the night before, an elderly woman and her two grandchildren were killed. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Statistics about numbers of civilians and young conscripts killed in conflict often water down the true magnitude of human loss. This is the story of one family’s struggle through the 2020 Artsakh War.

The Artsakh War has entered its 40th day. More than 1100 Armenian servicemen and 50 civilians have been killed. As Azerbaijani forces attempt to reach Shushi, the President of Artsakh says that everything is being done to ensure the town remains impregnable.

While today marks the 70th anniversary of the signature of the European Convention on Human Rights, civilian settlements in Artsakh continue to be targeted by Azerbaijani forces resulting in civilian casualties and damage to vital civilian infrastructure.

In Stepanakert, EVN Report spoke with Artsakh's Ombudsman Artak Beglaryan about the political decisions of the international community and the reasons for the artificial parity in their vocabulary, their failure to realize that authoritarian regimes do not understand the language of statements but that of action and their failure to prevent, followed by their failure to protect.

Stepanakert and Shushi came under shelling again this evening; Azerbaijani forces have started using banned incendiary cluster munitions; Lavrov says external players must use their powers to prevent mercenaries being sent to the Nagorno-Karabakh region. A chronology of official updates.

As the war rages on, almost 80,000 Armenians from Artsakh have fled their native towns and cities and found refuge throughout Armenia proper. While they are grateful for the care they are receiving, their dream is to go back home.

Forests in almost all the regions of Artsakh are burning because of incendiary munitions; Azerbaijani forces attempt a large-scale offensive in the northwestern direction of the front line; Artsakh’s Deputy Minister of Defense is killed in battle. Here is a chronology of official updates.

A second jihadist mercenary is captured by the Artsakh Defense Army, who admits to being offered a $2000/month salary, plus a bonus of $100 for each beheading. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Despite international calls, mediation efforts and urgent appeals to cease fire, the war in Artsakh continues unabated. There is evidence that Azerbaijani forces used phosphorus munitions signaling a new low in the hostilities. Here is a chronology of official updates.

As Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in Geneva for mediated talks, Azerbaijani forces continued to shell peaceful settlements in Artsakh and Armenia. U.S. National Security Advisor says any Turkish mediation is a non-starter, suggests Scandinavian peacekeepers be deployed.

A meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan is expected to take place in Geneva tomorrow; Stepanakert and other towns and villages continue to come under constant shelling by Azerbaijani forces. Here is a chronology of official updates.

This primer provides the reader with an overview of the historical origins of the Karabakh conflict, the Soviet era, the war, the peace process all the way to the Four Day War in April 2016.

Stepanakert, the capital of Artsakh and the town of Shushi came under intensive shelling today by Azerbaijani forces. A maternity hospital in Stepanakert and other civilian infrastructure were heavily damaged resulting in casualties. Here is a chronology of official updates.

A month has passed since Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched a large-scale attack on Artsakh. To date, over 1000 Armenian servicemen have been killed, countless wounded while civilian settlements continue to be bombarded. Here is a chronology of official updates.

The U.S.-brokered humanitarian ceasefire that was to come into force at 8 a.m. local time on October 26 has not held. As battles continued, Artsrun Hovhannisyan admitted that Azerbaijani forces are at the gates of Armenia’s Syunik region, but said the situation is not dire. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to yet another humanitarian ceasefire in Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh that will come into effect at 8 a.m. local time on October 26, 2020. Here is a chronology of official updates.

The humanitarian emergency in the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh requires the engagement of humanitarian and donor organizations, without regard to its international recognition, its present or future status.

While Azerbaijani forces continue to target peaceful settlements, Artsakh’s Ombudsman said civilians in Artsakh are at high risk as Azerbaijani subversive units move into civilian settlements and pull back. There are a number of civilians missing. Here is a chronology of official updates.

As Armenian and Azerbaijani forces continue to pummel one another, battle lines across Artsakh are being drawn, erased and redrawn. Diplomacy, at least for the time being, has broken down and the future remains uncertain. Here is a chronology of official updates.

The narrow geopolitical framework of the three-decade-old Karabakh conflict is now threatening to become a Eurasian nightmare: Turkey's involvement has sensationalized the war, Iran’s unease has reinforced the confusion, while Russia's perceived passiveness has created much regional anxiety.

As intense military operations continue in Artsakh, the number of COVID-19 cases in Armenia has skyrocketed. Healthcare officials warn that with the number of wounded soldiers requiring medical care, if people don’t start following the anti-epidemic guidelines, the healthcare system could collapse.

Armenophobic comments from Azerbaijani’s President are nothing new. He has long drummed up support among his population by promoting hatred against Armenians and using dehumanizing language, often referring to them as dogs and vermin.

In light of the existential threat, high probability of ethnic cleansing and the already imminent humanitarian crisis in Artsakh, the international community has an obligation to grant remedial recognition to Artsakh.

Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan said hope for a diplomatic solution is not viable at this stage as Azerbaijan is refusing to compromise. In fact, he said that Baku will not agree to anything less than the capitulation of Karabakh. Here is a chronology of official updates.

As the death toll mounts for both sides in the war, contact lines are constantly shifting as pitched battles are taking place, primarily in the south of Artsakh; some legislators in France and the U.S. are calling for the recognition of the Republic of Artsakh. Here is a chronology of official updates.

As PM Nikol Pashinyan and President Ilham Aliyev express willingness to meet in Moscow to discuss the ongoing war in Artsakh, the foreign ministers of the two countries are set to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington, D.C. this Friday. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Fleeing the war, the women of Artsakh -- mothers, daughters, sisters and wives -- held a rally in front of the UN building in Yerevan asking for one simple thing, the right to live in peace.

A second attempt at a cessation of fire for humanitarian purposes failed after Azerbaijani forces began firing using artillery and small arms several minutes after the truce was supposed to come into effect. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Journalist Lusine Musayelyan remembers the first war. She remembers Baroness Caroline Cox giving her colorful candy in crinkly paper. She remembers the bombing and the bunkers.

Following a day that saw Azerbaijani drones being shot down over Armenian airspace, Stepanakert coming under heavy shelling and the Azerbaijani city of Ganja being hit, a humanitarian truce was announced. Here is a chronology of official updates.

As the number of casualties, both military and civilian, increases intense battles continue in Artsakh. The war, now in its 20th day, continues to rage. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Photojournalist Eric Grigorian captures the devastation of war, its destruction of lives, heritage sites and schools. A portrait of a nation at war, of a capital where the elderly and the grieving live underground.

The children of Artsakh are enduring displacement, loss and trauma. While Artsakh is not a recognized state, the children of Artsakh have a right to be recognized, protected and cared for. As the war rages, the human cost will be unbearable. Here is a chronology of official updates.

As Azerbaijani forces intensified their operations along the front line Artsakh President of Arayik Harutyunyan and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia addressed the nation. Here is a chronology of official updates.

The war has infiltrated almost every Armenian home. While soldiers are fighting on the front, a new generation of children and their families who escaped this new war in Artsakh are looking for ways to cope with the new trauma.

As one of the most intense battles since the start of the war took place today, Artsakh’s President called for the participation of every Armenian to ensure future generations live in peace, while Armenia’s Foreign Affairs Minister met with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. Here is a chronology of official updates.

As the Foreign Affairs Ministers of Armenia and Russia met in Moscow to discuss the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, intense battles continued in the southern direction of the frontline. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Artsakh’s president says that if Azerbaijan does not show willingness to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in the next two days, he will request that Armenia and other countries formally recognize the independence of the Republic of Artsakh. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Does the armed conflict of international character waged by Azerbaijan and Turkey against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh warrant an international recognition of Artsakh’s remedial secession?

After almost two weeks of bloody battles in Artsakh, a humanitarian ceasefire was brokered in Moscow. As the deadline approached, Azerbaijani intensified their military operations. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Azerbaijan, in collaboration with Turkey is responsible for grave breaches of international humanitarian law and war crimes. The international tribunal should not turn a blind eye to the situation.

As the foreign ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia meet in Moscow to try and agree on a cessation of hostilities, Azerbaijani armed forces attack Stepanakert. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Statements and hints by Azerbaijan about an impending war went unheeded. Why would Armenia want to halt the negotiation process to start a war? Here are some of the facts and context which demonstrate it was Azerbaijan that started the war.

As battles continue along the Line of Contact, the Holy Savior Ghazanchetsots Church in Shushi was targeted twice today by Azerbaijani forces, considerably damaging the historic monument and wounding several foreign journalists. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Now in its eleventh day, the Artsakh War is proving to be one of the fiercest, bloodiest battles the region has seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Here is a chronology of official updates.

As civilian infrastructure continues to be targeted in Stepanakert, the Azerbaijani military launched another large-scale offensive in the southern direction of the Artsakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact today. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Given the geography, tactics and methods of the Azerbaijani offensive, the autocratic regime of Ilham Aliyev is aiming to forcibly occupy the territory of Artsakh through committing large-scale atrocities.

As fierce battles continue on the Artsakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Artsakh as civilians and vital infrastructure come under fire, particularly in the capital Stepanakert.

As Stepanakert came under continuous bombardment today, Armenian forces went on the counter-offensive and targeted the military airport in Ganja, Azerbaijan. Here is a chronology of official updates.

As Stepanakert, the capital of Artsakh came under continual shelling by Azerbaijani armed forces, photojournalist Eric Grigorian captured the devastating aftermath.

In one of the worst days of fighting on the Artsakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact, the President of Artsakh heads to the front line with special forces and Armenia’s Prime Minister addresses the nation. Here is a chronology of official updates.

The city of Martakert in Artsakh came under heavy shelling twice since the start of the war. This photo story captures the aftermath.

After Azerbaijani armed forces launched a wide scale offensive in Artsakh, today, the capital Stepanakert came under the heaviest shelling since the end of the first Karabakh War. Here is a chronology of official updates.

The capital of the Republic of Artsakh was shelled twice today by Azerbaijani armed forces injuring civilians and damaging buildings and infrastructure. Photojournalist Eric Grigorian captured these images in Stepanakert.

As battles rage along the length of the Artsakh-Azerbaijan Contact Line, a number of foreign and Armenian journalists were wounded when the city of Martuni came under Azerbaijani fire.

Azerbaijan continues to target civilian populations in Artsakh using combat drones and artillery strikes which have resulted in civilian casualties in Martakert. Here is a chronology of official updates.

These powerful images capture fragments of life in Artsakh, a place that is boundlessly resilient yet has too often become a home to war.

In a third day of fighting, Turkey is not hiding its direct involvement, including the use of its air force. Azerbaijan’s intense attacks against Artsakh have expanded to also include Armenia’s eastern Gegharkunik region around Lake Sevan.

Following the attack by Azerbaijani Armed Forces on September 27, the women and children of Stepanakert shelter in bunkers while most of the men are off to the frontline.

In the early morning hours of September 27, Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched an offensive along the Artsakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact. We present a briefing of the situation.

While Artsakh has experienced the highest per capita accident rate in the world, it has seen a ten-fold reduction in landmine accidents since The HALO Trust began demining operations in 2000.

A recent joint statement by three Members of the European Parliament on the construction of a new, third highway between Armenia and Artsakh was not well-received in Armenian circles.

There is a growing view that the Eastern Partnership needs to formally move beyond its founding premise as a bridge between neighbors and to become a vehicle for significant economic integration and ultimately, perhaps, EU accession.

The upcoming Brussels Summit on the Eastern Partnership will be another challenge for Armenia as it seeks to maintain the internationally-recognized OSCE Minsk Group framework, with its inclusion of the principle of self-determination.

Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent statement regarding a step-by-step approach to resolving the Nagorno Karabakh conflict reflects Russia’s centuries-old imperial instincts of using divide-and-conquer tactics on its periphery.

The liberation of the strategic town of Shushi was a turning point in the Karabakh war, causing a dramatic shift in the military progress of Armenian forces and ultimately obstructing future Turkish-Armenian relations.

Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) on March 31. While voter turnout was high (72.7%), no presidential candidate received the required majority of votes, necessitating a runoff election to take place in two weeks.

Voters will be given masks, hand sanitizer and their own pen as the vote looks set to go ahead on March 31 as originally planned.

In the face of war and turmoil, music has remained one of Artsakh’s most cherished aspects of their culture. Tradition and new influences are what keep the music alive.

Gayane Ghazaryan pieces together the stories, struggles and dreams of the people of Artsakh through a series of vignettes.

For many, it might seem that Artsakh, an unrecognized state, is an unlikely place to hold an international football tournament. But that is exactly what will happen starting June 1, when Artsakh hosts the 2019 European Football Cup of the Confederation of Independent Football Associations.

Shamakhi is an Armenian dialect that is on the verge of extinction. While many Armenians from Shamakhi feel a sense of pride in their history and dialect, for the new generation who, along with the rest of the Shamakhetsis were forced to flee their village during the Karabakh War, the dialect is simply a matter of history.

When the war broke out in Artsakh in the early 1990s, Aida Serobyan was a 36-year-old doctor and mother of three. She decided to volunteer for two months as a field doctor, but ended up staying for two years until the end of the war in 1994. Although she helped to heal the injured, she herself was wounded four times on the battlefield. This is her story.

A personal essay by Gayane Ghazaryan about a trip to Artsakh to see her brother for the first time after he left for his mandatory service in the army. A day her family had always known would come but was never fully ready for. Գայանե Ղազարյանը գրում է իր նորակոչիկ եղբորը առաջին անգամ Արցախում տեսակցության գնալու իր փորձառության մասին։ Մի օր, որին նրանք սպասել են, բայց այդպես էլ պատրաստ չեն եղել։

In this moving photo essay, journalist Yelena Gevorgyan and photographer Mariam Loretsyan explore Stepanakert through their eyes and impressions, piecing together the stories that bind the Armenians of Artsakh to the land.

What is it like to find yourself on a heavily militarized contact line? How does it feel to see an adversary, a mere 400 meters away, who was the reason you became a refugee? Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte, a refugee from Baku, writes about her emotional journey to the line and back.

Vardges Baghryan, a journalist from Artsakh recounts his personal memories from the Karabakh Movement and the war. He recalls the siege on the village of Karintak and how the future freedom and independence of the people of Artsakh was forged.

Deciding never to use the word Genocide and then coming face-to-face with it again in a new context; between reading biographies of the victims of the Sumgait Pogrom over and over again and the urge to see who now occupies the homes of the Armenians of Baku and Sumgait, writer Lusine Hovhannesyan unexpectedly discovers a common yet obvious thread.

Harutyun Marutyan writes that the Karabakh Movement was not only the first of the Eastern European revolutions, but it played a considerable role in the democratization of Soviet society, was pivotal in the deconstruction of the Soviet Union and consequently in the elimination of the threat of communism.

Journalist Lusine Hovhannesyan recounts her personal memories as a university student during the first days of the Karabakh Movement. She writes, “We became beautiful and fell in love easily like young men and women living out their last days at the barricades and we sang songs of resilience in the streets of Yerevan.”

Long before the first rallies and clashes over the territory of Nagorno Karabakh, there were several signs of the coming storm writes Mikayel Zolyan. One of these was the “war of memory,” waged not by soldiers, but in the sphere of historiography.

In this exceptionally honest and candid article, Gevorg Ter-Gabrielyan writes about his impressions from the first few months of the Karabakh Movement 30 years ago, with words he did not have nor could find at the time.

The Karabakh Movement was a crystallizing moment in the collective and historical memory of the Armenian nation. In this first in a series of articles about the Movement, EVN Report presents a chronology of the events of 1988 which eventually paved the way to independence.

The Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) is slowly trying to climb its way out of isolation and one of the ways it hopes to achieve this is to produce and export ‘black gold' to the world. EVN Report visited the sprawling caviar production facility nestled in a quiet valley in this unrecognized state often referred to simply as a ‘conflict zone.’

How nations in conflict deal with loss is a reflection of how they also confront issues of war and peace. In the recent escalation near the Contact Line in Karabakh (Artsakh), an Azerbaijani child was killed. Using the bloodied image of the child by Azerbaijani authorities as a tool for propaganda speaks volumes.

Azat Adamyan, a young entrepreneur from Karabakh (Artsakh) created a hiking club, volunteered during the April War, opened the first-ever pub in Stepanakert and now has his sights set on bigger plans. While he realizes the limits of his reality, his dreams are boundless.

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Artsakh, Armine Aleksanyan on her long journey from Martouni to Stepanakert, to London and Vienna and back to Artsakh to work in the service of a country that is not recognized by the world.

The Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan released a video on June 21 of a man they allege is a captured Armenian soldier. They claimed that the man was apprehended after an attempt by the Armenian military to infiltrate into Azerbaijani territory.

Photographer Scout Tufankjian has captured the essence of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) through her photos. One year after the April War, EVN Report is proud to present these images as a reminder that all children deserve to live in peace.

Vahram Ter-Matevosyan writes that it is difficult to measure just how much the average Armenian was satisfied with the explanations the government provided about the scope of casualties and destruction during the April escalation. While the government was quick to praise the heroes of the war, it failed to punish those whose task it was to ensure the army was free of corruption allegations.

There has been a pattern of Azerbaijani war crimes committed since the end of the Karabakh War in 1994. The Four Day War last April was no exception. EVN Report presents a detailed account of Azerbaijani war crimes in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh).

Writer and photojournalist Simone Zoppellaro writes that the moral and political responsibility of a conflict doesn’t rest solely on the actors, or those who arm them. It rests also on the nations that would have the power to intervene and stop the hostilities but prefer to keep themselves detached or indifferent.

Photojournalist Eric Grigorian and poet Arto Vaun collaborate in this piece that combines haunting portraits from the Four Day War last April with an evocative new poem.

This special section is a historical overview of the disputed region of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh Republic, NKR), one of the last unresolved conflicts in the former Soviet space.