Author: Badalian Vardan

Armenia votes to join ICC amidst tensions with Russia over Putin’s war crimes indictment

Badalian Vardan
Fox News
Oct 3 2023
Associated Press

The Armenian parliament on Tuesday voted to join the International Criminal Court, which earlier this year indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes connected to the deportation of children from Ukraine.

The move is likely to further strain Armenia’s deteriorating relation with its ally Russia, which last month called Yerevan’s push to join the ICC an “unfriendly step.”

The Armenian parliament on Tuesday voted to join the International Criminal Court, which earlier this year indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes connected to the deportation of children from Ukraine.

The move is likely to further strain Armenia’s deteriorating relation with its ally Russia, which last month called Yerevan’s push to join the ICC an “unfriendly step.”

Why this week’s mass exodus from embattled Nagorno-Karabakh reflects decades of animosity

Badalian Vardan
Associated Press
Sept 29 2023
BY JIM HEINTZ
Updated 11:54 PM GMT+3, September 28, 2023

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The exodus of ethnic Armenians this week from the region known as Nagorno-Karabakh has been a vivid and shocking tableau of fear and misery. Roads are jammed with cars lumbering with heavy loads, waiting for hours in traffic jams. People sit amid mounds of hastily packed luggage.

As of Thursday, more than 78,300 people had left the breakaway region for Armenia. That’s a huge number — more than half of the population of the region that is located entirely within Azerbaijan.

Still, it’s not the largest displacement of civilians in three decades of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

After ethnic Armenian forces secured control of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding territories in 1994, refugee organizations estimated that some 900,000 people had fled to Azerbaijan and 300,000 to Armenia.

When war broke out again in 2020 and Azerbaijan seized more territory, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said 90,000 had gone to Armenia and 40,000 to Azerbaijan.

Those figures underline the fierce animosity between the two countries, and they raise questions about the region’s future.

Nagorno-Karabakh, with a population of about 120,000, is a mountainous, ethnic Armenian region inside Azerbaijan in the southern Caucasus Mountains.

When both Azerbaijan and Armenia were part of the Soviet Union, the region was designated as an autonomous republic, but as Moscow’s central control of far-flung regions deteriorated, a movement arose in Nagorno-Karabakh for incorporation into Armenia.

Tensions burst into violence in 1988 when more than 30 — some say as many as 200 — ethnic Armenians were killed in a pogrom in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait. Armenians fled, as did many ethnic Azeris who lived in Armenia. When a full-scale war broke out, the numbers soared. That first war lasted until 1994.

Azerbaijan regained control of parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and large swaths of adjacent territory held by Armenians in a six-week war in 2020, driving out tens of thousands of Armenians that the government in Baku declared to have settled illegally.

Last week, Azerbaijan launched a blitz that forced the capitulation of Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist forces and government. On Thursday, the separatist authorities agreed to disband by the end of this year.

The events put the region’s ethnic Armenians on the move out of the territory.

Nagorno-Karabakh and the territory around it have deep cultural and religious significance for Christian Armenians and predominantly Muslim Azeris, and each group denounces the other for alleged efforts to destroy or desecrate monuments and relics.

Armenians were deeply angered by recent video that purportedly showed an Azerbaijani soldier firing at a monastery in the region. Azeris have seethed with resentment at Armenians’ wholesale pillaging of the once-sizable city of Aghdam and the use of its mosque as a cattle barn.

A Russian peacekeeping force of about 2,000 was deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh under an armistice that ended the 2020 war. But its inaction in the latest Azerbaijani offensive probably was a key factor in the separatists’ quick decision to give in.

In December, Azerbaijan began blocking the only road leading from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.

Armenians bitterly criticized the peacekeepers for failing to follow their mandate to keep the road open. The blockade caused severe food and medicine shortages in Nagorno-Karabakh. International organizations and governments called repeatedly for Baku to lift the blockade.

Russia, which is fighting a war in Ukraine, seems to be unable or unwilling to take action to keep the road open. That appears to have persuaded the separatists that they would get no support when Azerbaijan launched its blitz.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s forces were small and poorly supplied in comparison with those of Azerbaijan, thanks to the country’s surging oil revenues and support from Turkey.

WHAT WILL THE FUTURE HOLD?

Under last week’s cease-fire, Azerbaijan will “reintegrate” Nagorno-Karabakh, but the terms for that are unclear. Baku repeatedly has promised that the rights of ethnic Armenians will be observed if they stay in the region as Azerbaijani citizens.

That promise appears to have reassured almost no one. Although Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said last week that he saw no immediate need for Armenians to leave, on Thursday he said he expected that none would be left in Nagorno-Karabakh within a few days.

Ethnic Armenians in the region do not trust Azerbaijan to treat them fairly and humanely or grant them their language, religion and culture.

Without an international peacekeeping or police force in the region, ethnic violence would be almost certain to flare.

Blinken, Russia’s Lavrov race to discuss Armenia-Azerbaijan relations

Badalian Vardan
UPI
Sept 24 2023

Blinken, Russia’s Lavrov race to discuss Armenia-Azerbaijan relations

By Adam Schrader

Sept. 23 (UPI) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, raced Saturday to discuss their relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have been engaged in recent conflict.

Lavrov, who engaged in a lengthy question-and-answer session with reporters Saturday, was asked if Russia believes its influence is waning in former Soviet states after an outburst of anti-Russia protests in Armenia’s capital Yerevan.

Azerbaijan launched a new offensive Tuesday against Armenian separatists amid a decades-long territorial dispute between the countries over the ethnic Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenians largely blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for losing a 44-day war in 2020 when Azerbaijan regained control of land in and around Nagorno-Karabakh and blocked its main supply route to Armenia.

The sentiment was shared this week by Alen Simonyan, the head of Armenia’s parliament.

“It is not up to me to judge. It would be very arrogant for me to say that our influence is increasing or if it remains the same. It is up for you to decide,” Lavrov began. “Many things are becoming clear right in front of our eyes right now.”

Lavrov claimed that non-governmental organizations backed by Western states are in Armenia and other former Soviet nations “advancing the interests of the United States and their allies.”

“These interests include undermining Russian influence. This is a fact,” Lavrov said. “We see this as artificially created tensions. We once again know who is interested in this and who is pulling the strings and, unfortunately, the leadership of Armenia from time to time adds fuel to the fire itself.”

Lavrov added that the 2020 agreements ending the brief war said that Nagorno-Karabakh is “in the realm of responsibility of Russian peacekeeping contingent.”

“It was presumed, this was discussed during negotiations, that the decision on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh would be postponed, it would be taken later,” Lavrov said. “So after Armenia reaffirmed that Nagorno-Karabakh was a part of Azerbaijan, it was ludicrous to accuse us of this.”

Lavrov added that Russian peacekeepers are currently helping to facilitate contacts between the Nagorno-Karabakh representatives and the Azerbaijani officials, including at meetings held Saturday.

“Our peacekeepers have a presence there on the basis of the importance of their role there for confidence building to ensure that the members of the representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh, especially at the beginning to feel themselves to be safe and secure,” Lavrov said.

“Time will be necessary, as for the amount of time and the number of peacekeepers, these are issues being resolved on the ground.”

Blinken on Saturday held a call with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in which he “reaffirmed U.S. support for Armenia’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity,” according to a readout provided by U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

“The Secretary expressed the United States’ deep concern for the ethnic Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Miller said.

“He underscored the United States is calling on Azerbaijan to protect civilians and uphold its obligations to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh and to ensure its forces comply with international humanitarian law.”

Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council — of which both the United States and Russia are a part — warned that the latest clashes between Azeris and Armenians “undermine prospects of peace” in what is one of the longest-running conflicts since the end of the Cold War.

In May, the European Union mediated a long-term negotiation plan for a “comprehensive peace agreement.”

“The final statement included their unequivocal commitment to the 1991 Almaty Declaration and their ‘respective territorial integrity’,” according to an EU document.

“Some experts see the details of the statement as a potential breakthrough in the peace talks, while others warn of the heavy price tag for the population of Nagorno-Karabakh and the potential political costs for Armenia itself.”

In additional remarks, Lavrov added: “We are convinced that the Armenian people remember their history, our history and that they will tie their history to that of Russia and other friendly states in the region rather than those that swoop in from abroad.”

Karabakh polls a ‘violation of the UN Charter’: FO [Pakistan]

Badalian Vardan
GEO TV
Sept 10 2023
Karabakh polls a ‘violation of the UN Charter’: FO

Pakistan on Sunday categorically condemned the polls conducted in the Nagorno-Karabakh region terming them as a violation of the United Nations (UN) Charter and the established principles of international law, a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO) said.

The FO also accentuated that Pakistan considers Karabakh as the sovereign territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan and that attempts to hold elections by the illegally installed regime are “legally and morally reprehensible”.

It is pertinent to know that on Saturday, Azerbaijan´s separatist Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh elected a new president as tensions spiralled between arch-rivals Azerbaijan and Armenia over the breakaway enclave.

With 22 votes to one, lawmakers in Nagorno-Karabakh´s parliament elected the head of the security council in the rebel government, Samvel Shahramanyan, 45, to succeed the outgoing leader Arayik Harutyunyan who stepped down on September 1, according to the AFP.

Reacting to the development, the FO said: “Such an attempt is also a grave violation of the UN Charter and principles of established international law.”

Azerbaijan also called the election “yet another extremely provocative step” and “a clear violation of Azerbaijan´s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The European Union said it “does not recognise the constitutional and legal framework” within which the vote was held.

But the bloc also called on “Karabakh Armenians to consolidate around de facto leadership that is able and willing to engage in result-oriented discussions with Baku.”

Azerbaijan´s ally Turkey said it “does not recognise this illegitimate election which constitutes violation of Azerbaijan´s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

“This step is a flagrant violation of international law including the UN Security Council resolutions and the OSCE principles,” the foreign ministry in Ankara said in a statement.

Popular frustration with Harutyunyan´s rule was growing amid lingering food shortages after Azerbaijan closed the sole road linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have traded accusations of cross-border attacks in recent months.

Armenia warned of the risk of a fresh conflict, saying Azerbaijan was massing troops on the countries´ shared border and near Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan´s foreign ministry on Friday accused Armenia of violating “previous agreements and… resorting to various political, military and other provocations.”

Yerevan said it was “committed to the settlement of all outstanding issues with Azerbaijan purely through political and diplomatic means.”

Azerbaijan´s Armenian-populated enclave was at the centre of two wars between the Caucasus neighbours.

Six weeks of fighting in autumn 2020 ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire that saw Armenia cede swathes of territories it had controlled for decades.

The two sides have been unable to reach a lasting peace settlement despite mediation efforts by the European Union, the United States and Russia.

With input from AFP.


Nagorno-Karabakh president quits as breakaway territory’s crisis deepens

Badalian Vardan
Sept 1 2023
After months of speculation, Arayik Harutiunyan, president of Nagorno-Karabakh, officially announced his resignation on August 31. This decision comes amidst a deepening humanitarian crisis in the largely ethnic Armenian breakaway territory, primarily caused by Azerbaijan’s eight-month blockade of the Lachin corridor, its only link with Armenia and the outside world.
 
In a written statement, Harutiunyan expressed the need for new leadership in the region to better address the significant challenges it faces, nearly three years after a devastating defeat in a war with Azerbaijan.
 
He cited his background and Azerbaijan’s stance as obstacles to flexible policy-making. He emphasised that the war’s defeat and resulting difficulties had eroded trust in the authorities, including the presidency. Azerbaijan has been asking for the resignation of the entire de facto state ruling apparatus of the territory for months. 
 
Harutiunyan disclosed that he made this final decision two days ago after careful analysis of his interactions with internal and external stakeholders and the public. He announced his intention to  formally submit his resignation to the Karabakh parliament on September 1.
 
Speculation about Harutiunyan’s resignation had been brewing since Azerbaijan blocked traffic through the Lachin corridor in December. In March, he passed a constitutional amendment that allowed the local parliament to elect an interim president in the event of his resignation, who would serve the remainder of his five-year term until May 2025. 
 
Such an amendment effectively dismisses the immediate need for elections for the new president through a public vote. Some feared that new elections could serve as a pretext for Baku to initiate a new military operation.
 
In 2025, the Russian peacekeeping mission’s term also ends, potentially leaving Nagorno-Karabakh vulnerable. This mission began right after the 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. 
 
Harutiunyan did not reveal his preferred successor, but some Armenian media outlets suggested that Samvel Shahramanyan, the security council secretary, might be the frontrunner for the position. Shahramanyan was appointed as the state minister on August 31 and was among the Karabakh representatives who negotiated with Azerbaijani officials earlier in the year at the Russian peacekeeping contingent’s headquarters in Karabakh. 
 
While Harutiunian’s party holds a significant number of seats in parliament, it lacks an overall majority. In August, they supported an opposition figure, Davit Ishkhanyan, as parliament speaker, who will now fulfil presidential duties temporarily until Harutiunyan’s successor is elected.
 
Harutiunyan’s resignation seems to have been prompted by the tightening of the Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin corridor in mid-June, exacerbating shortages of essential supplies such as food and medicine in Karabakh. Authorities in Stepanakert have recently acknowledged the region’s shortage of flour, announcing restrictions on bread purchases for each family in the capital and other towns.
 
Following the commencement of the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh in December of the previous year, discussions regarding potential changes in the government took a backseat, while they had been an active topic of discussion at the war’s end in 2020. 
 
Harutyunyan’s resignation also coincides with the recent demand from Russian-Armenian billionaire and former state minister Ruben Vardanyan for him to step down. On August 21, Vardanyan accused Harutyunyan of making promises to resign and not keeping his word. Several days before this, a government militia had entered Nagorno-Karabakh’s parliament to show support for Harutyunyan.
https://www.intellinews.com/nagorno-karabakh-president-quits-as-breakaway-territory-s-crisis-deepens-290833/?source=armenia

Turkish Press: Armenians attack Azerbaijani Embassy in Lebanon

Badalian Vardan
Aug 31 2023
World  

2023-08-31 11:08:09 | Son Güncelleme : 2023-08-31 11:15:14

Tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia have spread to Lebanon. Armenians living in Lebanon attacked the Azerbaijani Embassy building in the capital Beirut, Anadolu Agency reported.

In the statement made by the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Azerbaijan, it was announced that the embassy buildings in Lebanon were attacked.

The statement said that about 50 Armenians gathered in front of the embassy, broke the fence around the administrative building, and threw paint bottles and explosives into the building.

Embassy personnel were not injured in the attack. After the attack was reported to the security forces, Lebanese law enforcement officers were deployed to the region, while the Armenian attackers reportedly fled the scene.

While an investigation was launched into the incident, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry sent a note to the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, which is responsible for the security of the Embassy.

In Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, Tayar Okden, a Turkish lorry driver, was attacked and beaten in the Bourj Hammoud neighborhood where Armenians predominantly live.

Okden, 52, was trying to leave the neighborhood after unloading cargo at a workplace in Bourj Hammoud at night when a group of people blocked his way.

A group of about 20 people, who said they were Armenian, beat Okden and poured paint on him. They broke the windows of the lorry and wrote insults against Türkiye in English.

The crowd also punctured the tires of the vehicle with knives and kicked the parcels containing commercial materials in the truck to the ground.

Source: Anadolu Agency


https://www.turkiyenewspaper.com/world/16223

BREAKING: Nagorno-Karabakh President mulls resigning and joining militia

Badalian Vardan

 11:21,

STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. President of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Arayik Harutyunyan has revealed that he has been considering stepping down.

Addressing demonstrators Monday evening in Stepanakert City, Harutyunyan said his potential resignation was discussed during his latest emergency meeting with officials on Monday.

“My possible resignation was also discussed, and a few days before I also wanted to resign. Tomorrow or the day after we will have another meeting in a narrow format, and in the event of a decision being made that I shall resign, I will go and serve in the outposts with the militia as early as this Sunday,” Harutyunyan said.

The demonstrators had gathered after Azeri border guards kidnapped three residents of Nagorno-Karabakh in Lachin Corridor.

Personal Representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office visits entrance of Lachin Corridor to prepare report

Badalian Vardan

 11:55,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 25, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office has visited the entrance of the Lachin Corridor in the village of Kornidzor in Armenia’s Syunik Province to become acquainted with the situation around the corridor and brief the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.

[see video]

An Armenian humanitarian aid convoy, as well as emergency supplies sent by French regions, for Nagorno-Karabakh have been stranded at the entrance of the Lachin Corridor for nearly a month because Azerbaijan refuses to allow passage amid its ongoing illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, which has resulted in a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk told reporters that he’s visiting the entrance of the Lachin Corridor at the instruction of Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE Bujar Osmani.

“A press release was issued about this. I’m instructed to visit the adjacent regions of the Lachin Corridor, get acquainted with the situation and report to him. I’ve had many meetings yesterday, and today as you can see I am here, I will return to report on the situation,” Kasprzyk said.

Kasprzyk met with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on August 22.

RFE/RL Armenian Service – 08/25/2023

Badalian Vardan 
                                        Friday, 
Main Opposition Bloc Backs Yerevan Mayoral Candidate
Armenia - Opposition mayoral candidate Andranik Tevanian (left) greets 
supporters during a campaign rally in Yerevan, August 23, 2023.
The Hayastan alliance headed by former President Robert Kocharian on Friday 
endorsed another opposition group running in the upcoming municipal elections in 
Yerevan.
Hayastan had decided not join the mayoral race, with some of its representatives 
citing grave security challenges facing Armenia as well as Nagorno-Karabakh. 
Media reports attributed the de facto boycott to a lack of consensus within the 
alliance on its potential mayoral candidate.
Andranik Tevanian, a Hayastan parliamentarian, disagreed with the boycott, 
resigning from the National Assembly and setting up his own bloc called Mayr 
Hayastan (Mother Armenia) to run for Yerevan mayor. The bloc’s main campaign 
message is that an opposition victory in the elections scheduled for September 
17 would pave the way for regime change in the country.
Hayastan’s parliamentary group discussed the vote during a meeting chaired by 
Kocharian. In an ensuing statement, it said they decided to back Tevanian’s bloc 
in the polls. The statement did not specify whether Kocharian or other senior 
Hayastan figures will actively participate in the election campaign.
Kocharian has kept a low profile in recent months, raising questions about his 
political future. The 68-year-old ex-president’s politically active son Levon 
was present at Tevanian’s inaugural campaign rally held on Wednesday.
Other major mayoral candidates include Tigran Avinian, Yerevan’s deputy mayor 
representing the ruling Civil Contract party, former Mayor Hayk Marutian and 
former Labor Minister Mane Tandilian leading the opposition Aprelu Yerkir party. 
Avinian said on Thursday that Civil Contract expects to win a majority of seats 
in the city council that will appoint the next mayor of the Armenian capital.
Karabakh Leader Offers Russian-Mediated Talks With Azerbaijan
Nagorno-Karabakh - Gurgen Nersisian delivers a video address on Facebook, August 
25, 2023.
Russia should be asked to organize negotiations between representatives of the 
Azerbaijani government and Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership, a senior official in 
Stepanakert said on Friday.
“I believe that we should appeal to Russia, all actors taking an interest in the 
situation [in and around Karabakh] with a proposal to organize a meeting with 
Azerbaijan on the existing situation, security issues and the disastrous 
humanitarian situation in Artsakh,” Gurgen Nersisian, the Karabakh premier, said 
in a video message posted on Facebook.
“The results of that meeting should be presented to our public and appropriate 
decisions should be made afterwards,” added Nersisian.
Azerbaijani officials and Karabakh representatives were reportedly due to meet 
in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia in early July for talks organized by Western 
mediators. Karabakh sources said it was rescheduled for August 1 but then 
cancelled by the Azerbaijani side. Baku wants such negotiations to be held in 
Azerbaijani proper, according to them.
A spokeswoman for Arayik Harutiunian, the Karabakh president, confirmed last 
week that he accepted an Azerbaijani proposal to hold the meeting in the 
Azerbaijani town of Yevlakh on August 5. She said Stepanakert cancelled it for 
security reasons after Azerbaijani security forces arrested a seriously ill 
Karabakh resident as he was evacuated to Armenia through the Lachin corridor.
Nersisian said the talks should take place at the Karabakh headquarters of 
Russian peacekeepers or “in any other safe venue” because “nobody can guarantee 
the physical security of our citizens in Azerbaijan.” They must also be held 
“with the participation of a third party,” he said.
Baku maintains that the dialogue must focus on Karabakh’s “reintegration into 
Azerbaijan” rejected by Stepanakert. The Karabakh leadership says it must first 
and foremost address the Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin corridor which has 
caused severe shortages of food, medicine and energy in the Armenian-populated 
region. It has dismissed an alternative, Azerbaijani-controlled supply route 
proposed by the Azerbaijani side.
Nersisian charged that Baku’s key aim is to commit “genocide” or at least force 
the Karabakh Armenians to leave their homeland.
“Therefore, claims that making concessions in response to Azerbaijan’s demands 
could give us a breathing space are unserious,” he said. “They are baseless 
illusions. On the contrary, they would further complicate our situation.”
France Said To Seek UN Security Council Resolution On Karabakh
        • Astghik Bedevian
France - France's President Emmanuel Macron walks on the day of the annual 
Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, July 14, 
2023.
France is reportedly planning to propose a UN Security Council resolution 
against Azerbaijan’s continuing blockade of the Lachin corridor and the 
resulting humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The French daily Le Figaro reported on Wednesday that the draft resolution which 
Paris is “preparing to submit” to the council is designed to help Karabakh’s 
ethnic Armenian population left “on the verge of starvation.” It gave few other 
details.
The French Embassy in Yerevan did not confirm or refute the report. It pointed 
to French President Emmanuel Macron’s interview with another French publication, 
Le Point, published earlier on Wednesday. Macron said that his government will 
keep pressing for the reopening of the Lachin corridor and the resumption of 
urgent relief supplies to Karabakh.
The Security Council discussed the worsening humanitarian crisis in Karabakh 
last week during an emergency meeting initiated by Armenia. Although most of its 
members, notably the United States, France and Russia, urged the lifting of the 
Azerbaijani blockade, the Council stopped short of adopting a relevant 
resolution or statement.
The U.S. on Wednesday denied claims that it is trying to prevent the key UN body 
from condemning the Azerbaijani blockade. “We have not seen a draft resolution,” 
the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan told the Armenpress news agency.
France, which is home to a sizable Armenian community, has been the most vocal 
international critic of the eight-month Azerbaijani blockade. Baku has 
repeatedly accused Macron and other French officials of siding with Armenia in 
the Karabakh conflict.
CCAF, a coalition of leading Armenian Diaspora organizations in France, 
announced on Thursday that the municipal administrations of Paris and several 
other French cities and districts have decided to send an aid convoy to 
Karabakh. It said their mayors, including Anne Hidalgo of Paris, will personally 
escort on August 30 ten trucks loaded with basic necessities to an Armenian 
border checkpoint adjacent to the starting point of the Lachin corridor and try 
to ensure their passage to Karabakh.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Inspired to understand: WSHS teacher joins fellowship program on Armenian Genocide

Badalian Vardan
Aug 24 2023

Sarah Dixen wanted an immersive experience. 

Her interest in the Armenian Genocide took root with the 100th anniversary in 2015. At the time, she admitted, she knew little about it but started to educate herself through books, podcasts and articles. She incorporated it into her lessons as a history and social studies teacher at Winona Senior High School. 

But she wanted more. She needed to learn from experts in the field. She needed to understand how the Armenian Genocide impacted the course of world history over the next century and continues to shape the worldview of so many today.

Dixen was one of 15 secondary teachers nationwide selected to participate in the GenEd Teacher Fellowship Program. As part of the program, Dixen traveled to Armenia for 10 days to take part in a unique, memorable and transformative professional development opportunity. 

“The experience was amazing,” Dixen said. “I learned from professors and historians, and I  experienced the rich and vibrant Armenian culture. The time to talk to Armenians and Armenian-Americans was so valuable to start to understand the impact of their history on their worldview.”

Dixen became interested in the Armenian Genocide through teaching AP World History. The Armenian Genocide happened during World War I. An estimated 1.5 million Armenians — more than half of the Armenian population living in what was a protected area of the Ottoman Empire — were killed on the orders of Turkish leaders. 

“I realized I knew very little about this genocide before teaching world history, and that was not uncommon,” Dixen said. “I educated myself and wanted to understand more about how and why this happened.”

That led Dixen to apply for the GenEd Teacher Fellowship Program, which is sponsored by the Genocide Education Project, a nonprofit organization assisting educators in teaching about human rights and genocide, particularly the Armenian Genocide, as the predecessor of the pattern of genocides that followed.

While in Armenia, Dixen and her fellow educators spent time at the Armenian Genocide Museum and Institute, combing through primary source documents, studying artifacts and absorbing the in-depth museum exhibit. They also spent time going on excursions around the city and surrounding areas to deepen their understanding.

Dixen didn’t stop there. 

“Afterwards, I went on to travel in Georgia,” she said. “I went to museums and explored the region around the capital. I was able to learn about the post-Soviet Union history of this region and it gave me a much broader understanding of the current global politics of the area.” 

The second phase of the fellowship program requires that Dixen lead professional development activities for other educators in the region under the supervision of The Genocide Education Project. 

WSHS history students will also benefit from this experience for years to come.

“I will teach more about the Armenian Genocide, not only in the context of World War I, but also how the pattern of genocide shows up over and over in modern world history,” Dixen said. “I believe it is very important for our students to understand the steps that lead to genocide and to recognize this is something that has occurred numerous times.” 

https://www.winonapost.com/community/inspired-to-understand-wshs-teacher-joins-fellowship-program-on-armenian-genocide/article_c4d78e9e-42b3-11ee-8414-d713633faa4b.html