Category: 2023

While many in Armenia seek to overcome the shock from the violent demise of the self-proclaimed Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Republic and support around 101,000 forced displaced persons who entered Armenia in the past ten days, experts and politicians are taking steps to assess the geopolitical implications of the recent events for the South Caucasus. Some anticipate a significant weakening of Russia’s position in the region. The absence of Armenians in Artsakh may result in the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from the area, if not now, then at least after November 2025. Meanwhile, the destruction of the republic triggered additional anti-Russian sentiments in Armenia, leading civil society representatives to publicly demand the withdrawal of Armenia from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), pushing out the Russian military base and border troops from Armenia. According to this logic, the destruction of Artsakh may also facilitate the signature of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which will pave the way for normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations. Normalizing relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey will make it easier for Armenia to start moving away from Russia, as Yerevan will not fear additional Turkish and Azerbaijani attacks.

However, as some begin to imagine a peaceful South Caucasus free of the Russian presence as a result of the destruction of Artsakh, many argue that the tragic end of the 35-year struggle by Armenians to live in their homeland without intimidation and fear will only bring more conflicts and suffering to the region. Many Armenians in Armenia and abroad are fed up with the second humiliation in three years, and they will do everything to stop the continuing demise of Armenia and reverse course. Azerbaijan and Turkey will not be satisfied by the destruction of Artsakh and will put all their efforts into gaining additional concessions from Armenia. The list of Azerbaijani demands is vast – enclaves, routes to connect Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan and Turkey via Armenia, and others. According to this scenario, the next primary target of Azerbaijan will be Armenia, and Baku will consider new incursions into Armenia similar to what happened in September 2022, or even to a greater extent, to force Armenia to accept its demands. 

September 2020 in Syunik, the road between Kapan and Kajaran (Photo: Dr. Benyamin Poghosyan)

Assessing when and how Azerbaijan will launch its next attack against Armenia is challenging. However, if and when Azerbaijan decides to attack Armenia, it will have profound implications for regional geopolitics. Azerbaijan will attack either the Syunik or Vayots Dzor regions, threatening to reach Nakhichevan and effectively splitting Armenia in two. In this case, only Russia and Iran will have a real possibility to take any actions on the ground. Neither the U.S. nor European countries have any troops deployed in Armenia, and they have zero political desire, will or logistical capacities to send troops to Armenia to fight against Azerbaijan. The EU has a civilian mission deployed in Armenia. However, in the event of a launch of large-scale hostilities, the observers cannot do anything and would be evacuated to Yerevan or perhaps out of Armenia. The EU and the U.S. may use extensive diplomacy, including phone calls, statements and threats of sanctions. However, the recent behavior of Azerbaijan proves that more is needed to have a tangible impact on Baku’s decision-making process. 

Russian troops are in Armenia, and some are deployed in the country’s southern region. Will Russia intervene militarily to protect Armenia, which, despite a growing bilateral relations crisis, is still a de jure ally of Russia? It is challenging to provide a definite answer, but given the ongoing war in Ukraine and Azerbaijan and Turkey’s importance for Russia, Moscow probably would like to mediate diplomatically, seeking to organize another summit of leaders in Russia to send a message to everyone once again that Russia still calls the shots in the Caucasus. Russia would like to use the situation to finalize its vision of restoring communications in the region, convincing Armenia to accept the control of Russian border troops over the transportation routes passing from Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan via Armenia, as was envisaged by the November 10, 2020 statement.

In case of an Azerbaijani attack, Iran may intervene militarily, seeking to prevent the creation of the “NATO – Turan” corridor, the term Iranians use to refer to the so-called “Zangezur corridor.” Iran has the necessary military capabilities to do that. However, direct military intervention may create the danger of a military clash with Turkey, which signed a strategic alliance agreement with Azerbaijan in June 2021. It is also unlikely that Iran will launch military actions in the South Caucasus without Russia’s consent, and Russia has no interest in seeing an Iranian military presence in the South Caucasus. Iran’s most likely response would be supplying weapons to Armenia and possibly signing an Iran-Armenia agreement of defense cooperation.

Thus, the most probable outcome of a new Azerbaijani incursion against Armenia will not be more anti-Russian sentiments in Armenia, the start of the actual process of leaving CSTO, the removal of the Russian military base and border troops from Armenia and the increase of Western influence in the region. On the contrary, it will result in more Russian and, potentially, Iranian influence over Armenia and reduced Western presence.

These are surreal times for the valiant Armenian nation. We are experiencing the trauma of our grandparents with similar atrocities, deportations and territorial loss that our survivor generation carried into the diaspora. The depopulation of an entire enclave in the 21st century has been broadcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Before continuing, let me say that I abhor the patronizing terms that our world has created to explain what is happening in Artsakh. When I read “forced evacuations,” it describes vacating due to a natural disaster such as wildfires and hurricanes. This is not what our brave people have experienced. It is called a DEPORTATION, and it is component of genocide. 

Once again, we are forced to remember what was and could have been, like the western highlands, Cilicia and Nakhichevan. The list is growing and now a new generation will carry the burden of our collective loss. This is a terrible legacy that will impact our thinking for decades. It leaves us bitter and frustrated with the attitude that whatever we do may not matter. We should acknowledge that possibility, but never accept it. At the lowest points of our history, our people fought back from horrific losses to build a new future. After the fall of the Bagraduni kingdom, a massive migration took place that populated and established a new kingdom in Cilicia. Life blossomed in that region until the Genocide. Imagine the challenge of physical displacement over many years and the hardships overcome. There are hundreds of examples of tenacity and perseverance in our brilliant history. Our Baku Armenians have displayed remarkable strength these past 35 years. Today, we are wounded and angry. It is a necessary phase to experience and transition from. The danger for us is to stay in this phase semi-permanently.

Most of our criticism today is directed outside of the Armenian community at the groups that failed us: the EU, United States, Russia and any other that offered rhetoric while people were dying. The United Nations has long been an institution offering volumes of comforting words while being deficient on prevention or political action, creating a diplomatic community for the theoretical good of mankind but rendered useless in addressing the dark side of humanity. We are justified in our criticism of our international colleagues. Hopefully, we can take advantage of the latent surge of “sympathy” coming from many of these bodies. The calls are stronger for a multinational body to Artsakh and the Armenian border. France, in turn, has announced unprecedented military assistance to Armenia. 

Our homeland is surrounded on most borders by a hostile alliance bent on the full destruction of our people. If it were up to Erdogan and Aliyev, we would be a stateless people. Azerbaijan, on a par with Hitler and Pol Pot, considers this strictly an internal matter. They continue to brazenly arrest leaders in Artsakh to make their point and use their illegal captivity as currency during negotiations. They view any “external” efforts as a personal insult, and we must be vigilant in the face of their pronouncements. 

Our people have once again paid a terrible price, but this fight is not over. Most of the internal criticism has been directed at the government of Armenia and its policies. I would like to suggest an area where we have total control and opportunity to strengthen our nation. During times of national crisis, we must understand that a nation divided is less capable than one united. We are plagued with division today. The competitive, innovative and independent nature of our people has created some of this reality, but we are not a finely tuned machine, and we cannot afford any of this going forward. Minimizing conflict within our people should be about adjusting our focus and utilizing our resources. These walls are artificial and need to come down. Our future depends on it.

In its most fundamental form, most of the obstacles to a more unified or integrated approach can be summarized in two terms: forgiveness and egos. As Armenians, we are very proud and speak often of our Christian faith but are short on practicing the basic tenets of that faith in our lives. Our church teaches us the power of prayer, love and forgiveness, yet these seem important only when we are in the sanctuary. The Armenian church is the most important non-governmental institution in our global community. It has been a rock for over 17 centuries, but like any other institution it has to continue earning its respect and credibility. We need to understand that our faith and our church institution are not the same. The former is our eternal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, and the latter is a choice of practice. The church has struggled chronically with forgiveness. I have always felt that the best of our church is when it stands above human conflict and provides the leadership to reconcile and end suffering. Why was Ghevont Yeretz on the front line with Vartan at Avarayr? One of our great leaders of the 20th century, Karekin Hovseptiantz, was in the middle of conflict and building trust through leadership, whether at Sardarabad, trying to resolve the church divide in America in the 1930s or his remarkable work in building the Great House of Cilicia.

It is difficult for many Armenians to reconcile an institution that advocates love and forgiveness yet tolerates the longstanding jurisdictional division of the church. This is not simply a reference to the American dioceses but rather a world church commentary given the awkward leadership collaboration between Holy Etchmiadzin and Antelias. Aram I has displayed great leadership on national issues but is unable to do much for the people of Artsakh and Armenia. Karekin II has assumed a very low public profile at a time when our people need a visible presence from the church. The conflict between Etchmiadzin and Antelias and the tepid relationship with the government of Armenia must be resolved for the benefit of the Armenian people. The power of forgiveness is not a theory or a vehicle for the naive. If we cannot resolve our differences with love and forgiveness, we will remain weak. National reconciliation should be a driving theme on multiple levels. This is an especially critical time to look inward and resolve our internal issues.

The church can improve its credibility and provide leadership during this critical time if it chooses. In my view, the Catholicos and his bishops should have been in Syunik offering comfort, blessing and support to our deported brethren. Just as the venerable Catholicos Sahag II traveled to the refugee camps in Syria after the Genocide to comfort and organize his beleaguered flock, we should expect our church leaders to be visible in time of need. We have all viewed the images of our deportees, and I am saddened by not seeing the public leadership of the church. It is noteworthy that many kahanas (married priests) are helping, but this is a unique time for the Catholicos. It is not enough to cancel the Holy Muron. Go to the people.

Each of us can do something, individually or collectively, to further integrate our nation. There have been serious calls for the diaspora to organize in a way that makes it more effective in working with the homeland. Similar calls have been made for the homeland to legislatively open the doors for more diversified resources from the diaspora to support the homeland. We are the main obstacle to most of these opportunities. We are all guilty of it…my idea…my organization…my position. A popular phrase in our communities these days is “pan-Armenian.” Whether it is the “Future Armenian” initiative or local pan Armenian activities, it requires people of vision who are willing to subordinate their egos for the greater good. These efforts can be challenging when you bring several innovative and creative minds together, but these are difficult times. Sacrifice and an understanding of the bigger picture at risk are essential. As the brilliant pan-Armenian educator and philanthropist, the late Dr. Vartan Gregorian, once stated, “There are more things that unite us than divide us.” He gave this message at the opening of the NAASR Center in 2019. Pan-Armenian thinking is always focused on the importance of the vision and the mission. Egos and conflict will always exist but successful endeavors subordinate them below the radar. 

Pan-Armenian gathering in Boston in support of Artsakh, Sept. 30, 2023 (Photo: Sona Gevorkian)

It would be a wise investment for all of us to use this moment in our history to identify ways to better integrate, reduce redundancy and build a better Armenian nation. This is not limited to our high profile leaders. Certainly with their authority and power of position they can have significant impact, but each of us can do something powerful. Ask yourself: Are you focused on the vision and the mission or are you working on another agenda? We are a diaspora built on organizations. They are critically important, but they are only a vehicle to the mission, not the mission itself. Organizations must evolve as the mission does. What adjustments are you making?

In the late 2000s, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Vartan Oskanian held a symposium at Columbia University. The talk, organized by some local Armenian organizations, centered around Armenia, Artsakh and the struggle to carve a path for international recognition of Artsakh. At the time, Armenia (under then-President Robert Kocharian) had recently received a $5 billion IMF loan and was in the process of post-war and post-earthquake development, making some infrastructural strides with paved roads and the import of Italian construction companies.

While listening to Mr. Oskanian speak, I couldn’t help but think, “Isn’t Azerbaijan capitalizing on their Caspian oil fields while Armenia is entering into debt?”

Billions of dollars were spent by the Azerbaijani government to achieve its military objectives in Artsakh – billions of dollars usurped from their people, left impoverished in villages while their dictator and wife as vice-dictator siphoned money for their Perez International real estate empire. Caspian crude oil funneled by British Petroleum, Chevron and other international partners found its way worldwide and amassed wealth in the oligarchic hands of the Aliyev clan.

Some of that money went to Azerbaijan’s military budget to purchase Israeli and Turkish drones, to buy desperate fighters from Syria and to pay for propaganda. War isn’t simply the will to go and fight in a coordinated, well-trained and organized fashion. It’s orchestrated on multiple fronts. War is waged psychologically to bring morale down, financially to break any sense of prosperity, and through propaganda and “active measures” to manipulate the conventional thought of both the Azeri and Armenian people. It’s not simply a hard-won fight militarily in the air and on land anymore.

The billions of Azeri petrodollars collected over three decades since the military victories of the Armenian Armed Forces were exponential compared to what Armenia’s multiple regimes had spent – three to four times more. Armenia could fight valiantly all it wants. The numbers don’t add up, despite our scrappy will to survive. It’s a great sentiment, unfounded in possibility, lest we innovated for thirty years in our approach.

We needed to invest in developing inexpensive, useful and materially viable products like lenses, lasers, computer chip printing and engineering. We needed a plan for progress and prosperity in order to manifest our desired result of an Armenia and Artsakh union. What did we do?

First, it was casinos for our locals and for the Iranian tourists. When that got out of hand, investments went into exorbitant real estate projects and luxury cars. Then, when the casinos became so unsightly, lining the streets from the airport to the city center, we had a brief awakening. Having laws mattered. But, it was already too late.

Through the decades, political power shifted and abated Armenia’s economic possibilities. A plethora of dumbfounding political events took place in Armenia: the will of the people ignored in blatantly misrepresented elections; promises of EU reform reversed for EEU reform; the change of the constitution to extend the leadership terms (presidential to parliamentary rule); and most recently, unrealistic goals and jingoistic populist rhetoric used to gain public favor by an already disenfranchised society. Constant turmoil produced consistently high risk.

At the end of Mr. Oskanian’s talk, there was a brief Q & A. I asked him about Artsakh’s future under the reality of Azeri oil profits. He agreed that the money is a reality and said that “everything will be alright.”

Shushi’s many foundations, left bare after the First Artsakh War, now in the hands of the Azeri government after the Second Artsakh War (Photo: Aramazt Kalayjian)

Everything will be alright…and yet here we are—120,000 Artsakh citizens with a desire to live in a free and independent land that has birthed centuries-old monasteries as proof of our existence and faith, families who want to work, for their children to attend school and have endless possibilities, have been forced into unthinkable submission—starved, humiliated, bombed, raped and told “everything will be alright.”

As for Armenians in the old and new diaspora worldwide, this has to be the defining apex that transforms the internal dialogue we have about our homeland. Our homeland needs all of us, with or without successful careers, with or without huge amounts of foreign debt, with or without a sense of accomplishment in our hometown communities. We must have the conversation, introduce the idea of moving, investing or visiting more often and bringing creative and intelligent investments to Armenia. Wanton abandon was the cause of this. Diligent vigilance will be our only path forward.

One hundred and eight years ago, my grandmother, uncle, aunt, and my 13-year-old father – along with their entire village – were purged and exiled into the barren sands of the Syrian desert with only an armful of belongings.  Along with the rest of Western Armenia, my father’s Christian village and family were among those whom the Turkish pashas determined to exterminate.  Their ancestral homes were pillaged and destroyed, and churches rooted in centuries of history were torn down with their irreplaceable artifacts representing centuries of civilization.  Their fate was left to starvation, thirst, the swords of merciless Turks and rampant disease as they trekked into an unknown destiny. A million and five hundred thousand did not survive, including my grandmother, uncle and aunt.

One hundred and eight years ago, the world stood silent. America waived its conscience, and history repeated itself in the past weeks as the entire indigenous Armenian Christian population of Artsakh (Karabagh) was murderously marched out in the genocidal purge of another ancestral homeland carved out of its statehood in Azerbaijan.  The modern venal, murderous, amoral 21^st century pasha is Ilham Aliyev, a corrupt, dictatorial oligarch who has enriched himself at the fossil fuel troughs of the Caucasus and, unbelievably, as he collaborates in the death and purges of Christians, is embraced and coddled by President Joseph Biden and his spineless Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his lickspittle NSC Adviser Jake Sullivan.

This triumvirate of moral cowardice has stood aside in the face of a tinhorn dictator in a backwater mountain region while he has soullessly set about the repeat of 1915’s systematic and calculated cleansing.  Once again the population’s target is babies, its elderly, its women and its working men.  And as Aliyev set his sights on expanding his empire into adjoining regions, Biden wrings his hands in confusion – issuing empty pronouncements through his low-level appointees of “sympathy and concern,” even as he continues military aid to Baku.

Now comes the further rub.  The so-called passion and outrage from the Congress and Biden’s colleagues in the Democrat Party has been meaningless – including that coming from Armenian-Americans in the Congress.  They wring their hands with letters and resolutions politely “urging” Biden to take action.  They make “requests” to Biden for “proper actions.”  Congressmen make themselves feel good by signing letters calling for sanctions and caterwauling about Aliyev’s mass violation of every conceivable standard of morality known to man.   None of this helps.

What the Democrats in Congress – Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and Anna Eshoo and Jackie Speier – need to do is to quit their polite promenade with Biden, Blinken and Sullivan and call them out for their moral cowardice.  What will make Biden act is if Pelosi goes into the Oval Office and tells him that anything less than action, intervention and immediate assistance is cowardice on Biden’s part – and to make public statements attacking Biden for his inaction.  Does Schumer have the courage to say to Biden: “Mr. President, if you can be pushed around by a low-life like Aliyev, how can we expect you to stand up to thugs like Putin or strongmen like Xi Jinping?” Like I have proposed for Pelosi, Schumer needs to go public with such statements – to embarrass Biden to act.

As for Eshoo and Speier, the two of them are on the high moral ground to ask Biden if he has any sense of how he is now being viewed in the Armenian-American community – as callous and disconnected from reality. They might ask him a simple question: How would he feel if he was forced to leave his home in Delaware with nothing but the clothes on his back and a handful of memories – and not even his precious Corvette? And, again, those statements should not be only made in private – but loudly in public, before cameras and in press conferences – to place a blanket of shame on the shoulders of their party’s leader.

Doesn’t the official Democratic Party understand that they have the political, moral and persuasive power to shame the President into action like others cannot?  And when they don’t act as I have just proposed, then they, too should be viewed through the lens of moral condemnation.  There is a reason to hold public office, and that is to achieve a service that those of us without power cannot.  Letters written by eager staffers, full of empty words, are going into files to be lost in the archives. The real leaders of the Democratic Party – those I have named and many others who claim to stand by the side of the Armenian-American community – can show where they truly stand by using armaments of action, not cotton candy.  This is one time they can portray themselves honestly and genuinely and not hide behind Capitol Hill fluff.

I speak only for myself and for no organization or cause.  Only for the memory of my father and his village.

The Armenian community of Greater Boston has come together following the tragic fall of Artsakh due to Azeri aggression. Not facing any opposition from the world, Azerbaijan’s dictator amassed a large force on the borders of Artsakh and launched an invasion after subjecting its Armenian population to an almost 10-month long blockade, preventing food, medicine, and other necessities from entering the country. The invasion has resulted in the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, from which over 100,000 inhabitants have already left their homes, fearing rape, murder, and pillage at the hands of the Azeri invaders.

Clergy lead the community in a prayer for Artsakh, Sept. 22, 2023 (Photo: Ani Zargarian)

In its distress, the Armenian community of Boston came together for a prayer service and community gathering on Friday, September 22. The prayer service was conducted at St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church with clergy from Armenian churches in the Greater Boston area. The Very Reverend Fr. Mesrop Parsamyan, Primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, presided and delivered the homily. Very Rev. Fr. Ardag Arabian (Holy Trinity Church in Worcester), Very Rev. Fr. Ghazare Bedrosian (Holy Cross Armenian Catholic Church in Belmont), Archpriest Fr. Antranig Baljian (St. Stephen’s Church in Watertown), Rev. Fr. Arakel Aljalian (St. James Church in Watertown), Rev. Fr. Vazken Kouzouian (Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge), Rev. Fr. Stephan Baljian (St. Gregory Church in N. Andover), Rev. Fr. Khachatur Kesablyan (Sts. Vartanants Church in Chelmsford), Rev. Fr. Vart Gyozalyan (Armenian Church at Hye Point), Rev. Fr. Mikael Der Kosrofian (Soorp Asdvadzadzin Church of Whitinsville), Rev. Fr. Tadeos Barseghian (Church of Our Savior, Worcester), Rev. Dr. Avedis Boynerian (Armenian Church of the Martyrs in Worcester) and Deacon Asatur Baljyan (Choir Director at St. James Church in Watertown) participated in the community prayer service.

Armenian Relief Society Central Executive Board chair Dr. Nyree Derderian (Photo: Ani Zargarian)

Following the service, more than 500 community members came together at the Armenian Cultural and Educational Center. Organized by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation of Boston, the event featured remarks by Dr. Nyree Derderian, the chairperson of the Armenian Relief Society Central Executive Board, who addressed the humanitarian crisis; Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, who highlighted advocacy avenues moving forward; Dr. Greg Demirchyan from the Armenian Bar Association, who discussed legal considerations for the status of the Armenians of Artsakh; and Weekly columnist Yeghia Tashjian, a regional analyst, who commented on the political situation on the ground and the threats facing Armenia. State Representative Steven Owens of Watertown joined the event in solidarity with the Armenian-American community. 

Meghri DerVartanian (Photo: Sona Gevorkian)

On Saturday, September 30, the Pan Armenian Council of New England, working with local Armenian churches and organizations, held a rally at the Armenian Heritage Park on the Green. The event, which was hosted by Meghri Dervartanian and opened with an ecumenical prayer, raised awareness of the ethnic cleansing of the Armenians of Artsakh. “We are a force to drive positive change in our community,” Dervartanian said. “Let us not forget that we always survive…this is not the end! It will never be the end for the Armenian people. It will never be the end for Artsakh.”

Dr. Ara Nazarian of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation of Boston (Photo: Sona Gevorkian

This sentiment was reinforced by Dr. Ara Nazarian of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation of Boston. “Artsakh will always be Armenian, she will rejoin our nation again, and our brothers and sisters will return to their homeland,” he said. 

Anthony Barsamian from the Armenian Assembly of America stated that the President of Azerbaijan must be prosecuted for war crimes. “We have got to be strong now because Armenia is at stake,” he said.

Rev. Laura Everett, executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, stressed the need for the violence and displacement to end in Artsakh and for peace to prevail for its people.

Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian (Photo: Sona Gevorkian)

Stating that this is the greatest threat to our community since the Genocide, Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian urged, “Now is the time to move forward with one focus to beat with one Armenian heart.”

Ara Balikian from the Armenian General Benevolent Union of New England focused on the need to help the people of Artsakh and “alleviate their suffering” through all means available to the community.

Dr. Shant Parseghian from the Pan Armenian Council of New England joined the voices of each speaker in highlighting the needs of the Armenians of Artsakh. All addressed the humanitarian, advocacy and historical contexts of this monumental loss for the Armenian nation and the need for our government to stand on the right side of history and provide much-needed aid to the people of Artsakh, who have lost everything in a matter of a week.

“Being Armenian…means standing arm-in-arm in a city halfway across the world from our ancestral land and finding hope in our unity,” Ani Belorian of the Pan Armenian Council of New England concluded.

The Greater Boston community came together in support of Artsakh at the Armenian Heritage Park on The Greenway, Boston, Sept. 30, 2023 (Photo: Sona Gevorkian)