Arevik and Said

Stories of forbidden love show the pain of fractured relations between Armenians and Azerbaijanis at their most poignant. Peace can fix them. ·It was New Year’s Eve 2025; that night was colder than any night that winter. However, perhaps Said was the only one who felt so cold in ancient Tbilisi. Every sensation was intensified, […]

Villages in the cross-fire

Solving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will bring to an end the daily inconveniences and dangers faced by people on the borders. ·Consider a typical small village near the disputed border. Regardless of which side of the border the village is on, it surely will have something unique that you cannot find in any other village across […]

The Tortoise Shell

When the harsh reality of war struck, the simple dreams of school children were turned to dust. ·The sun was ready to set and the horizon blushed peacefully as the sun edged its way down. The voices of people rushing home from work and of city residents on their evening walk melded together in a […]

Changing my mind

The intention of an imaginary literary stroll through distant Baku is cut down by a real and present meeting in a bar in Tbilisi. ·My essay was supposed to start with the following sentence: “There are many countries and cities in the world that I have not yet managed to visit and will perhaps never […]

Good neighbours

All that remains of warm relations between neighbours are memories. Passing these on to the youth is a pressing task. Part 1 – The past spent together ·It was the year 1956. My grandmother Sumaya had remarried, finally acknowledging after nine years that her first husband would not come back from the great war. She […]

Hotel Karabakh

The natural beauty of Karabakh means that the region can quickly become a hotspot for tourism and a place where old friends can meet. ·For all the bloodshed that Europe has experienced – protracted wars such as the Hundred Years War, the First and Second World Wars – Western Europe has overcome previous hostilities. In […]

Struck by light

To live alongside former enemies without rancour means to recognise the suffering and pain which has been felt on both sides. ·This essay has been written based on writings by Armenian and Azerbaijani authors on the Karabakh War. Lusaharvatzner is a village in the future where the Armenians and Azerbaijanis living in an open space […]