Author: Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS

Kidnapped Red Cross evacuee to stand trial in Azerbaijan on fabricated charges

Emil Lazarian

 12:21,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 13, ARMENPRESS. A Baku court has held a preliminary hearing in the show trial of Vagif Khachatryan, an elderly Nagorno-Karabakh man who was kidnapped by Azeri border guards during his ICRC-mediated medical evacuation on July 29. 

In Baku, the Azeri authorities pressed fabricated charges against Khachatryan. Khachatryan has since been jailed in Azerbaijan. 

The hearing in the show trial will continue on October 17.

The Armenian foreign ministry earlier said that the arrest of the Red Cross-protected patient from Nagorno-Karabakh amounts to war crime.

Prominent lawyer Siranush Sahakyan earlier said that the kidnapping constitutes extraordinary rendition in terms of international law and a due process is therefore ruled out.

The kidnapped man’s daughter, in a plea to the UN to ensure the safe release of her father, said that all charges pressed by the Azeri prosecution are fabricated and her father is innocent.

Larnaca collections for Nagorno Karabakh refugees

Emil Lazarian
Cyprus Mail
Oct 10 2023
By Antigoni Pitta

Larnaca municipality on Tuesday announced the launch of a humanitarian campaign to aid refugees from Nagorno Karabakh, organised by the civil defence in collaboration with the foreign ministry.

An announcement said that the campaign, which aims to help people who fled Nagorno Karabakh for Armenia, will be active until Friday, October 13.

The collection point set up for Larnaca is the municipality’s multiuse space near Ayios Lazaros primary school on Phaneromeni avenue.

It will be open from 8.30am to 2.30pm, and can be reached at 99817979.

The public are asked to donate dry food such as cereal, biscuits, pasta, baby formula and baby food, as well as personal hygiene items and diapers for both children and adults.

All donations must be dropped off in cardboard boxes, while the announcement noted that anything straying from the above list will not be accepted.

Those wishing to donate money can do so at the bank account below:

 

ACCOUNT NAME HUMANITARIAN SUPPORT – ARMENIA

ACCOUNT NUMBER 6001034

CURRENCY EURO

The IBAN number is

PAPER FORMAT CY47 0010 0001 0000 0000 0600 1034

ELECTRONIC FORMAT CY47001000010000000006001034

SWIFT BIC CBCYCY2NXXX

Armenians accuse Azerbaijan of ethnically cleansing Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians, urge UN to impose measures

Emil Lazarian
FOX NEWS
Oct 12 2023
Associated Press
  • Following three decades of separatist rule, Nagorno-Karabakh is planning to reintegrate back into Azerbaijan.
  • The reintegration of Nagorno-Karabakh into Azerbaijan has prompted 100,000 Armenians to flee the region.
  • Armenians is urging the United Nations’ top court to impose orders that would protect Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians.

Armenia urged the United Nations top court on Thursday to impose new interim orders on Azerbaijan to prevent what the leader of Armenia's legal team called "ethnic cleansing" of the Nagorno-Karabakh region by Azerbaijan from becoming irreversible.

Armenia is asking judges at the International Court of Justice for 10 "provisional measures" aimed at protecting the rights of ethnic Armenians from the Nagorno-Karabakh region that Azerbaijan reclaimed last month following a swift military operation.

In a 24-hour campaign that began on Sept. 19, the Azerbaijani army routed the region’s undermanned and outgunned Armenian forces, forcing them to capitulate. The separatist government then agreed to disband itself by the end of the year. More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled Nagorno-Karabakh.

THOUSANDS OF ARMENIANS FLEE NAGORNO-KARABAKH AS AZERBAIJAN RECLAIMS SEPARATIST REGION

"Nothing other than targeted and unequivocal provisional measures protecting the rights of ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will suffice to prevent the ethnic cleansing Azerbaijan is perpetrating from continuing and becoming irreversible," the head of Armenia's legal team, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, told judges.

Lawyers for Azerbaijan are scheduled to respond Thursday afternoon. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry has said that the departure of Armenians was "their personal and individual decision and has nothing to do with forced relocation."

After six years of separatist fighting ended in 1994 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by Armenia.

Azerbaijan took back parts of the region in the south Caucasus Mountains during a six-week war in 2020, along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed earlier. Nagorno-Karabakh was internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory.

20 DEAD IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH IN EXPLOSION AT GAS STATION CROWDED WITH RESIDENTS FLEEING TO ARMENIA

The world court is currently considering two cases focused on the deep-rooted tensions between the two countries. Armenia filed a case in 2021 accusing Azerbaijan of breaching an international convention aimed at preventing racial discrimination. A week later, Azerbaijan filed its own case, accusing Armenia of contravening the same convention.

The court has already issued so-called "provisional measure" rulings in both cases. The measures are intended to protect the rights of both nations and their nationals as their cases slowly progress through the world court.

Armenia on Thursday accused Azerbaijan of driving Armenians out of Nagorno-Karabakh even as the legal wrangling continues.

Alison Macdonald, a lawyer for Armenia, said court orders could prevent Nagorno-Karabakh being "swallowed up" by Azerbaijan.

"It is still possible to change how this story unfolds," she said. "The ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh is happening as we speak. It must not be allowed to set in stone."

What Cultural Genocide Looks Like for Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh

Emil Lazarian
TIME
Oct 12 2023
BY CHRISTINA MARANCI

 

OCTOBER 12, 2023 7:00 AM EDT
Maranci is Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University

September 2023 saw the tumultuous and traumatic departure of over 100,000 Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh. This mass exodus of an indigenous people from their homeland followed nine months of starvation-by-blockade, which culminated in a murderous military assault on Sept. 19.

These men, women, and children, terrified for their lives, left behind entire worlds: their schools and shops; their fields, flocks, and vineyards; the cemeteries of their ancestors. They also left behind the churches, large and small, ancient and more modern, magnificent and modest, where they had for centuries gathered together and prayed. They also left behind bridges, fortifications, early modern mansions, and Soviet-era monuments, such as the beloved “We are Our Mountains” statues. What will happen now to those places? There is no question, actually.

We know well what happened in Julfa, in Nakhichevan: a spectacular landscape of 16th-century Armenian tombstones was erased from the face the earth by Azerbaijan over a period of years. We know what happened to the Church of the Mother of God in Jebrayil and the Armenian cemetery in the village of Mets Tagher (or Böyük Taglar)—both were completely scrubbed from the landscape using earthmoving equipment like bulldozers. And we know what happened to the Cathedral of Ghazanchetsots in Shushi, which was, in turn, shelled, vandalized with graffiti, “restored” without its Armenian cupola, and now rebranded as a “Christian” temple. The brazenness of these actions, as journalist Joshua Kucera wrote in May 2021, “suggests a growing confidence that [Baku] can remake their newly retaken territories in whatever image they want.”

The annihilation of millennia of Armenian life in Arstakh was enabled by the inaction and seeming indifference of those who might have prevented it. The United States and the European Union speak loftily of universal human rights, but did nothing for nine months while the people of Arstakh were denied food, medicine, fuel, and other vital supplies. They did nothing to enforce the order of the International Court of Justice demanding back in February 2023 that Azerbaijan end its blockade. That inaction clearly emboldened Azerbaijan to attack—just as it will encourage others to do the same elsewhere.

It’s important to understand the stakes of this kind of cultural erasure: These monuments and stones testify to the generations of Armenians who worshipped in and cared about them. To destroy them, is to erase not only a culture, but a people. As art historian Barry Flood observed in 2016 about the destruction of cultural heritage by the so-called Islamic state since 2014, “the physical destruction of communal connective tissues—the archives, artifacts, and monuments in which complex micro-histories were instantiated—means that there are now things about these pasts that cannot and never will be known.” The Julfa cemetery is a tragic example of such loss.

If history is any indication, ethnic cleansing tends to be followed by all kinds of cultural destruction, from vandalism to complete effacement from the landscape. The latter tactic will be used with smaller, lesser-known churches. It will be a sinister way to remove less famous Armenian monuments, which will serve the narrative that there were no Armenians there in the early modern period to begin with.

Falsification will also occur, in which Armenian monuments are provided with newly created histories and contexts. The 13th-century monasteries of Dadivank (in the Kalbajar district) and Gandzasar (in the Martakert province), both magnificent and characteristic examples of medieval Armenian architecture, have already been rebranded as “ancient Caucasian Albanian temples.” Expect these and other sites to become venues for conferences and workshops to highlight “ancient Caucasian Albanian culture.” As for the countless Armenian inscriptions on these buildings, khachkars, and tombstones: these, as President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev announced in February 2021, are Armenian forgeries, and will be “restored” to their “original appearance” (presumably through gouging, sandblasting, or removing of Armenian inscribed stones, as was done in the 1980s).

Finally, there will be a celebration of the “multiculturalism” of Azerbaijan. “Come to Karabakh, home of ancient Christians,” people will say. “Please ignore the gouged-out letters on that stone wall, for it is not an Armenian inscription. There were never Armenians here!" Except for soldiers and invaders, like the ones depicted in a reprehensible museum in Baku, featuring waxen figures of dead Armenian soldiers—a sight so dehumanizing that an international human rights organizations, including Azerbaijani activists, cried out for its closure.

This is how cultural genocide plays out. A little more than 100 years ago was the Armenian Genocide waged by the Ottoman Empire, followed by largescale looting, vandalization, and destruction of Armenian sites across what is now modern-day Turkey. The prospect of a second cultural genocide is now on the table. Except now, Armenians will watch the spectacle unfold online, enduring the trauma site by site and monument by monument.

In 2020, Armenian activists called for international monitoring of vulnerable sites in Nagorno-Karabakh by UNESCO and other heritage organizations. Nothing happened. Now is the time for the world to protect what Armenian culture remains in Nagorno-Karabakh. If we don’t, what culture will be next to go?

‘Ethnic cleansing’ of Armenian Christians: Time for the press to rethink persecution?

Emil Lazarian
Get Religion
Oct 12 2023
'Ethnic cleansing' of Armenian Christians: Time for the press to rethink persecution?
Richard Ostling

What with Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine raging unabated, and now Israel’s retaliation after extensive Hamas terror attacks from Gaza, it’s understandable that journalists, their audiences and politicians have paid little attention to a massive ongoing humanitarian crisis in interior Asia where western media lack observers on the ground.

Beginning Sept. 19, Azerbaijan’s military crushed the self-proclaimed (and not internationally recognized) Artsakh republic in the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh enclave within its borders.

The attack panicked and drove out at least 100,000 ethnic Armenians — now forced to cope as refugees in neighboring Armenia. This followed Azerbaijan’s cutoff of the crucial transit corridor from Armenia that had resulted in dire shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies. One factor here is the erosion of Russia’s history of providing Armenia’s security and regional peace-keeping because of its Ukraine entanglement.

The September takeover of the population’s ancient homeland is a straight-up case of “ethnic cleansing,” according to the European Parliament and a Council on Foreign Relations analysis. “In one fell swoop, one of the world’s most brutal dictatorships destroyed one of the world’s oldest Christian communities,” writes Joel Veldkamp, the head of international communications with Christian Solidarity International.

The vanishing ethnic enclave dated back to 1,722 years ago when Armenia became the first state to collectively adopt the Christian religion. As geography evolved, the Nagorno Armenians found themselves caught in a sector within Azerbaijan.

The latest “World Christian Encyclopedia” edition reports that Azerbaijan is 96% Muslim while most of the Nagorno population, and 84% of the population in neighboring Armenia, belong to the Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox) Church. Tensions were contained when the entire area was controlled under the Soviet Union, but that regime’s collapse led to the ongoing religio-ethnic struggle between newly independent Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Nagorno collapse is historically important in its own right but, importantly, it raises how religious liberty should be understood and championed. The problem is posed in an Oct. 3 article in First Things by Veldkamp (who is reachable at Solidarity’s Switzerland headquarters [email protected] or 41 0 44 982 33 33).

Veldkamp believes that the “almost complete silence” among Christians about the Nagorno takeover is “shameful,” but also “strange” in light of the rise since the 1990s of “a robust and vocal movement on behalf of persecuted Christians abroad,” especially among conservative western churches.

He proposes that this movement is misguided in one fundamental way. “Religious freedom” is framed in terms of individual human rights. That’s important, to be sure, but too many Christians dismiss Nagorno-type crises when they do not involve official actions against things like holding worship services, building of churches, Christian education of youngsters or Bible distribution, as in Communist or Muslim countries.

Instead, as with the “Armenian Genocide” in Turkey a century ago, governments seek to “exterminate a Christian people (whether practicing or not)” under a hostile regime that may see a threat to its hegemony. In other words, persecution can be aimed at populations as well as individuals, which is not how Christians in the American political system think about such matters.

Veldkamp adds that this conception allows “the U.S. foreign policy establishment” to define persecution as “primarily a problem of individual liberty rather than a question involving ethnic identity, peoples or even nations.” This can mean broader American foreign policy avoids questioning.

According to this Solidarity specialist, potential crises currently loom for a Christian population facing threats of foreign “oppression, military attack and ethnic cleansing” in Armenia’s southern Syunik province, and similarly for sectors within India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nigeria and Sudan.

In addition to the aforementioned genocide, Armenia across history has all too rarely enjoyed national independence. It has been dominated over the centuries by Arabs, Persians, Byzantine Greeks, Ottoman Turks, Russians and, finally, the Soviets.

An ecclesiastical point for writers to keep in mind: The Armenian Apostolic Church is part of so-called Oriental Orthodoxy, also prominent in Egypt, Ethiopia and Syria, as opposed to the Eastern Orthodoxy of Russia, Ukraine, Greece, et al.

As such, Armenians believe in the divine and human natures in Jesus Christ as defined by Christianity’s first three ecumenical councils, but not the further doctrine proclaimed by the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451. See this detailed explanation.

Resources:

* Armenian Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic church leaders in the U.S. issued this appeal last week.

* Congressional Research Service’s 2021 backgrounder on the Nagorno-Karabakh situation (click here).

* Council on Foreign Relations analysis can be found here.

* This Google search contains several essential terms, leading to additional resources and news reports.

FIRST IMAGE: Uncredited photo accompanying this feature — “After Russia’s Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire, could Turkey step up next for a lasting peace?” — at the website of the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2023/10/9/ethnic-cleansing-of-armenian-christians-time-for-the-press-to-rethink-persecution

FM Mirzoyan, EU Special Representative Toivo Klaar discuss Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization

Emil Lazarian

 10:01,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 13, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has met with Toivo Klaar, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia.

Issues related to the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization process were discussed, the foreign ministry said in a readout.

“Ararat Mirzoyan underscored the need for ruling out any encroachment, use of force or the threat of force against Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the need for continuing the negotiations process in line with the key messages in the statement adopted during the October 5 quadrilateral meeting in Granada,” the foreign ministry said.

Mirzoyan and Klaar also discussed the need to address the forced displacement of the population of more than 100,000 people of Nagorno-Karabakh, the current situation resulting from the factual ethnic cleansing carried out in NK, and the rights and existing humanitarian issues of the Armenians of NK.

100,000 reasons to help: The UN migration agency at work in Armenia

Emil Lazarian
UN News
Oct 12 2023




Migrants and Refugees

Some 100,000 refugees who fled the Karabakh region are beginning to build a new life in Armenia, with the support of the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), as the agency’s Joe Lowry reports from Goris.

Goris, population 20,000, is a picture-postcard town, sitting in a bowl in the high mountains of southern of Armenia. It’s 25 kilometres to the border with Azerbaijan, to the Lachin corridor.

During the last week in September, over 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled the Karabakh region and arrived in Goris, Armenia, necessitating urgent humanitarian action by UN agencies and relief partners in coordination with the Government.

Tented halls, mobile kitchens, portable toilets, clothing banks, water stations, clinics, play areas, and a registration point sprung up overnight, avoiding a catastrophe. 

By the first Monday of October, Goris was back to its quiet self. Everyone had found some form of temporary accommodation. Some 40,000 people were settled in hotels and community facilities by the Government, while the remainder were taken in by family, friends, and volunteers organized via social media campaigns. 

In fact, no. Armenia now faces the massive challenge of integrating these new arrivals. “They will need homes, schools, hospitals, jobs – all the things that we take for granted,” said Manfred Profazi, IOM regional director.

Mr. Profazi was speaking after a three-day visit to Armenia, where he saw the first of several mobile health clinics that IOM is opening across the country, to cater for the physical – and mental – health needs of the new arrivals.

“These are not people who have made a quick and comfortable passage,” Mr. Profazi underlined. “These are people who have lived through active and frozen conflict for 30 years, who have lost their homes, their family memories and their communities. They are traumatized and exhausted, with children and the elderly in particularly bad shape. We are rapidly expanding our help to them, especially as winter is fast approaching.”

Each of the IOM mobile clinics has a psychiatrist working alongside the general practitioners (GPs). While the GPs provide primary health care, diagnosis and referral, the psychologists are there to identify and assist with reversing the effects of the trauma suffered by many. 

They will also help people make sense of their current situation and try to get them to move into a future free of unmanageable stress.

Nune Asatryan, project coordinator at IOM Armenia explained that the mobile health clinics will play an important part to bring health services to vulnerable populations, especially those in remote, rural communities. 

“The psychologists working in the mobile teams will support refugees affected by multiple losses who are grieving for people, places and life left behind. The psychological therapy can improve their general psychological well-being helping them deal more effectively with personal challenges and reduce their distress and suffering,” Ms. Asatryan said. 

IOM is part of the interagency group currently elaborating the overall response plan, under the lead of the Armenian Government.

“We will be involved in several sectors,” according to Ilona Ter Minasyan, IOM Head of Office in Armenia. 

“Apart from the vital work of the mobile clinics, we also foresee a role for IOM in shelter, early recovery and protection. Many women will be vulnerable to trafficking for sexual or other purposes, and also to gender-based violence. Globally, we have significant expertise on how to sensitize populations which will be vital in this context,” Ms. Minasyan said.

IOM’s support is intended to be long-lasting. Durable solutions alongside humanitarian support. But essentially, it’s about proximity, about delivery of the help that people need, where they need it. 

People like Gayane, who last saw a doctor when she gave birth to her second daughter, six years ago. “I saw the clinic here this morning but thought I’m OK, it’s not for me.” An IOM outreach worker offered to look after her two daughters for a few minutes while she saw the doctor.

“They found I have high blood pressure and need medicine and regular follow-up,” she smiled, leaving the clinic.

Thousands more Gayanes will be assisted over the coming months, and thousands more will get other help from IOM. 

Right where they need it, and right when they need it.

 

Armenia submits requests for ten provisional measures against Azerbaijan at ICJ

Emil Lazarian

 15:10,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Armenia has named the ten provisional measures it seeks the ICJ to indicate against Azerbaijan. The request was submitted by Armenia’s agent Yeghishe Kirakosyan during the world court oral proceedings on the request for the indication of provisional measures filed by Armenia against Azerbaijan.

 “On the basis of its request for provisional measures dated 28 September 2023 and its oral pleadings, Armenia respectfully requests the court to indicate the following provisional measures pending its determination of this case on the merits:

1) “Azerbaijan shall refrain from taking any measures which might entail breaches of its obligations under the CERD”;

2) “Azerbaijan shall refrain from taking any actions directly or indirectly aimed at or having the effect of displacing the remaining ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, or preventing the safe and expeditious return to their homes of persons displaced in the course of the recent military attack including those who have fled to Armenia or third States, while permitting those who wish to leave Nagorno-Karabakh to do so without any hindrance”;

 3) “Azerbaijan shall withdraw all military and law-enforcement personnel from all civilian establishments in Nagorno-Karabakh occupied as a result of its armed attack on 19 September 2023”;

4) “Azerbaijan shall facilitate, and refrain from placing any impediment on, the access of the United Nations and its specialized agencies to the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, and shall not interfere with their activities in any way”;

5) “Azerbaijan shall facilitate, and refrain from placing any impediment on, the ability of the International Committee of the Red Cross to provide humanitarian aid to the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, and shall cooperate with the International Committee of the Red Cross to address the other consequences of the recent conflict”;

6) “Azerbaijan shall immediately facilitate the full restoration of public utilities, including gas and electricity, to Nagorno-Karabakh, and shall refrain from disrupting them in the future”;

7) “Azerbaijan shall refrain from taking punitive actions against the current or former political representatives or military personnel of Nagorno-Karabakh”;

8) “Azerbaijan shall not alter or destroy any monument commemorating the 1915 Armenian genocide or any other monument or Armenian cultural artefact or site present in Nagorno-Karabakh”;

9) “Azerbaijan shall recognize and give effect to civil registers, identity documents and property titles and registers established by the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh, and shall not destroy or confiscate such registers and documents”;

10) “Azerbaijan shall submit a report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect to this Order within one month, as from the date of this Order, and thereafter every three months, until a final decision on the case is rendered by the Court,” Kirakosyan said.

Secretary of Security Council, EU’s Toivo Klaar discuss upcoming Armenian-Azeri summit in Brussels

Emil Lazarian

 17:02,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan has met with European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar.

In a statement, Grigoryan said he discussed with the EU envoy issues related to regional security and stability.

“On October 12, I received European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar. During the meeting we discussed issues related to regional security issues and preservation of stability. We discussed the preparatory work for the upcoming trilateral meeting in Brussels,” Grigoryan said.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is expected to meet with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev later in October in Brussels at the mediation of President of the European Council Charles Michel.

AW: Preparing for the inevitable next Azeri incursion

Emil Lazarian
 Stepan Piligian In Sight, Columns 2

The Armenian nation is not allowed the proper time to absorb the tragedy of Artsakh, partly because the threat to the sovereignty of Armenia is imminent. It reminds us that barbaric aggressors have no human compassion and are driven by an insatiable appetite for theft and atrocities. It is worth remembering that about a century ago, in the short span of five years, the Armenians experienced the beginning of the Genocide of 1915, the rebirth from the ashes at Sardarabad and the cruel division of our hope by the Turks and Soviet Russians. In 1988, the horrific earthquake occurred, followed by the brutal deportations of Armenians from Baku, only to be followed by the Artsakh liberation movement and the independence of Armenia—all within three years. Sometimes we are forced to postpone the full cycle of mourning in order to take advantage of an opportunity or prevent further losses. It is surreal to internalize that we have just witnessed what was considered unthinkable in our conscious reality. Our position can and has changed quickly—from humiliation to optimism and the inverse. It is never as hopeless as we may feel during difficult times and never as positive as we may believe during hopeful times. We must be ever cautious and self serving. Our experiences in Artsakh over the last 30 years teach us that painful lesson. Given the calamitous tragedies that have been our history, it is important to avoid wild swings in our emotions. This is where leadership earns its credibility, whether it is religious, political or social in nature. Leadership helps us avoid the peaks and valleys that can leave us damaged.

The prevailing view in our communities is that the loss of Artsakh will not satisfy the genocidal motivations of criminal Azerbaijan. Armenians are living in fear today, as they have lost hope in their leaders and other nations. Is our sovereignty as a nation state the next chapter? Are we simply waiting for the enemy? The Azeris are coy but uncomplicated. They usually telegraph their next exploits. While the Europeans and United States issued statements of concern and diplomatic consequences, the Azeris ignored civility by amassing troops on the border before their assault on Artsakh last month. War “games” were organized with their complicit genocidal cousins prior to the 2020 war. With the blood still fresh from occupied Artsakh and the deported residents seeking a new life, Aliyev, emboldened by a lack of military and diplomatic resistance, now speaks of demanding eight enclaves, while he audaciously occupies 145 km of sovereign Armenian territory, holds POWs from 2020 and arrests the leaders of Artsakh. When there is little substantive opposition from foreign powers, he is free to demand almost anything. 

Armenians are living in fear today, as they have lost hope in their leaders and other nations. Is our sovereignty as a nation state the next chapter? Are we simply waiting for the enemy?

Even though Azerbaijan has committed genocide and numerous other criminal acts, the Europeans have not sanctioned Azerbaijan, because Azeri energy is more important than their often-stated principles of human rights, freedom and the rule of law. The United States has not even been able to end the waiver of section 907 of the Freedom Support Act. Regardless of the quantity of weapons shipped, it is a clear statement of values when they pander to a terrorist state. The relationship with Israel is also a major variable. The current war with the Palestinians has heightened the wall between Iran and the West, particularly the United States. Despite the despicable Azeri-Israeli arrangement of energy and spy presence in return for billions in military hardware used to kill Armenians, the U.S. is not expected to sanction Azerbaijan. The U.S. may be motivated to outflank the Russians in the Caucasus, but apparently not at the expense of rogue Azerbaijan. 

Presidents Erdogan and Aliyev lay the foundation stone for the so-called Zangezur Corridor, October 26, 2021 (Photo: Official website of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan)

In addition, Aliyev continues to rant about the “Zangezur Corridor.” Imagine the arrogance of two nations, Azerbaijan and Turkey, demanding a sovereign corridor to connect their stolen land that would unite the Turkish criminals and would severely wound Armenia. Despite the outrageous nature of their demand, it is considered one of the prime motivators for conflict in the Syunik region. Recently, there have been sources, one Iranian and the other Azeri, suggesting that Azerbaijan is considering a “Plan B” to “Zangezur” due to Armenian opposition. The Pashinyan government has consistently stated that there was never such an agreement in the trilateral statement of November 2020 and that Armenia would never accept such a concept. For its part, Russia has also stated that such an agreement does not exist. Given Russia’s duplicitous politics towards Armenia, this should not be considered a reliable commitment for Armenia. The “Plan B” is a rail and land link on the Iranian side of the Armenian border. This plan is not a sovereign Azeri corridor and would be subject to the normal border and customs controls of the host nation. Iran seems to be offering this as an alternative to protect their interests in any territorial changes. Some sources believe Azerbaijan may find favor with this. Don’t believe a word of this. Azerbaijan wants the “Zangezur” corridor for two reasons: to establish a land route to connect Turkey, Nakhichevan and Azerbaijan and to destroy Armenian sovereignty. “Plan B” does not address the latter. They also want at least the eastern shore of Lake Sevan. In this sea of chaos, two conclusions can be drawn: Azerbaijan will attack, and Armenia should not expect much military support from the western defenders of democracy.

In light of the ominous clouds coming from the east, what should Armenia do to thwart such a challenge? As a baseline position, Armenia should continue bilateral talks with both Turkey on “normalization” and with Azerbaijan on a “peace” agenda. Let’s not fool ourselves. The Turks and Azeris are looking for capitulation and destruction of our sovereign state, but “negotiating” can serve as a small deterrent with Russian, U.S. and European sponsorship. The best case scenario is that Azerbaijan will continue to be uncooperative, which could strengthen the Armenian position. The European organizers must have been annoyed with the Aliyev boycott of the recent Granada sideline discussion. Armenia’s presence prevented a total embarrassment, but certainly not enough to overcome Europe’s energy obsession. Talk of sanctions by members of the European Parliament should not raise optimism on the Armenian side. The Americans have had similar rumbling, but Congress is not in a position to pass binding legislation, and the State Department will only serve as a mediator. After publicly criticizing Armenia, the Russians have signaled that they may be willing to sponsor another round of trilateral talks. Of course, this type of gamesmanship should be expected, as the Russians will alternate short-term tactical positions to serve the longer term interest of controlling their backyard. The high volume of diplomatic engagement by the Armenian government may yet yield a defensive option.

Whether motivated by self interest or a latent guilt complex, the West has offered several options to Armenia with onsite presence. The Artsakh disaster has Armenia flooded with European observers (increased and renewed), USAID personnel, a variety of diplomatic missions and other Western interests. Argentina has also offered onsite “white helmet” support to promote humanitarian needs and support. The military defense mechanisms to defend the homeland have been slow in developing. France has strongly hinted at providing military aid after a visit by a top official, but the content and timing is unclear. Deals have been announced with India, but again with uncertain timing. In an absurd irony, Russia maintains a military presence in Armenia, yet it has denied CSTO support several times in violation of the defense pact and has criticized Armenia’s Western engagement. Russia clearly cannot be trusted to support Armenia, but it is still dangerous as the only regional power that can greenlight the Azeris. The U.N. Mission to Artsakh was a farce and insulting, as it was limited to an Azeri-controlled “tour” and foolishly declared no evidence of civilian targeting. This is comparable to allowing the criminal to guide investigators through the crime scene. It is another example of how the U.N., in the interest of remaining a global facade, has rendered itself ineffective.

Perhaps the best option for Armenia is to invite as many foreign missions on the ground, particularly on the eastern front, as possible. The European and American presence could serve as a deterrent to Azeri military action. I don’t think the Europeans and Americans will be as forgiving to the Azeris as the Russians were when their peacekeepers were murdered by the Azeris. Fortifying the defenses militarily goes without saying, but a physical presence of humanitarian, military attachés and consulate presence in Syunik might slow the Azeris down long enough to build a stronger defense. This is not a time to say no to any legitimate foreign presence that can further the short-term humanitarian and intermediate-term security issues in the homeland. On the contrary, we should be recruiting physical presence. 

All of this is dependent on displaying a willingness to defend what is ours. Whatever the foreign presence can do will be limited if Armenia is totally dependent on a negotiated solution with the Turks. Azerbaijan has never honored any agreement with the Armenians and is not about to start now. This may be our generation’s Sardarabad. Let’s hope it does not come to life or die in battle, but we need to prepare on the assumption that the Turks’ definition of peace is synonymous with unconditional surrender. This is a time for all interior walls to be torn down in defense of the homeland. The church must become visible as raising the hope of the people. This is not politics. This is survival. Political instability is not going to help Armenia defend the homeland. We must ask ourselves: Are our disagreements more important than the survival of the homeland? It is time to put aside our differences on how to run the country, or there may not be a country to debate.

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Stepan was raised in the Armenian community of Indian Orchard, MA at the St. Gregory Parish. A former member of the AYF Central Executive and the Eastern Prelacy Executive Council, he also served many years as a delegate to the Eastern Diocesan Assembly. Currently , he serves as a member of the board and executive committee of the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR). He also serves on the board of the Armenian Heritage Foundation. Stepan is a retired executive in the computer storage industry and resides in the Boston area with his wife Susan. He has spent many years as a volunteer teacher of Armenian history and contemporary issues to the young generation and adults at schools, camps and churches. His interests include the Armenian diaspora, Armenia, sports and reading.