Young Soldiers' Tales of War in Nagorno-Karabakh

The active participation of children and young men in armed conflicts has not lost its significance as a global phenomenon in the twenty-first century. In Eurasia, where numerous regions are plagued by violent conflicts, many of the everyday realities these young soldiers experienced still remain unclear and continue to be under-researched. Through the use of biographical interviews, this essay retrospectively explores the ways in which war in Nagorno-Karabakh impinged on male teenagers' identities. A biographical approach not only reveals these former young soldiers’ experiences which may have otherwise never been told but also allows them to reflect on their war experiences more than ten years later. In this way, we aim to complement existing research on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with new insights.