They flee in cars, busses - and trucks. Vehicles choke the road leading out of Nagorno-Karabakh into Armenia. The people crammed inside have exhaustion etched on their faces. Many spent the night on the road. They fear they are leaving their ancestral lands for good.
The fall of 2020 saw the latest escalation of an unresolved conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan defeated Armenia after six weeks of fighting. Thousands of soldiers died, while the precise number of civilian casualties is still not known.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous area in the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia. For more than 30 years, it's been locked in a conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The fight between the two countries began in the early 20th century but became a frozen conflict for 60 years while the whole region was under the control of the Soviet Union.
In surrendered areas of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian villagers like Martinios have five days to pack and leave before Azeri forces arrive. The district where he lives, Kalbajar, was given up by Armenia as part of a ceasefire deal, which brought a brutal six-week war with Azerbaijan to an end. War here has been generational, and in the 1990s it was the Azeris who fled these villages in a ceasefire handover. Martinios himself moved here soon after to escape the persecution against Armenians in Azerbaijan. Now that peace has been brokered, and after decades of bitterness and mutual distrust, can he bear to leave behind the home he built?
Armenia and Azerbaijan are at war over a disputed region – and this is reflected in their broadcasts. Plus, how colonial postcards affect depictions of Africans today.
After three weeks of fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia, both sides have leaned on their domestic media to give their version of events. We examine the events in Nagorno-Karabakh and the dangers of war reporting in the age of COVID-19.
Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are determined to claim Nagorno-Karabakh as their own.
Dozens have been killed, including a child. Both sides are blaming each other for starting the fighting – and they’ve both deployed heavy artillery along the border.
Heavy fighting has erupted in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Both sides reported casualties in air and artillery attacks, and each accused the other of starting the hostilities.
As the Baku games close, we examine the challenges facing journalists; plus, Angola, Portugal and 'reverse colonialism'.
Hosting the 2015 European Games has reportedly cost Azerbaijan in the region of $1.2bn, and for President Ilham Aliyev it appears to be oil money well spent. But along with the athletes and the countries they represent, journalists have also arrived in Baku, and the Aliyev government has a poor track record when it comes to dealing with the media.
Some foreign reporters have been refused entry into the country and on the domestic level, Azerbaijani journalists who do not tow the government's line when reporting on issues like corruption and human rights have landed up in jail.
As the European Games come to a close this weekend in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, we examine how the government's public relations efforts have paid off in the media coverage.
Joining us to talk about the Baku games and the media are: Aflatun Amashov, the chairman of Azerbaijan Press Council; Robin Forestier-Walker, an Al Jazeera correspondent; Rahim Haciyev, the deputy editor at Azadliq; and Kenan Aliyev, the executive editor of "Current Time," Radio Free Europe and Voice of America.
