Thomas Goltz (born October 11, 1954) is an American author and journalist best known for his accounts of conflict in the
Caucasus region during the 1990s.
Biography
Goltz was born in
Japan, raised in
North Dakota and graduated from
New York University with an MA in
Middle East studies. He has worked in and around
Turkey and the Caucasus region of the former
Soviet Union for the past 30 years. During that period he has become known mainly as a crisis correspondent due to coverage of the war between
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...
and
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
over
Karabakh, the war of secession in
Abkhazia
Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which ...
from
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
and the separatist conflict in
Chechnya. His documentary for Global Vision's ''Rights and Wrongs'' program was a finalist in the
Rory Peck Award
The Rory Peck Award is an award given to freelance camera operators who have risked their lives to report on newsworthy events.[German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...](_blank)
,
Turkish,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
,
Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani may refer to:
* Something of, or related to Azerbaijan
* Azerbaijanis
* Azerbaijani language
See also
* Azerbaijan (disambiguation)
* Azeri (disambiguation)
* Azerbaijani cuisine
* Culture of Azerbaijan
The culture of Azerbaijan ...
and
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
* Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...
, and now spends about half the year in the field and half in
Montana, where he taught part-time at both the
University of Montana
The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fa ...
in
Missoula, and
Montana State University in
Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of th ...
.
His ''Azerbaijan Diary'' is an account of Azerbaijan during the years after it separated from the Soviet Union, through to the Karabakh War and the rise of
Heydar Aliyev
Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev ( az, Һејдәр Әлирза оғлу Әлијев, italic=no, Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev, ; , ; 10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani politician who served as the third president of Aze ...
to president of Azerbaijan. Goltz is also the author of ''Chechnya Diary'' (the story of the 1995
Samashki massacre
The Samashki massacre (russian: Резня в Самашках) occurred on April 7–8, 1995, in the village of Samashki, at the border between Chechnya and Ingushetia. Numerous civilians died as result of a Russian '' cleansing operation.'' ...
), ''Georgia Diary'' and, more recently, ''Assassinating Shakespeare: The True Confessions of a Bard in the Bush'', an account of his early travels in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
performing
Shakespeare plays.
His most recent publications in 2021 are "Turkiye" and "Oil Odyssey" the first a collection of essays and analysis from his many year relationship with that country, and the second a hilarious account of his epically planned, dysfunctionally organized and woefully executed moto-political stunt in the year 2000 to bring the symbolic “first barrel of oil” out of Baku (Azerbaijan) on the Western shore of the Caspian Sea, to Ceyhan in the Eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey.
Controversy
The Armenian National Committee of Canada accused Goltz of racism in March 2009 for alleged remarks made at a lecture sponsored by Assembly of Azerbaijani-Canadian Organizations. According to the Armenian National Committee, Goltz characterized the
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh as "garlic-growing Armenians", and selectively mentioned instances of ethnic cleansing by Armenians against Azerbaijanis while omitting mention of cases of ethnic cleansing of Armenians by Azerbaijanis. The Committee also criticized Goltz's alleged praise of Azerbaijan's deceased leader
Heydar Aliyev
Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev ( az, Һејдәр Әлирза оғлу Әлијев, italic=no, Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev, ; , ; 10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani politician who served as the third president of Aze ...
.
"American professor made racist and derogatory remarks about Armenians"
/ref>
Books
*''Azerbaijan Diary'' (1998)
*''Chechnya Diary'' (2003)
*''Georgia Diary'' (2006)
*''Assassinating Shakespeare: The True Confessions of a Bard in the Bush'' (2006)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goltz, Thomas
1954 births
Living people
21st-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
American reporters and correspondents
Nagorno-Karabakh
New York University alumni
People from North Dakota
Journalists from North Dakota
21st-century American male writers