CONFLICT VOICESONNIK JAMES KR IKOR IAN

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WHEN WAR IS DECLARED, TRUTH IS THE F IRST C ASUALTY

ARTHUR PONSONBY, FALSEHOOD IN WARTIME, 1928

NAGORNO KARABAKH• 25,000 DEAD UNTIL 1994 CEASEFIRE

• 1 MILL ION REFUGEES AND IDPS DISPLACED FROM THEIR HOMES

• 16 PERCENT OF AZERBAI JAN CONTROLLED BY ARMENIAN FORCES

• BORDER SKIRMISHES AND CLASHES, INCREASE IN SNIPER INCIDENTS

• NEW GENERATIONS OF ARMENIANS AND AZERBAI JANIS L IV ING WITHOUT CONTACT WITH THE OTHER

• CONFLICT USED AS A POLITIC AL TOOL IN ARMENIA AND AZERBAI JAN

• PEACE STILL ELUSIVE

NAGORNO KARABAKH[…] people are often inclined to consider their existing attitudes and

beliefs to be true and filter the news through this lens. Thus, they accept

messages in order to maintain their original perceptions. […] bias in the

local media [...] ser ves as a means to fuel and perpetuate hatred. This is

a role the media has and continues to play with regards to the conflict

over Nagorno Karabakh. !!ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI INTERNATIONAL NEWS COVERAGE,

C AUC ASUS RESEARCH RESOURCE CENTERS (CRRC)

http://epfound.am/files/mb_fg_report_finalized_edited_12.27.2008.doc

NAGORNO KARABAKH[A] negative context [is set] in the public consciousness, which hinders

dialogue and mutual understanding […] Without more accurate and

unbiased information […] free of negative rhetoric and stereotypes,

Armenians and Azerbaijanis will continue to see themselves as

enemies without any common ground.

!!ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI INTERNATIONAL NEWS COVERAGE,

C AUC ASUS RESEARCH RESOURCE CENTERS (CRRC)

http://epfound.am/files/mb_fg_report_finalized_edited_12.27.2008.doc

NAGORNO KARABAKH

NAGORNO KARABAKH

NAGORNO KARABAKH

NAGORNO KARABAKH

NAGORNO KARABAKHNowhere in the world can you find two groups of people closer to each other. That is why we often have these stupid disputes between Armenians and Azeris. "This house is Armenian" or "this house is Azeri." Or "this music is Armenian or Azeri." This is exactly because the two have so much in common. [...] I normally say, and people don't like this,

that Armenians are just Christian Azeris and Azeris are just

Muslim Armenians. That is how much they are alike.

SEYMUR BAYCAN, RE-ARMING THE CAUCASUS, AL JAZEERA ENGLISH http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz47DkYn4Kk

NAGORNO KARABAKHWe hear far too little of what I call this “third narrative” of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, a narrative of peace. It spins the idea that the two peoples are capable of getting along fine, have lived together in the past and, if politicians are able to overcome differences on the Karabakh conflict, can live together in the future. International mediators are too timid to speak this narrative or feel that it is not

their business. The media in both countries suppresses it.

!!THOMAS DE WAAL, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT AND AUTHOR

OF BLACK GARDEN: ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN THROUGH PEACE AND WAR http://conflict-voices.net /conflict_voices_may_2011.html

NAGORNO KARABAKH

ABOVE: AZERBAIJANI PRISONER OF WAR (POW) RIGHT: AZERBAIJANI POW AND CIVILIAN HOSTAGES

!PHOTOS: © ONNIK KRIKORIAN 1994

GLOBAL VOICESGlobal Voices is a community of more than 300 bloggers and translators around the world who work together to bring readers repor ts from blogs and citizen media everywhere, with an emphasis on voices that are not ordinarily heard in the mainstream media.

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Global Voices is translated into more than 30 languages by volunteer translators, who have formed the Lingua project. Additionally, Global Voices has an Advocacy website and network to help people speak out online in places where their voices are censored.

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Rising Voices to help marginalized communities use citizen media to be heard.

GLOBAL VOICES

DIGITAL MEDIAThroughout histor y, war has affected media, with conflict often creating an information void. In the 21st century, media has begun to affect war more than ever before. Digital media technologies [...] have increased communication and information dissemination in conflict settings [...].

These new tools can be used to foment violence or to foster

peace, and it is possible to build communication systems that

encourage dialogue and nonviolent political solutions. !!IVAN SIGAL, DIGITAL MEDIA IN CONFLICT-PRONE SOCIETIES, CENTER FOR

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ASSISTANCE (CIMA) http://cima.ned.org/publications/research-repor ts/digital-media-conflict-prone-societies

DIGITAL MEDIAAnyone who believes that all citizen media are objective and impar tial

is either mad or hasn't actually read any citizen media. […] What's

become very difficult is using citizen media to understand what's

actually happening on the ground. As we all know, some of the

reports from both camps in the South Ossetian conflict were

likely manufactured and inaccurate. This sor t of situation can get

even more complicated when there aren't impar tial journalists on the ground.

!!!ETHAN ZUCKERMAN, GLOBAL VOICES CO-FOUNDER, MIT MEDIA LAB http://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.ru/ar ticles/13149/

DIGITAL MEDIA

PEACE ON FACEBOOK

CONFLICT VOICES

CONFLICT VOICES

A CYBER UTOPIA?

I study the ways new media shapes people's perceptions of the world. It's my fond hope that social networks such as Facebook will help users broaden their perspectives by listening to a different set of people than

they encounter in their daily life . But I fear services such as

Facebook may be turning us into imaginary cosmopolitans. !

!!ETHAN ZUCKERMAN, GLOBAL VOICES CO-FOUNDER, MIT MEDIA LAB http://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.ru/ar ticles/13149/

A CYBER UTOPIA?

The reason why the KGB wants you to join Facebook is because it allows them to learn more about you from afar. It allows them to

identify certain social graphs and social connections between

activists. Many of these relationships are now self-disclosed by activists

by joining various groups. !

!!EVGENY MOROZOV, THE NET DELUSION: DARK SIDE OF INTERNET FREEDOM

http://www.rferl.org/content/interview_morozov_internet_democracy_promotion/2284105.html

A CYBER UTOPIA?

ICT4D

QUESTIONS

[…] the internet is not magic; it is a tool. Anyone who wants to

use it to bring nations closer together has to show initiative, and be ready to travel physically as well as vir tually. As with the telegraph

before it—also hailed as a tool of peace — the internet does

nothing on its own. !

!!THE ECONOMIST, A CYBER-HOUSE DIVIDED

http://www.economist.com/node/16943885?story_id=16943885

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