Public Event. Visiting Speaker : Onnik James Krikorian

Onnik James Krikorian is a journalist, photojournalist, and media consultant from the United Kingdom. He has worked for the UK and International Media and from 2007-2012 was the Caucasus Regional Editor for Global Voices. Living in Yerevan, Armenia, since 1998, he moved to Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2012.Launching his first web site in 1994 he has focused on publishing material online on issues overlooked by the mainstream media such as poverty and minority issues in transitional countries.Since 1994 he has covered the frozen conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh and from 1995-1997 worked extensively on human rights issues related to the Kurds in Turkey. In 1998 that work saw him visit the Republic of Armenia to research the Yezidi minority in the country for the London-based Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP). This has included working closely with academics researching the same issues.His work on the frozen conflicts of the South Caucasus, including countering single narratives and amplifying alternative voices using new and social media, has also recently brought him into the sphere of Countering Violent Extremism (CVE). This particularly concerns the use of new and social media by extremist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. With frozen conflicts thawing and developments in Iraq cause for considerable concern, such a need is more urgent than ever.http://onnik-krikorian.com/