Category: 2023

Catholic agencies say blockade preventing approximately 400 tons of aid material from Armenia to enter Nagorno-Karabakh

Deep in the Caucasus — at the crossroads of Asia and Europe — lies the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated enclave surrounded by Azerbaijan, which launched a military assault in September 2020 to regain control of the land.

Once a lush, bucolic area, populated for centuries by Christian Armenians and later Shiite Muslims, it has become an elusive point of contention between the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples since the decline and fall of the Soviet Union.

The enclave's isolation had been mitigated by the Lachin corridor, through which runs a road that has connected the region to Armenia proper. Since December 2022, however, Azerbaijani activists blockaded the route, in effect severing Nagorno-Karabakh and its ethnic Armenian residents from the outside world, with the exception of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Russian peacekeepers, who the combatants agreed could provide humanitarian support to the region.

This blockade tightened June 15 when all traffic on the lifeline, including the ICRC and Russian peacekeepers, was blocked. The ICRC "carried out transportation of medical patients and a very small amount of medicine … several times," after this ban, but on July 11, Azerbaijan accused the ICRC of "smuggling" through the corridor and restricted its movement entirely, according to Siranush Sargsyan, a reporter based in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh. The shortage of supplies for the region's population of 120,000 is acute.

Those blocking access are preventing approximately 400 tons of humanitarian aid from Armenia to enter Nagorno-Karabakh, reported Lusine Stepanyan, project manager for Caritas Armenia. The agency is a Catholic Near East Welfare Association partner that has supported refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh with food, medical supplies, education, psychosocial support and funds for housing.

CNEWA has provided aid for those displaced and cared for by Caritas and the Armenian Catholic Ordinariate.

Sargsyan noted in an interview with CNEWA that in her city of 60,000 people, "it's like hunting for food, for basic things."

"Usually, you go back (home) empty-handed," she said.

While supermarkets are practically empty, food products such as eggs and bread can be purchased from smaller shops and bakeries, but there is no guarantee that standing in the long lines will prove fruitful, she explained. For eggs, which are available to purchase every other day, people begin lining up around 5 a.m., but they are not distributed until 3 p.m., said Sargsyan. Even then, it is common for them to run out.

"It's already, I think, months that I can't find eggs, because I'm not ready to stand in a line and because … it's better that mothers buy for their kids," she said.

Sargsyan said this is the worst the humanitarian situation has been since the blockade began. She noted that winter posed its own set of challenges due to the cold, but the current shortage of food, medication and fuel has created a dire situation. Although supplies, before the blockade tightened in June, were still limited, and prices were not ideal, "at least it was possible" to find these items, she said.

The Artsakh Information Center reports "the electricity supply has been completely disrupted for 200 days," as well as the complete or partial interruption of the gas supply for 162 days. Ms. Sargsyan says this shortage has contributed to a spike in unemployment for those whose jobs are reliant on this supply, like taxi drivers; the Information Center estimates that 14,600 people have lost their jobs or source of income since the blockade began in December and the economy has "suffered a loss of around $435 million U.S. dollars."

Recent television interviews with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia highlight separate discussions on the path to peace, and what that would require for their respective nations. For Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, this includes Armenia relinquishing "all aspirations to contest our territorial integrity." Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said, "There must be peace," and that it is "important for the international community to be aware of important nuances," Reuters reported.

While their propositions for peace leave much uncertainty, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh remains a humanitarian crisis for those on the ground.

"We can say there always is a light at the end of the tunnel, but we don't see. It's like endless, this tunnel," said Sargsyan. "And every day it's getting darker and darker."

https://www.ucanews.com/news/acute-humanitarian-crisis-in-contested-region-of-caucasus/102230

An Armenian four-rotor helicopter was seized by Azerbaijan over its military sites in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday.

“On Aug. 7, around 1:30 p.m., a DJI Mavic 3 quadcopter belonging to the Armenian armed forces tried to fly over positions of the Azerbaijani Army located in the Basarkechar district,” the country’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The statement added that the quadcopter was brought down by Azerbaijani units in the area after its detection using “special technical means.”

The two former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have stressed relations since 1991. The Nagorno-Karabakh region is internationally recognized as the territory of Azerbaijan. The land is a center of dispute between the countries of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

In the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan took over several cities, villages, and settlements from Armenia during 44 days of clashes. The war ended with a Russia-brokered peace agreement.

The tensions between both countries have risen despite the ongoing talks over a long-term peace agreement. The recent dispute is in regards to the Lachin corridor, the only land route giving Armenia access to Nagarno-Karabakh

This standout documentary combines archival footage and animated re-enactments to share one survivor’s memories.

Today, the Art Newspaper reported that the Istanbul Biennial rejected Defne Ayas as the next curator of their biannual event in favor of a far more autocratic-friendly curator who is currently working with projects in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, Iwona Blazwick. 

Journalist Christina Ruiz reported that critics are suggesting that Ayas’s curation of the 2015 Turkish pavilion of the Venice Biennale featuring Turkish-Armenian artist Sarkis was partly to blame. It’s clearly the reason, even if no one will go on record to state it, and one that I think is probably accurate based on what I’ve seen over the years around this topic. One cannot underestimate the role Armenian Genocide denial has played in Turkish society, how the state has benefited, and how it trickles down to the culture industries, like contemporary art. 

As Ruiz outlines, the 2015 Turkish Pavilion was impacted by genocide denial. She writes:

A catalogue accompanying the show included an essay written by Rakel Dink, the widow of the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink who was assassinated in Istanbul in 2007. In her text, Dink made a passing reference to the “Armenian genocide” to describe the pain of her people. Following a complaint from the Turkish government, which denies that the genocide took place, the catalogue was withdrawn. Ayas and Sarkis then placed all remaining copies into a coffin which Sarkis covered in coloured glass and transformed into a sculpture (Respiro, 2015).

At the time, many of us, particularly in the Armenian diasporan art community, were shocked to learn that the pavilion would remain open during the Venice Biennale. A small but significant act of genocide denial was met with an esoteric artwork rather than a clear, open response. Sarkis, who, to be clear, most diasporan Armenians have never heard of, was part of that decision (I think most people mistakenly think Armenians in Turkey are part of the diaspora, which they are not, as they continue to remain in the country of their ancestral lands.). It was all very disturbing.

The same year, the 2015 Istanbul Biennial was curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, and I, for one, refused to attend the show, seeing from afar how serious topics such as the Armenian Genocide were clearly being obfuscated in a nation that has never been safe for indigenous minorities. Just two months before the show opened, Turkey had entered the third phase of the conflict by the Turkish state to eradicate Kurdish insurgents in the same eastern provinces in which Armenians, Assyrians, and Yazidis were massacred just a century before.

Christov-Bakargiev’s program was clear, since she never tapped into the established and growing networks of Armenian artists, curators, and intellectuals from the diaspora, but chose individual artists with little connection or interest in the Armenian arts community. The choice to essentialize Armenians to artists with Armenian heritage, rather than working with a group of people in the Armenian community doing the memory work related to the genocide and our exile from what is currently the Republic of Turkey during the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, was a definitive political choice. All this is also symptomatic of contemporary art, where minorities are represented by individuals, often with no connection to the community they pretend to speak for, who fail to engage with the current conversations raging inside and outside those same communities and with topics that have real-world political consequences.

A full account of how the Turkish art world continues to benefit from genocide denial is too long to list, but it includes museums, such as the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, where Armenian intellectuals were jailed during the infamous April 24, 1915 events that are commemorated every year by Armenians and human rights defenders the world over. In 2015, I was in Istanbul during the Centennial Commemorations for the Armenian Genocide along with hundreds of other Armenians from the diaspora who were descendants of genocide survivors. Our group wasn’t even allowed the right to gather at the museum for fear of attacks from Turkish nationalists. Then there is the topic of Koç Holding, the main sponsor of the Istanbul Biennial. The country’s largest corporation, Koç Holding is still run by the Koç family, who made much of their money a century ago by buying Armenian properties confiscated during the genocide for pennies on the dollar. The wounds of the genocide, which Turkey continues to adamantly deny, are never seriously addressed, and they never seem to heal.

Now, Istanbul Foundation For Culture and the Arts (IKSV) doesn’t appear to think Defne Ayas is complicit enough in their genocide-denying agenda, so they have inserted the far more ethically challenged Blazwick, who is sure to curate a more plutocrat-friendly exhibition. 

To emphasize what Turkish curator Vasif Kortun told the Art Newspaper:

“The biennial does not know which geography it is in. There has not been a single curator from the Balkans or the southern Mediterranean. Instead, we’ve seen a succession of white Europeans since 2015. I find the whole thing shocking.”

Why are White Europeans always being tapped for the role? It’s interesting that Kortun mentions 2015, which makes me think perhaps they saw how successfully they were able to tap Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev to create the illusion of dealing with deeper societal issues while doing none of that and, in my opinion, hurting the larger conversations that exiled descendants of the Armenian Genocide are trying to have with the Republic of Turkey in relation to its continued history of denial. 

To her credit, Ayas, who can be quite an excellent curator, was very clear with us at Hyperallergic when we asked her about some of the high and low points of 2015: 

Most distressing? When our publication for Respiro by Sarkis at the Pavilion of Turkey at the 56th Venice Biennale was censored. The news arrived to us on April 24 — the day of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Imagine the double pain and terror of working with the strict codes of the deep state, while trying to imagine a breathing space for all of us.

What I hope Ayas, and other members of the Turkish art world (both inside and outside the Republic), realize is that you can never give in to genocide denial in any form. You might think you’re being political but the reality is you’re emboldening the deniers, who will always demand more.

Blazwick is part of the problem. As a former member of the IKSV board, Blazwick was on the same advisory panel responsible for choosing a biennial curator, and has now rejected the unanimously agreed upon advice to appoint Ayas and has snagged the post herself.

When people say autocrats rot culture, this is what they mean. Blazwick now apes the same autocrats and plutocrats she serves and curates for. Why abide by a vote when you can usurp the position yourself?

Editor’s Note, 08/11/23: The term “Istanbul biennial” was mistakenly used instead of “Turkish pavilion” in one instance and that has been corrected.

To the Honorable President of the State of Israel Mr. Isaac Herzog

Dear Mr. President,

Requesting your assistance to end a severe humanitarian crisis and prevent a
humanitarian disaster

We, the undersigned, academics, and spiritual and cultural leaders from a variety of fields, turn to you out of our grave concern regarding the severe humanitarian crisis that poses a clear and present danger to 120,000 men, women and children in Nagorno Karabakh (referred to by residents as the Republic of Artsakh). The State of Israel enjoys close ties with Azerbaijan, the state which is responsible for this crisis, and has the ability to resolve it. These ties obligate the State of Israel to take a clear stand, and not to stand idly by.

Eight months ago (on December 12, 2022), government-supported Azerbaijani activists laid siege to the only road that connects Armenia to the Armenian enclave of Nagorno Karabakh. In April, the Azerbaijani army itself established a military checkpoint on the road, despite the fact that according to the terms of the cease-fire they had signed, the responsibility to maintain access to this area was entrusted to the Russian forces. The ongoing siege has prevented critical supplies to residents for months, and last week, many organizations and international bodies, including a number of UN experts, as well as Anthony Blinken, the United States Secretary of State, warned of the real danger to the lives of residents of the area should the siege continue, and expressed the urgent need that Azerbaijan allow humanitarian assistance to enter.

Azerbaijan’s blockade of the road is a violation of the Russian-brokered November 2020 ceasefire that it signed with Armenia, ending fighting that placed most of the surrounding territory under Azerbaijani control. This agreement had left a single road, the Lachin corridor, that connected Armenia with the Armenian enclave in Nagorno Karabakh, and its closing caused the residents of the area tremendous suffering. Should the siege continue, masses of people are likely to die of starvation and disease.

Israel’s relationship with Azerbaijan has significantly improved in recent times, as expressed by the opening of an Azerbaijani embassy in Tel Aviv, and the stream of visits by many Israeli dignitaries, including by the President himself. This warming of the relationship is thanks in no small part to the significant defense support that Israel provides to Azerbaijan, which was a deciding factor in the hostilities in the fall of 2020.

While Azerbaijan acts in defiance of the ceasefire agreement that it signed at the end of those hostilities, thus creating a severe humanitarian crisis, the aid that we provided means that we have a special responsibility not to be a bystander, and also gives us an important opportunity to have a positive impact. We cannot remain silent, especially in light of our historic and multilayered connection the Armenian people. Both Jewish history and Armenian history can attest to the political excuses that come to justify inaction and apathy in the face of lives that hang in the balance.

Has Israel achieved what it has just so that it can provide the same excuses as we heard from other nations, Mr. President?

Our history and our identity as a nation committed to the Jewish value of humanity created in the image of God obligates you, as it obligates all of us, to act.

Therefore, we implore you, Mr. President, to make a personal appeal to your counterparts in Azerbaijan and demand their immediate removal of the blockade of the Lachin corridor. This is not a request to take a side in the ongoing conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, but simply a humanitarian plea to save lives that are in danger, and to allow basic freedom of movement and the provision of sufficient supplies in order to live. We would be happy, if you are willing, to meet with you to present the dire situation in Nagorno Karabakh in greater detail.

Respectfully yours,

Ora Ahimeir, author

Yaakov Ahimeir, journalist

Prof. Reuven Amitai ,Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, Hebrew University Atty.

Nadav Argov, Combat Genocide Association

Prof. em. Yair Auron ,expert on genocide, The Open University of Israel

Dr. Rina Avner, Archaeologist

Rabbi Ruth Baidach, Rabbis for Human Rights

Avi Buskila, entrepreneur, and social activist

Prof. em. Israel W. Charny, Hebrew University, executive director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem and editor of the Encyclopedia of Genocide

Avi Dabush, executive director, Rabbis for Human Rights Nathan Daniel, Faculty of Humanities, Hebrew University Ruth Doron, ‘We Cannot Stand Silent’

Dr. Shlomi Efrati ,Researcher at Hebrew University and at KU Leuven

Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum ,founder of ZION: An Eretz Israeli Congregation in Jerusalem; and Vice President of the Masorti Rabbinical Assembly

Rabbi Avidan Freedman ,co-founder ,Yanshoof organization

Yisca Harani, lecturer, consultant and expert on Christianity

Pesach Hauspeter, Combat Genocide Association

Prof. Benjamin Z. Kedar, recipient of the Israel Prize in History; former vice-
president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities

Motke Keshet, Classical and Armenian Studies

Yoav Loeff, lecturer in Armenian History, Hebrew University

Ilia Mazia, musician

Rabbi Michael Melchior, former Minister and Member of Knesset, founder and president of Meitarim educational network, founder and chair, Mosaica

Tanyah Murkes, CEO, Society for International Development, SID-Israel

Suzanna Papian, actress

Dr .Yakir Paz, The departments of Talmud and Classics, The Hebrew University

Yana Pevzner, journalist

Sari Raz-Biron, journalist

Prof. em. Elihu Richter ,School of Public Health, Hebrew University

Naama Ringel, architect and activist

Rabbi David Rosen, International Director, Interreligious Affairs, AJC

Leah Shakdiel ,educator and activist

Prof. Donna Shalev, Classical Studies, Hebrew University

Rabbi Dana Sharon ,Rabbis for Human Rights

Dr. Yoav Shemer-Kunz, Political Science

Dr. Oded Steinberg ,International Relations and European Studies, Hebrew University

Prof. em. Michael E. Stone, Armenian Studies and Comparative Religion, Hebrew University

Aurit Stone-Yaacov, biologist

Yaron Weiss, expert on the countries of the Caucasus

Roi Ziv, PhD Student, Hebrew University

https://thebluntpost.com/coalition-of-israeli-academics-spiritual-and-cultural-leaders-call-on-president-isaac-herzog-to-intervene-on-behalf-of-artsakh-nagorno-karabakh/

As far as it can be seen, the passion and enthusiasm for Armenian propaganda based on the myth about great Armenia playing out from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea is getting dampened. This sacred myth for Armenians has a claim that as though Armenians are the most civilized and the most ancient nation in the world, and everybody in the world is obliged to fight and die for them. This fetish belief drove them to the extremes of terrorism, genocide and finally invasion. Even fanatically believing in this fabrication, Armenians tried to wrest Garabagh from Azerbaijan.

Taking advantage of the internal turmoils and economic crisis in Azerbaijan, Armenians were able to invade 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories and expelled over 1 million residents from their hometowns 32 years ago. Although it was useless in every visit, Azerbaijan did not take a step back from the negotiations even for a moment. The whole world witnessed the exhausting processes at the negotiating table. Finally, the biggest offer for reintegration – the offer to give Garabagh the highest status – came from Azerbaijan. However, the society, brainwashed with past mythical ideas of the most civilized and ancient nation, rejected this proposal. Even having gone further, David Tonoyan, the former Armenian Defense Minister, solemnly announced a new war, new territories.

Following this motto, Armenia attacked Azerbaijan to snatch new territories in 2020. So, Azerbaijan was obliged to respond with a counterattack.. First, Hayk demanded assistance from other nations and called them to come to Garabagh to fight against Azerbaijan for them. Then they started to beg but nobody came to help them due to their brazen and disgraceful ideology. So, the war resulted in a humiliating defeat for Armenians as a result of which Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed the November 10 Statement – the capitulation act. Swift and unexpected defeat fumed the Armenian society and they poured into the streets to hold protests. The meeting continued for several days, but nobody understood to whom they protested. The streets of Yerevan were alive with reproaches directed to all nations in the world for not having come to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the "most civilized and ancient" nation. Russian blogger's interview with an unknown old Hay became a culmination of the protests. The old man was very angry and solemnly claimed that he had made Vladimir Putin the president of Russia by shouting. Ostensibly, he asked a friend of a friend of a friend of Boris Yeltsin, the former president of Russia, to make Putin president after him. Actually, the interview revealed how deeply the Armenian myth influenced the citizens. The old man really believed that Armenians are so a well-esteemed nation in the world that even when Russian state apparatus chooses the president, it takes into account the desire of a Hay living in a remote village in Armenia. He was so sure that Vladimir Putin was not elected by Russians but appointed to the post in accordance with his request. So, he reproached Vladimir Putin for not sending the Russian Army to fight against Azerbaijan.

All surveys conducted by different foreign organizations read that prior to the war in 2020, the majority of Armenians believed that someone will come to save Armenia. But it did not happen. But Armenians did not accept the reality and continued to take advantage of the goodwill demonstrated by Azerbaijan. Despite being the victor, Azerbaijan complied with the commitments of the November 10 Statement. In contrast, Armenians persistently violate their obligation. Even today, they are reluctant to open the Zangazur corridor. Despite being detected, they continued to transfer illegally some weapons into Khankendi. They did all provocations. Smuggling forbidden products to Khankendi and firing at Azerbaijani servicemen were the last straws. Azerbaijan closed the Lachin Border Checkpoint only for security purpose. Hoping that someone will come to save them, they performed a "tragedy named a humanitarian crisis in Garabagh." Through this period, Azerbaijan offered reintegration again and again. Of course, the answer was no.

However, last week, Samvel Babayan, one of the leaders of separatists in Khankendi spoke about opening a common market in Agdam where both Azerbaijanis and Armenians will collaborate initially. Despite he explained his proposal in favor of separatists, many on social media said that it is a hint for integration. As everybody was busy making out the market proposal, Dilara Afandiyeva, the head of the Centre "Women: Peace and Security" operating under the Dilara Aliyeva Azerbaijan Society for Protection of Women's Rights, stated that several Armenians in Garabagh have made calls to the hotline requesting that they wanted to accept Azerbaijani citizenship. She said that Armenians also ask questions about the fate of the people who fought against Azerbaijan in the first and second Garabagh Wars. Besides, they also are interested in getting pensions from Azerbaijan. All this foreshadows the crumbling of the Armenian myth. It reveals that at last Armenians understood that nobody care about them and with such kind of demands they just lose their face. At last, after tasting the the power of the Iron Fist over their heads, they understood that the reintegration is the only solution.