Category: 2020

“Under the President’s direction, we have spent the entire weekend trying to broker peace between Armenia & Azerbaijan. Armenia has accepted a ceasefire. Azerbaijan has not yet. We are pushing them [Azerbaijan] to do so,” said U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien on Face the Nation.

Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers traveled to Washington on October 23 for a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. State Department officials.

Hostilities began between following an Azerbaijani offensive on the Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh on September 27.

After two failed Russian-brokered ceasefires, the U.S. State Department invited Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov to Washington in an attempt to end hostilities and begin negotiations.

“Our view remains, as does the view of nearly every European country, that the right path forward is to cease the conflict, tell them to de-escalate, that every country should stay out, provide no fuel for this conflict, no weapons systems, no support,” said Pompeo.

U.S., Russia, and France are co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minks Group, tasked with spearheading peace talks over Nagorno Karabakh.

Yesterday, the U.S. Embassy in Baku said it has received credible reports of potential terrorist attacks and kidnappings against U.S. citizens and foreign nationals in Baku, including against hotels such as the J.W. Marriott Absheron, as well as potentially other locations in Baku. 

By Michael Krikorian

The good thing about eating bad food in a conflict zone is when you have something that hits the spot, well, it’s like a slap upside your head reminding you that food isn’t just fuel.  

After succumbing to war food, I got that slap Sunday in Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, aka Artsakh, where the Azerbaijanis are attacking the Armenians.  

I had the soup at Samra restaurant on Tumanian Street. The soup, the owner tells me, is called Gerusoos, which roughly translates to “Eat it and don’t ask.”  So I don’t ask. It’s a soulful chicken soup with a little rice, potatoes and it hits the spot. So much that I loudly announce to the owner, Hovik Asmaryan, and a few others present that Samra is the best restaurant in Stepanakert. He reluctantly agrees, but insists on telling a story related to my bold announcement.  

“A boy comes home and tells his parents ‘Papa, Mama! I won first place in the running race. 100 meters. I won!’ The parents are so proud. ‘How many other runners were there?’ the father asks. The boy proudly says ‘It was only me running the race. But, I won.’ ”

“That’s how I feel,” Asmaryan, 50, says, “I have no competition. All the other restaurants are absent because of the war.”

Samra he says means a light brown or tan-color. In fact, it is a common Muslim name for girls. This Samra is not so much a restaurant any more, but a way station that dishes out free food to soldiers, journalists, or anyone who drops in. Asmaryan will not take money, though he is open to taking product donations so he and his wife, Isabel, who is the chef, can cook for others.

Hovik and Isabel and three children, ages 14, 13, and 11, lived in Aleppo, Syria, where he made a good living running an auto parts store. But, after living through two years of the utterly brutal war, they moved to the then-tranquil Stepanakert.  

Then war came to town the morning of September 27. The family heard the first explosions and gathered in a hallway of their two-story home. “I didn’t want to panic my children so I told them that it was fireworks. My youngest son shook his head and said ‘No, those are bombs. The war is here now.’”

Like many, Asmaryan felt a war was coming because he knew of the extensive arms build up of the Azeris, especially drones from Israel. “They were busy buying so many weapons. Why does someone buy weapons when no one wants to invade your country? To invade someone else’s land.”

When the shelling started, the family closed Samra, a fast-food restaurant specializing in sandwiches.  A couple of days later, soldiers were walking by and Asmaryan offered them sandwiches. Isabel offered soup. The fighters longed for home cooking. The soup made the day. And they knew better than to ask about it.

Behind the restaurant, in front of his home is his garden of rose bushes, fruit trees and a trellis that will someday produce kiwis. Asmaryan sits down and talks about his paradise.

“When my children and wife are here with me, this is my heaven. My children are in Yerevan now. It’s better for them to be there, but it hurts they are away. My wife, she is there now, but she will return tonight.”

He is silent for many seconds. Then he looks around his lovely little garden and smiles sadly. “There are no birds singing here now. Only bombs. But, in the spring the birds will be back. I know they will.”

One last thing. I show him my notebook and ask if my spelling of his wife’s name, Isabel, is correct. “I don’t know,” he says. “I never have to write her letters. Why should I? She is usually always with me.”

Also Read: On Karabakh Frontline, Faith Remains a Key Weapon

Michael Krikorian is a writer from Los Angeles. He was previously a reporter for the Los Angeles Times and for the Fresno Bee. He writes under the pseudonym “Jimmy Dolan” for the Mozza Tribune. His website is www.KrikorianWrites.com and his first novel is called “Southside”.

The text of the following joint statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America, the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan on . 

“Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Deputy Secretary of State Stephen E. Biegun on and reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to implement and abide by the humanitarian ceasefire agreed in Moscow on October 10, which were reaffirmed in the statement issued from Paris on October 17, in accordance with the October 1, 2020 joint statement of United States President Donald J. Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.  The humanitarian ceasefire will take effect at 08:00 a.m. local time (12:00 a.m. EDT) on .  The United States facilitated intensive negotiations among the Foreign Ministers and the Minsk Group Co-Chairs to move Armenia and Azerbaijan closer to a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”

Additionally, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group co-chairs said they will meet with Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and his counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov in Geneva on October 29 to “discuss, reach agreement on, and begin implementation, in accordance with a timeline to be agreed upon, of all steps necessary to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in accordance with the basic principles accepted by the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia.”

Previous Russia-brokered ceasefires failed twice, on on October 10, and another on October 17. 

The war does not end. The death toll keeps growing, mothers keep living without news from their sons, nurses and doctors don’t sleep day and night…. The only thing I can do amid this chaos is to feed the fish. Unfortunately, I only have enough strength and energy to keep them from starving.

When I bought these fish, I was told in the store that I had to feed them 6 days a week. That is, every day, except for one. But I feed them every day, because I’m afraid that tomorrow something may happen and I won’t be able to feed them. Let that day be their fasting day, so that they don’t stay unfed two days in a row.

The worst thing we go through right now is normalization. We have been getting used to the war. This is utterly unfair. I remember when the elders talked about the first Artsakh (Karabakh) war, they used to say, “You know? We got used to living in war. It’s as if our heart had turned into stone. We heard new names of the fallen each day, it was sad, but it seemed that there were no tears left. We had wept them all out.” I’m afraid that soon we’ll turn into the same stones. Or maybe partially, we have already become.

I’ve already told you about my friends – children from the shelter. Once when I was there with them, we heard some sounds. Someone said it might have been a tornado. And little Marat (he is maybe five or six) said, “No, this is not a tornado, this is a drone.” I don’t know if he was right or not, but that upset me. Children should not be able to distinguish between the sounds of weapons. They just shouldn’t. They should go to school, play hide-and-seek, ride a bike, fall off it sometimes. Not to distinguish the sounds of bombs. It feels infinitely sad.

Do you know how many children are deprived of the right to study in Artsakh? More than 20,000. That’s how many kids miss school every day. Not because they are lazy, but because of the war. This injustice makes me want to shout out loud from the top of the Hunot Canyon (Jdyrdyuz) in Shushi.

Flashbacks from the first war are constantly in my head. I’ll tell you one story about my father. My father is a veteran of the first war. When he was about to leave for his last battle, my mom was pregnant with me. His good friends, who were several years older than him, approached my crying grandmother and said, “Mrs. Angela, don’t worry, he’ll return safe and sound. We promise! Even if we have to pay with our lives, we will bring him back. ” (By the way, I was named after my grandmother – Angelica. For those who don’t know, this is my full name).  

On January 30, there was their battle. They stood side by side – so faithful, so real. A shell exploded…  When my father regained consciousness he saw his friends near him, or shall I say he saw parts of their bodies… They had covered him and saved him, at the cost of their own lives. My father became disabled. The fragments hit his face, his eye. He was taken to Yerevan for surgery. One eye was lost forever, but the other was fine, and doctors could not understand how. Amid this, I was born, on February 19.

I also had some vision problems. I don’t remember exactly when it started, but I realized it at school, when I was moved from the 4th row to the first. When I was 10, I went to Russia with my family for a wedding. There were some gypsies next to the church. One gypsy woman approached me and asked, “Would you like me to read your fortune?” I shook my head and walked away. “Do you have problems with your eyesight?” I think it was obvious since I squinted all the time. I stopped. She came closer.  “When you were born, you gave half of your vision to a very close person. That’s the reason,” she said and left.

A few years later, my dad and I went to the doctor together to test our eyesight and get new  glasses. When we had our eyes checked, it turned out that I don’t see exactly the same percentage as him.

I told my family and we were stunned. I don’t know what to think, but to be honest, I believe in magic. Therefore, it was possible in our case! These are the stories of the first war.

Over 90,000 civilians or roughly 60 percent of the population of Nagorno Karabakh have fled their towns and villages amid continuous missile attacks by the Azerbaijani army, reports Karabakh Human Right Ombudsman Artak Beglaryan.

“International community must make efforts to stop the Azerbaijani atrocities and help these people return to their homes,” Beglaryan said.

The Karabakh capital Stepanakert as well as towns and villages throughout Karabakh have been under continues aerial strikes since the beginning of the Azerbaijani offensive on September 27.

Karabakh capitol Stepanakert, Martuni, Martakert, and Askeran areas have seen the heaviest bombardment in recent days.

Two days ago, a strike on Stepanakert damaged a gas pipeline as well as nearby homes and shops.

Armenia’s Ministry of Education estimates that roughly 24,000 children in Karabakh are deprived of their right to attain an education due to the ongoing war with Azerbaijan.