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THE ART OF THE ARMS DEAL
EurasiaNet.org
Sept 27 2012
NY
Photographer Mari Bastashevski has started an ambitious new
investigative project, "State Business," which she calls "an art
project about the conflict arms trade." And her first subject
is a series of arms shipments which appeared to be headed for
Nagorno-Karabakh:
In the spring of 2010 the arms tracking community had picked up on
a number of suspicious flights headed for Armenia, 39 in total. The
flights continued at even intervals well into February 2011. All
of them were Ilyushin IL-76s. The planes left Podgorica [Montenegro]
airport for Armenia's 'Erebuni' military airport. It was estimated that
the arms were intended for the troubled Nagorno-Karabakh region, which
saw a wave of border incidents and heightened tensions at the time.
The flights didn't simply tip-toe past the guards in the middle of the
night. Because... well- not Hollywood. There was obviously a ton of
paperwork to get these off the ground. Although airports and aviation
authorities keep copies of flight documentation for a period of time,
in Montenegro (not exceptionally) such documentation is rather well
hidden under the umbrella of "National Security," which is evoked
each time secrecy is convenient.
The only employee at Podgorica airport willing to speak about the
flights on record, was one of the younger flight controllers. Over the
span of a cigarette break he confirmed that the Illyushins were bound
for Armenia, and were registered with V-Bird and Air Highnesses. (The
two flight companies whose activities spread far beyond Balkans and
Caucasus -something I'll return to at a later stage) He remembered
an incident on July 21st, 2010, when one the IL-76s failed to take
off because of engine trouble. We agreed to meet again to discuss the
flights in more detail, but he never made it to the meeting. Later,
when he called to apologize, he appeared to be on a surprise holiday
in Spain and could no longer recall anything.
This kind of reporting takes a ton of legwork, with so many blind
alleys, so kudos to anyone doing it. And it's going to be a real treat
to have the striking photos to go along with the investigation. Follow
along.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65975
EurasiaNet.org
Sept 27 2012
NY
Photographer Mari Bastashevski has started an ambitious new
investigative project, "State Business," which she calls "an art
project about the conflict arms trade." And her first subject
is a series of arms shipments which appeared to be headed for
Nagorno-Karabakh:
In the spring of 2010 the arms tracking community had picked up on
a number of suspicious flights headed for Armenia, 39 in total. The
flights continued at even intervals well into February 2011. All
of them were Ilyushin IL-76s. The planes left Podgorica [Montenegro]
airport for Armenia's 'Erebuni' military airport. It was estimated that
the arms were intended for the troubled Nagorno-Karabakh region, which
saw a wave of border incidents and heightened tensions at the time.
The flights didn't simply tip-toe past the guards in the middle of the
night. Because... well- not Hollywood. There was obviously a ton of
paperwork to get these off the ground. Although airports and aviation
authorities keep copies of flight documentation for a period of time,
in Montenegro (not exceptionally) such documentation is rather well
hidden under the umbrella of "National Security," which is evoked
each time secrecy is convenient.
The only employee at Podgorica airport willing to speak about the
flights on record, was one of the younger flight controllers. Over the
span of a cigarette break he confirmed that the Illyushins were bound
for Armenia, and were registered with V-Bird and Air Highnesses. (The
two flight companies whose activities spread far beyond Balkans and
Caucasus -something I'll return to at a later stage) He remembered
an incident on July 21st, 2010, when one the IL-76s failed to take
off because of engine trouble. We agreed to meet again to discuss the
flights in more detail, but he never made it to the meeting. Later,
when he called to apologize, he appeared to be on a surprise holiday
in Spain and could no longer recall anything.
This kind of reporting takes a ton of legwork, with so many blind
alleys, so kudos to anyone doing it. And it's going to be a real treat
to have the striking photos to go along with the investigation. Follow
along.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65975