Tensions over Armenian crisis in Azerbaijan boil over in reportedly violent protest at USC

Los Angeles Times
Oct 5 2023

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The fall of Nagorno-Karabakh, the separatist region of Azerbaijan populated mainly by ethnic Armenians, has spurred condemnation and anger in Southern California, home to a large population of Armenian Americans.

After the long-running conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated in recent years, igniting further protests, Azerbaijan took back the enclave in a lightning blitz last month — leading tensions in L.A. to boil over into violence at one of the latest demonstrations.

On Friday, Armenian protesters at USC allegedly attacked Turkish diplomats, including Turkish Ambassador to the U.S. Hasan Murat Mercan, who had spoken at an event sponsored by the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, according to video posted by a Turkish reporter.

Turkey has been a vocal supporter of Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, where it has bolstered the nation’s military.

WORLD & NATION

Oct. 5, 2023

Video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, purportedly shows Armenian protesters assaulting members of the Turkish Embassy, according to Burak Dogan, a reporter for a conservative Turkish outlet with close ties to the administration of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. One man is seen throwing liquid at a diplomat while another man pushes a person and kicks a rolling backpack.

Los Angeles police said major crimes detectives were investigating two reports of battery with possible hate crime enhancements and a report of criminal threats in connection with the incident. No arrests have been made.

USC officials declined to comment and referred all questions to the LAPD.

The Turkish Embassy blamed the clash on “radical Armenian groups,” with protests that included “verbal and physical assaults against our delegation,” it said in a statement on X.

“All legal avenues will be pursued against the perpetrators of physical violence directed at our delegation,” the embassy said.

WORLD & NATION

Sept. 26, 2023

Turkish graduate students at USC said the incident “deeply affected our sense of security and belonging.”

“The growing negative attitude towards those of Turkish origin is a cause for serious concern,” the Turkish Graduate Students Assn. at USC wrote in an Instagram post. “We fervently appeal to Turkish institutions and officials to address this issue with the gravity it demands.”

The Armenian Students Assn. of USC distanced itself from the reportedly violent protesters and condemned their actions, saying in a statement that students “exercised exclusively peaceful tactics of civil disobedience and did not partake in non-peaceful acts.”

The association said it had voiced concerns to USC about the event, a conference on the role of public diplomacy in Turkish foreign policy.

“Today and this week, USC subjected its Armenian student population to unimaginable cruelty,” the association said. “In our period of mourning, USC Annenberg not only refused to cancel an event celebrating Turkish foreign policy but also responded to student efforts … with excessive use of force.”

WORLD & NATION

Sept. 28, 2023

Video posted on Instagram by the Armenian Youth Federation — Western United States showed pro-Armenian protesters fighting with campus police officers outside Wallis Annenberg Hall.

In late September, Azerbaijan waged a military campaign in Nagorno-Karabakh, an area known to Armenians as the Republic of Artsakh.

Separatists were faced with a much larger military force and a continuing blockade that starved them of supplies, the Associated Press reported. They quickly capitulated, with leaders saying they would dissolve their internationally unrecognized government by year’s end.

Tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians, fearing ethnic cleansing, have fled Nagorno-Karabakh.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-10-05/turkish-diplomats-reportedly-attacked-at-usc-by-armenian-protesters

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