De Waal, Thomas

He graduated in 1988 from Balliol College , Oxford . Specialist in Russian and Modern Greek.

• 1991 - 1993 , worked for BBC World Service , producer.
• 1993 - 1997 , Moscow correspondent and columnist for The Times , The Moscow Times , The Economist
• 1998 - 2000 , BBC World Service , Analyst for the Former Soviet Union .
• 2000 - 2001 , BBC World Service , reporter in Armenia and Azerbaijan . He also worked on the Black Garden book on the Karabakh conflict.
• 2002 - 2008 , Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), Caucasus Editor. He participated in programs for Caucasian journalists. Editor of the Panorama newspaper, published in Georgia and Abkhazia
• 2009 - Researcher at Conciliation Resources, analysis and peace projects in the Caucasus.
• 2010 - Carnegie Endowment Senior Caucasus Researcher

In 1999 , together with Carlotta Gall, he worked on the book Chechnya : Disaster in the Caucasus . ^[one]

In 2003 , following the results of work in the zone of the Karabakh conflict, de Waal published the book “The Black Garden”. ^[2] .

In 2006 , the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to issue a visa to visit Russia , where he was to participate in the presentation of the Russian version of the book on Nagorno-Karabakh , based on the provisions of the law stating that "a visa may be refused for reasons of national security."

In 2010 , he wrote a second book, Meet the Caucasus . ^[3]

In 2015 , he wrote the book The Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide . ^[four]

In January 2009, Thomas De Waal published an analytical report entitled “The Karabakh Trap: Threats and Dilemmas of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict”. One of the main conclusions of which was that there is no “military solution” to the conflict - the war will be a disaster not only for Armenia, Azerbaijan and the NKR, but will also go beyond the region with far-reaching economic and political consequences. ” ^[five]

In February 2009, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the unrecognized NKR criticized De Waal’s statements in the report “Karabakh Trap”, focusing on the growing prosperity of the Republic of Azerbaijan , as well as its military budget three times higher than the Armenian one. According to the Minister, “De Waal chose“ intimidation tactics ”, which directly means pressure on the Armenian side of the conflict” and “Thomas De Waal ... under the guise of an expert peacemaker, mainly calls on Azerbaijan to unleash a new big war in the South Caucasus. At the same time, it seems to him that he and his ilk will succeed in avoiding responsibility from anything. But he is mistaken ... " ^[6]

The president of the Armenian Academy of Political Studies, professor Alexander Manasyan, in a review of Black Garden, wrote that De Waal "supports a point of view that coincides with propaganda from Baku ." ^[7]

Tatul Hakobyan , a freelance Armenian analyst and journalist, wrote that De Waal quoted Serzh Sargsyan out of context in the book “The Black Garden” regarding subsequent comments about the Khojaly massacre . ^[eight]

Through his grandmother, Elizabeth de Waal ( nee Efrussi ), Tom de Waal belongs to Efrussi - a wealthy Jewish family of bankers and patrons of art before World War II in Europe , whose wealth originated in Odessa in the 19th century , Russian Empire . He did some research on the Russian roots of his family, and helped his brother Edmund de Waal, who led the publication of The Hare with Amber Eyes, study his family history.

• Interview to Armenian Internet TV channel CivilNetTV
• Interview at Azerbaijan University of Freedom of Thought (AFU)