Category: 2023

The Resurrection of Christ, Jacopo Robusti, Tintoretto, Oil on canvas. 350 x 230 cm. 1565, San Cassiano, Venice. (Photo: Lluís Ribes Mateu/Flickr)

In this world that’s overwhelmed with strife, division and evil, does Easter matter? We are surrounded by the Good Friday drama, as nations are torn in painful schism, as human rights violations destroy the lives of innocent people around the world.

In this world full of brutal blockades threatening the very existence of innocent human beings, does it make a difference that one Sunday morning long ago a stone was rolled away from a tomb? That love triumphed over hate, good over evil, light over darkness, life over death?
The past three months have been trying times for the people of Artsakh and Armenia. They have suffered enough, and they are yearning for the restoration of normal life. Since December 12, 2022, the Lachin Corridor, the only road leading in and out of Artsakh, has been blocked off by Azerbaijan, leaving 120,000 Armenians trapped in Artsakh. The blockade has caused shortages of electricity and gas, medicine and food. It has affected hundreds of separated families.

In addition to this man-made disaster, the earthquakes in southern Turkey and northern Syria have devastated many people, including fellow Armenians.

In the wake of these heart-rending realities, does Easter matter? Does Easter make any difference in the lives of people? More than ever, it does. The Easter message is one of hope. It tells Christian believers not to despair when their life plans are disrupted and their dreams are shattered because God is still in charge. We are Easter people, because we know our Lord is victorious and has given us the strength, power and will to live triumphantly. The joy of our Easter celebration is more than a passing event. It is symbolic of the joy of being with a Risen Savior and the promise of the newness of life He brings.

The Bible and the history of the Christian church tell us that Christians have dared to have hope in the face of discouraging facts, not because they hoped that things would get better but because they believed God was at work even in depressions and sufferings. St. Paul said in his Epistle to the Romans: “We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us” (Romans 5:3-5).

Neither human resilience, nor positive thinking—or Pollyanna-type optimism—can engender real and enduring hope. Only God does. It is He Who enables us to hope in the face of apparent hopelessness. When we taste defeat and hopelessness, He gives us hope to endure. When we are bewildered, He is our hope for guidance. When we are bruised, He is our hope for healing. When we are bereaved, He is our hope for solace.

This is true on an individual as well as national level. How else can one explain the survival and enduring power of the Armenian people in the face of all evil designs that were cast against them? Despite the horrors that have been endured by the Armenian generations of the past, despite the darkness of the Armenian Genocide, despite the demonic forces that sought the destruction of our people, somehow the Christian hope survives; it nourishes and keeps us. The Bible says Christian hope does not depend on our state of feeling. It is God’s gift. It never disappoints (Romans 5:5). It is steadfast (1 Thess. 1:3).

We Armenians live in Christian hope because of what God has done in Christ through His resurrection. Christ lives and reigns triumphantly. Because He is a triumphant Lord, those who believe in Him shall also live victorious lives. This is the message of Easter and Christian hope. Yes, Christians live in the present with confidence and face the future with courage.

Kristos haryav ee merelotz.
Orhnyal eh harootyunen Kristosi.

The 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war has significantly altered the power balance of the South Caucasus, effectively dismantling the 1994-2020 security architecture. Experts and academic circles still debate who won or lost due to the war. However, almost all agree that Iran is among the losers. The 2020 war increased Turkey’s influence in the region, apparently brought Azerbaijani armed forces under complete Turkish control and made Azerbaijan and Turkey much closer to the realization of a century–long dream of establishing a direct land corridor. Even more worrisome for Iran was the appearance of Israel in the newly-captured territories along the Azerbaijan–Iran border. Azerbaijan has cultivated strong defense and security cooperation with Israel since the early 2010s. However, the control by the self-proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh Republic of 135 kilometers of borders with Iran gave Tehran flexibility and confidence that those areas would not be used for anti-Iranian activities. The 2020 war changed that situation dramatically, as Azerbaijan allowed Israel to enter those territories under the pretext of reconstruction activities and the establishment of smart villages. 

Iran believes that by inviting Israel to exploit Azerbaijani territories, Baku has changed the balance of power in the region and assumed an overt anti-Iranian position. In the last two years, Iran has issued several warnings to Azerbaijan, primarily via organizing military drills along the Azerbaijan–Iran border. The beginning of 2023 saw relations hitting a new low, after the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran was attacked, and Azerbaijani law enforcement bodies arrested “Iranian spies in Azerbaijan” almost on a daily basis.

The two countries share significant economic interests, including the launch of the North–South International Transport corridor, which connects India with Russia via Iran, and one of the routes passes via Azerbaijan. Iran and Azerbaijan are actively negotiating with Russia to launch an energy corridor, which will connect the electrical grids of three countries and allow them to export/import electricity. They recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to connect Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan via Iran through the construction of a railroad and highway in Iran along the Araks river (so-called alternative Zangezur corridor) and bridges from Azerbaijan to Iran and from Iran to Nakhichevan. It is challenging to assess whether these economic projects prevent bilateral relations from further deterioration. However, recent developments, including an assassination attempt on an Azerbaijani MP in Baku and statements from Azerbaijan that Iranian special services were behind this attack, did not bode well for bilateral relations.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to voice its objections to the so-called Zangezur corridor to connect Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan via Armenia. Iranian authorities probably do not believe the Azerbaijani side’s explanations that the corridor will have no extraterritorial features and will serve only economic purposes. Tehran thinks that even if the corridor will be under de jure Armenian control, it will open the way for the gradual expansion of Azerbaijani and Turkish presence and later influence in Syunik, bringing Syunik under at least de facto Turkish/Azerbaijani control. Iran categorically rejects any changes to the border and the geopolitical situation in the South Caucasus (the possible further incursion of Azerbaijani troops into Armenia). The potential for geopolitical changes should be a message to Armenia that Yerevan should significantly revise its foreign policy, moving away from Russia toward closer cooperation with the US and the EU. Not surprisingly, Iran de facto criticizes the deployment of European observers in Armenia, emphasizing that regional powers should solve regional problems while external actors will only deteriorate the situation. In this context, Iran supports the 3+3 mechanism, which should include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Turkey and Russia, as a tangible platform for bringing peace and stability to the South Caucasus. The first meeting of this format at the level of deputy foreign ministers took place in Moscow in December 2021, albeit without the participation of Georgia. Iran is working with Russia to convene the second meeting in Tehran by the end of 2023.

As Armenia–Azerbaijan peace negotiations reached an apparent deadlock due to the Azerbaijani position of taking everything, many seek to understand what may happen next. Some argue that Azerbaijan may launch a large-scale attack against Armenia similar to the aggression of September 2022 or undertake military action in Nagorno Karabakh. Others believe that Azerbaijan does not need any military escalation and will pursue “salami tactics,” taking favorable heights along the Armenia–Azerbaijan border and the line of contact between Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh, while continuing to strangle the Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh through the blockade and waiting until November 2025 to push out Russian peacekeepers. Currently, Azerbaijan has many options and may choose any of them or try to combine several methods. Any Azerbaijani move envisages military pressure on Armenia. Yerevan urgently needs to increase its armed forces’ capabilities if Armenia wants to prevent the complete loss of Nagorno Karabakh and counter Azerbaijani pressure inside Armenia. In this context, many wonder what Iran’s role will be in case of large-scale Azerbaijani attack against Armenia. It is very challenging to predict Iran’s exact actions, but Iran has other options short of direct military engagement. Iran may supply weapons to Armenia, offer joint military drills with Armenian armed forces and establish a small permanent military presence in the Syunik or Vayots Dzor regions of Armenia. These options will have a significant negative impact on Armenia’s relations with the US, the EU and NATO. However, before warning Armenia about the negative consequences of military cooperation with Iran, the collective West should offer alternatives. The deployment of 60 to 65 civilian observers along the 1,000 kilometer Armenia–Azerbaijan border and talks that arms supplies are not possible because Armenia is a member of CSTO and an ally of Russia are not helpful. Everyone clearly understands that Armenia cannot leave the CSTO and cancel its 1997 agreement with Russia without exposing itself to imminent threats, which the West cannot counter. Thus, the discussions that we will not supply you arms because you are a CSTO member state, while you should not have military cooperation with Iran, and in case of Azerbaijani aggression, no Western military intervention is possible, and even the EU/US sanctions against Azerbaijan are not guaranteed because of growing EU–Azerbaijan economic cooperation sound like bad advice. 

If the West is unable or disinterested in convincing Azerbaijan to accept the Western presence in Nagorno Karabakh to secure the fundamental rights of Armenians when or if Russian peacekeepers leave and is unable to push Azerbaijan to move its troops out of occupied Armenian territories, all calls to Armenia not to have even minimal military cooperation with Iran receive at least mixed perceptions in Armenia. With that being said, Armenia should deepen its cooperation with Tehran, as Iran continues to counter Azerbaijan.

Zhanna Petrosyan

“Maragha was a beautiful and prosperous town, with neat houses and vegetable gardens attached to them, clean streets, several schools and kindergartens. It was the place of our happiness,” recalled 68-year-old Zhanna Petrosyan, a survivor of the Maragha massacre.

On April 10, 1992, Azerbaijani forces invaded, destroyed and set fire to the town. Its civilians were tortured and burned to death; some were captured and taken to unknown locations. About 118 people, mostly elderly, disabled, women and children, remained in the town. Many of them were mercilessly killed by Azeri soldiers. More than 50 people, including 30 women, died. “It was truly like a contemporary Golgotha many times over,” described Baroness Caroline Cox, then deputy speaker of the House of Lords, who visited Maragha the day after the mass murders.

The deadly attack on Maragha was not due to military necessity; rather it was aimed at the destruction of its civilian population, as was done from 1988-1992 in Sumgait, Baku, Kirovabad and other settlements of Azerbaijan, as well as in the villages of Shahumyan in northern Artsakh.

Maragha was an urban settlement in the Martakert region and was considered the “northern gate” of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. The town was founded in 1828 by Armenians who emigrated from the Persian city of Maragha. The inhabitants were engaged in viticulture, vegetable and grain cultivation and animal husbandry. There was a factory for the preliminary processing of grapes, a household service plant and a branch of the zonal experimental station of Artsakh. It had two secondary schools, three libraries, a cultural center, a communication department, a hospital and a kindergarten.

Petrosyan, who worked at the local post office, remembers that day with horror. It was more difficult for her, because at the time of the actual massacres, she was at a hospital in Martakert taking care of her wounded husband. Her three young children were in the village with her in-laws. “When I found out what was happening, I somehow reached the village without telling my husband, maddened with the thought of what could happen to my children.”

What Petrosyan vividly describes is shocking even today: the beheading of women and elderly, tortured bodies and the smell of blood.

“They beheaded our neighbor Borik Vardanyan and played football with his head in the center of the village. We recognized him from his shoes. They killed school director Ervand Avagimyan and his wife Tamara in their home. They did not spare their son Alik, who returned to the village hoping to save his parents’ lives.” Another fellow villager Haykaz Soghomonian’s head was cut off; they put his head on the table and had dinner like animals. “They threw Mrs. Zabela on the road in the middle of the village and drove the tank over her body. The burned bodies of Mr. Ruben and his wife were near the fence,” described Petrosyan.

She remembers biology teacher Alvina Baghdasaryan with special reverence and pain. “When Alvina was captured, she called on the villagers gathered near her house not to despair even before death. The beating, the chains, the red-hot iron did not bring her down in any way, and when the Azerbaijanis in the prison demanded that she say that Maragha is Azerbaijan, she refused. To this day, Alvina’s fate is unknown. She was an example of a real heroic woman with her bravery, courage and strength,” says Petrosyan.

A few days later, after the self-defense forces of Artsakh liberated the village, the villagers went back to bury the bodies.

“Villagers dug a big hole in front of the school and wrapped the corpses in blankets for mass graves, not even knowing everyone’s names because the tortured bodies were unrecognizable,” says Petrosyan.

The next three decades were difficult. Homeless and on the run from death, life for Petrosyan and her family was hard. She was the primary caretaker of her children, her parents and her disabled husband, who spent months in hospitals across Yerevan.

After living in a cabin in Gyumri for several years, Petrosyan and her family decided to return to their homeland. They lived in a rehabilitation center in Stepanakert and then in an abandoned store in the village until they finally got an apartment in Stepanakert with the help of benevolent people.

Edik Abrahamyan

In Yerevan, her husband Edik Abrahamyan recovered and learned the craft of shoemaking to support his family. Abrahamyan doesn’t want to remember what happened 30 years ago; they are “the most painful episodes of his life.” “I left my youth, the happiest and most abundant days of my life in Maragha,” he says. “When I was injured in the spine and then the village was massacred, I thought that everything was over for me.”

Life’s difficulties did not stop him from being confined to a wheelchair all his life. Although he never imagined that he would one day make shoes, today he loves his job. All residents of Stepanakert’s Manukyan Street know him well and trust Abrahamyan to repair their shoes.

While the current blockade has left him without a replacement battery for his electric wheelchair and accessories for his shoe repair business, he has not lost his optimism. He proudly talks about his children’s successes, that they were able to provide for their education working tirelessly at modest jobs. His eldest son became a doctor. His youngest son became a military officer, and his daughter became a telecom engineer. Edik’s seven grandchildren bring him the most happiness; he believes he has overcome all the misfortunes of fate.

As a result of the 44-day war, Abrahamyan and Petrosyan, as well as other residents of Maragha, also lost New Maragha, which was built after the first Karabakh war.

As Artsakh remains under blockade and the threat of genocide hangs over the entire population of Artsakh, Petrosyan doesn’t want to give up. Food and supply vouchers from the government are scattered across her dining room table; she cannot even buy food with these vouchers due to the lack of goods. She says her heart shattered when she saw her young grandchild, hungry for fresh fruit, gnawing instead on toy fruits.

Zhanna Petrosyan sorts through government vouchers under blockade

The purpose of the Maragha massacre was to break the spirit of the struggle of Artsakh Armenians through intimidation, ethnic cleansing and depopulation efforts. Today, Azerbaijan is carrying out the same policy while cutting off 120,000 Artsakh citizens from Armenia and the outside world, causing unbearable conditions and depriving indigenous Armenians of their opportunity to live peacefully in their homeland.

Still, Petrosyan refuses to leave Artsakh. “Where should I go? There is no better place in the world than your home, your land.” Then she added, “Even if a few families stay here, one of them will be our family. My children will take care of the country with their work, and my husband and I will take care of our grandchildren.”

Zhanna Petrosyan and Maragha massacre survivors lay flowers at the Maragha memorial,

The memorial stone dedicated to the victims of Maragha was relocated from New Maragha to the Stepanakert Memorial Complex after the 2020 Artsakh War, where today Petrosyan and other survivors of the Maragha massacre laid flowers in memory of the victims.

Zhanna Petrosyan and Maragha massacre survivors lay flowers at the Maragha memorial,

BELMONT, Mass. — The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) will celebrate the appointment of Dr. Christina Maranci as the Mashtots Chair in Armenian Studies at Harvard University on Saturday, May 6, 2023 at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge. The evening will feature remarks by distinguished Harvard faculty, including the guest of honor Dr. Maranci. The Master of Ceremonies will be Adi Ignatius, editor-in-chief of Harvard Business Review. The cocktail reception begins at 6 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m.

Established in 1955, NAASR initiated the movement to create and perpetuate Armenian Studies in the United States, including initiatives to establish the first two chairs in Armenian Studies at Harvard University and UCLA. It achieved its initial ambitious goal by establishing the first chair in Armenian Studies at Harvard and in 1959 marked the successful conclusion of the Harvard Chair campaign at a gala in Memorial Hall. The Mashtots Chair was the first at Harvard to be endowed by a community organization.

The evening program will include remarks by Dr. Robin Kelsey, Dean of Arts and Humanities and the Shirley Carter Burden Professor of Photography in the Department of History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University. Dr. Khaled El-Rouayheb, the James Richard Jewett Professor of Arabic and of Islamic Intellectual History and chairman of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard, will introduce Dr. Maranci, who is the third holder of the Mashtots Chair and the first woman and the first Armenian to do so.

NAASR will also honor Yervant Chekijian, who served as chairman of the Board of NAASR from 2016-2022 and spearheaded the effort to construct a new headquarters building, and Marc A. Mamigonian, NAASR’s Director of Academic Affairs, who recently marked his 25th anniversary with the organization.

Christina Maranci

Dr. Christina Maranci is the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University, appointed in both the Departments of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and the History of Art and Architecture. She earned a bachelor’s degree in art history at Vassar and master’s degree and Ph.D. at Princeton in the Department of Art and Archaeology. Her work explores the art and culture of Armenia in all aspects, but with special emphasis on the late antique and medieval periods. She is the author of four books and over 100 articles and essays on medieval Armenian art and architecture, including most recently, The Art of Armenia (Oxford, 2018). Her 2015 monograph Vigilant Powers: Three Churches of Early Medieval Armenia (Brepols, 2015) won the Karen Gould Prize for Art History from the Medieval Academy of America and as well as the Sona Aronian Prize for best Armenian Studies monograph from the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR). She is co-founder of East of Byzantium, a workshop and lecture series designed to support doctoral students working on the Christian East.

Dr. Maranci has worked on issues of cultural heritage for over a decade, with a focus on the at-risk Armenian churches and monasteries in what is now Eastern Turkey. She is the author of op-eds and essays in The Wall Street Journal, Apollo, The Conversation, and Hyperallergic. She has also been featured on National Public Radio’s Open Source with Christopher Lydon. At present, she is working on a book about the city of Ani during the tenth and eleventh centuries.

Opportunities to sponsor NAASR’s celebration are available online.