Former Royal Marine examines human side of Karabakh war in new doc

PanARMENIAN.Net - Royal Marine-turned-war correspondent and filmmaker Emile Ghessen has filmed a new documentary about the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh․ "45 Days, The Fight For A Nation" is told from the Armenian perspective and is set to be released in the spring, Forces reports.

Ghessen met soldiers who were part of the fight and spent time with families who have lost loved ones to the conflict in Karabakh. Surprised by the content of the documentary, the journalist said it was unlike any he had made before.

"[It] surprised me compared to my last two in the sense that I’ve seen more of the human side of the war, I’ve done three tours of Afghanistan, of Asia, of Iraq – war’s war. I’ve seen action all over the world, filming as well. The shooting of guns doesn’t really interest me; what interests me now is the human stories of the war," he says.

Ghessen explained how deep the roots of this war ran for those directly affected, with many of the volunteers having very little combat experience: "We’ve got grandmas [whose] husbands and their sons fought in the last war, now their grandsons are fighting in this war."

Martial law was declared so a lot of volunteers went to join the army.

"So, it's not just professional soldiers or guys doing their two-year national service. There were a lot of civilians that were put in uniform and off they went."

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev on November 9 signed a statement to end the war in Karabakh after almost 45 days. Under the deal, the Armenian side has returned all the seven regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, having lost a part of Karabakh itself in hostilities.