Onnik Krikorian is a British journalist and photojournalist who has been resident in the Republic of Armenia since 1998. He also works extensively in Georgia and until moving to Armenia worked on the Kurds in Turkey since 1997 and the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh since 1994.
He has worked contracts at The Bristol Evening Post, The Independent, and The Economist in the U.K., and his articles and photographs have been published by The Los Angeles Times, New Internationalist, The Scotsman, Transitions Online, Middle East Insight, Oneworld.net, EurasiaNet, The Institute for War & Peace Reporting, New York University Press, UNICEF, and Amnesty International, among others.
Krikorian also regularly fixes for Al Jazeera English, the BBC and The Wall Street Journal. He maintains a blog from Armenia and the South Caucasus at http://blog.oneworld.am and also posts for the London-based Frontline Club at http://frontlineclub.com/blogs/onnikkrikorian.
Last year he started a personal project using new and social media in order to assist in Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict resolution at http://www.oneworld.am/diversity/. He also regularly presents on this topic at conferences worldwide. His personal web site is at http://www.oneworld.am.
Latest posts by Onnik Krikorian from September, 2010
Armenia: LGBT round table
Pink Armenia reports on a round table on the LGBT community held in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, last week. The blog says that although government ministries accepted invitations to attend, none did.
Armenia: Army forced to act after hazing video circulates online
A video depicting what appears to be evidence of bullying in the military stationed in Nagorno Karabakh, a disputed territory situated within Azerbaijan mainly populated by ethnic Armenians, continues to circulate online, from YouTube to the Daily Motion website.
Armenia: Officer faces abuse charges
Despite an initial official denial, Unzipped posts an update to an earlier post on the circulation of an amateur video originally uploaded to YouTube highlighting abuse in the army. The blog says that the authenticity of the video has now been confirmed and an officer in command of a military...
Armenia: Business as usual
Unzipped comments on Friday's rally by the extra-parliamentary opposition led by the former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian. The blog concludes that nothing new was said and that the opposition in the country lacks inspiration and offers no real alternative to the current authorities. It also questions the involvement of Gagik Jhangiryan,...
Armenia: The British Ambassador blogs
Charles Lonsdale, the British Ambassador to Armenia, has started up an official blog on the web site of the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In his second post, the diplomatic blogger compares British and Armenian art against the background of the seventh Biennale in the country's second largest city...
Azerbaijan: Bloggers to require registration?
As the use of new and social media starts to surface in the run-up to the 7 November parliamentary election in Azerbaijan, In Mutatione Fortitudo reports that there are now calls for bloggers to be considered similar to journalists. While on the surface such a suggestion sounds positive, the accompanying...
Azerbaijan: Back Home
AZ Cookbook has returned from its native Azerbaijan and posted photographs of the visit. Naturally, given the nature of the blog, it also takes readers on a culinary as well as cultural pictorial tour of the country.
Azerbaijan: Freedom of expression a pressing concern
Ahead of the 7 November parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines comments on a new report by Article 19 on freedom of expression in the oil-rich former Soviet republic. With journalists and bloggers in jail much to the concern of the international community, the blog agrees that...
Caucasus: Expedition 206
Having already visited Georgia, Expedition 206 arrived in Armenia. The initiative, sponsored by Coca-Cola, will see three bloggers visit 206 countries in 365 days. iReport [AM] posts photographs as well as an account of the travelers meeting with 20 local bloggers and says that they will travel to Azerbaijan tomorrow....
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Backseat musical musings… and ethnic conflict
With the broadcast media heavily controlled in both Armenia and Azerbaijan there are few avenues left for independent journalists. Bloggers in both countries, however, react to a video posted online.
Georgia: Crossing into Abkhazia
drugoi [RU] posts an account of crossing into the breakaway territory of Abkhazia. Recognized by only four UN member states since the 2008 Russia-Georgia war over South Ossetia, the post also includes photographs.
Armenia: Army Hazing
Unzipped comments on a video originally posted on YouTube showing what appears to be hazing in the Armenian military. Taken down after 246 Facebook shares and 669 comments, it has since appeared on Daily Motion. Given other cases of deaths and mistreatment in the army, the blog says that the...
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Social Networking and Conflict Resolution
Global Chaos details the hacking of the personal Facebook page of one young ethnic Armenian by someone presumably in Azerbaijan. Although new and social media tools are increasingly being used in peace-building initiatives to resolve the long-running conflict between the two countries over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, the...
Azerbaijan: Opposition bloc unveiled
Tamada Tales comments on news that two opposition parties, Musavat and the Popular Front of Azerbaijan, have formed an election bloc to contend 90 of the 125 seats up for grabs in November's parliamentary election. However, the blog notes, while some are willing to give it the “benefit of the...
Azerbaijan: Ramadan in Sheki
Sheki, Azerbaijan comments on observing Ramadan in Azerbaijan. The blog says that the holiday is a time for sharing and remembering relatives that have passed away as well as those also marking the tradition.
Armenia: Literary Capital 2012
Ianyan provides a comprehensive report on news that Yerevan, the Armenian capital, will become UNESCO World Book Capital for 2012. The blog says that the city will be the 12th to hold the title, coincidentally in the same year that marks the 500th anniversary of the first printed book, but...
Azerbaijan: I want my children and your children together…
vhsoy posts a video of imprisoned video blogging Azerbaijani youth activist Emin Milli speaking at a forum in the House of Commons in 2008. Emin Milli was detained in July the following year, along with fellow activist Adnan Hajizade, before being sentenced to 2.5 in prison that November on what...
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Time for peaceful coexistence
In another guest post on The Caucasian Knot, youth activist and student Marine Ejuryan reflects on the negative stereotypes in play between Armenia and Azerbaijan because of the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh. However, she notes, positive examples of peaceful coexistence are rarely if ever mentioned in the media and...
Azerbaijan: Free imprisoned bloggers
A petition has been started urging U.S. President Barack Obama to raise the issue of imprisoned video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, at the United Nations General Assembly this month. The petition can be signed online here.
