When someone changes jobs frequently, switching career lanes, they say that the person cannot find themselves. Six years ago, I might have thought of myself this way, or said so if asked about my work. While studying at the Department of Economics and Law of the Artsakh State University, I worked as a hotel administrator. […]
BEING A MINORITY IN ROMANIA: FEATURES OF POLITICS AND LEGISLATION
Romania constitutes one of the little known cases of ethnic coexistence and political cohabitation. Some observers see the relations between the central government and ethnic groups as strained, while other experts look at the relations as a successful case of cohabitation. A country of 19.5 million people, 10.5 % of which is composed of ethnic […]
MY ADVENTURE IN ARMENIA
Well, that’s actually my first time at an institute writing my thesis, I had no clue about the environment I was about to meet and to stay for a while. Once again I was a frightened kid on his first day at school. I must admit that I was expecting meeting some kind of ancient gods […]
ZHANNA’S WAR MEMORIES: THAT VERY PERSON
Stepanakert, May 1994. A few days after the signing of the ceasefire agreement, I worked all day doing interviews and reports. In the evening, we went out for dinner with my friends. We chose a recently opened joint (it’s hard to say what it was: partcafé, part restaurant and part canteen), and it made us […]
SECRET CONVERSATIONS ON THE KARABAKH CONFLICT
In almost 25 years of visiting Armenia, Azerbaijan and Karabakh I’ve had hundreds of conversations about the conflict with all sorts of different people, from politicians to farmers. I’ve heard the same views expressed hundreds of times, with interlocutors telling me how justice is on their side and the other side is the aggressor. There […]
ZHANNA’S WAR MEMORIES: SISTER
In autumn 1991 large-scale artillery shelling and aerial bombardment of Stepanakert were launched. The life of the city moved to basements. The evacuation was almost impossible. I heard a lot of stories about that period of time, about life in basements. I heard stories about the children who managed to get out of basements in […]
ZHANNA’S WAR MEMORIES: MOTHER
Stepanakert. Summer. It is hot. I am waiting for a bus. I see a woman coming to the bus stop with heavy bags in hands. She asks how long she should wait for the next bus to come. I answer that this bus arrives every 20 minutes. She looks tired, her face sunburnt and hands […]
I FELL IN LOVE INSTANTLY
ARMENIA AT THE CENTRE OF THE INFORMATION WARFARE
Armenia is currently in the midst of an information war. Information warfare does not only concern Armenia since numerous societies across the globe currently debate how to manage the consequences of it. Although modern technology has created greater access to information, it has also eased the flow of false information, propaganda and manipulation. The use […]