Children are among the displaced Artsakh residents that left for Armenia
BY MADELEINE MEZAGOPIAN
The world remained silent while the people of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh) endured a blockade imposed by Azerbaijan, and continued to remain silent as Azerbaijan indiscriminately used military aggression against Artsakh’s population—killing children and elderly alike. This silence paved the way for the eventual reoccupation of Artsakh by Azerbaijan, displacing those who remained and forcing them to seek refuge in Armenia. These atrocities are, in part, a result of the ugly fact that the United Nations—for the last 30 years—has refused to recognize Artsakh as an independent republic.*
After months of starvation, and only after Azerbaijan reoccupied Artsakh, the international community finally started to pay attention and cover the developments in the region. However, they did so without condemning the atrocities and human rights violations committed by the Azeri government; while ignoring the fact that, for centuries, Artsakh has been inhabited by Armenians—which is evidenced by the centuries-old Armenian cultural heritage sites in Artsakh, which are currently being destroyed by the Azerbaijani government.
All relevant advocates of human rights, cultural heritage sites, and international law have remained silent and indifferent, thus becoming culprits in the ongoing sufferings of the displaced people of Artsakh.
We, the Armenian diaspora, are watching in agony as our cultural heritage sites in Artsakh, and other Armenian territories occupied by Azerbaijan, are being destroyed by the occupiers. All of this is taking place without a single effort by “concerned” international organizations, the most significant silence coming from the supposedly international guardian of cultural heritage sites worldwide, UNESCO, who could potentially put a stop to these terrible crimes.
Today, the Armenian nation bleeds without a single voice of condolence for our martyrs in Artsakh, and amid blatant indifference and hypocrisy by so-called advocates of truth and justice.
The silence offered by the international community during the ongoing ethnic cleansing in Artsakh is proof that advocates of justice and truth are merely a phantom.
As the world remains indifferent during this 21st century genocide, we remember the first genocide of the 20th century, in 1915. History is repeating itself.
Thousands of Armenians, who belong to a nation that was the first to embrace Christianity, with its culture of peace, tolerance and forgiveness, are victims of a genocide perpetrated by the same criminals responsible for the genocide in 1915, amid complete silence by all those who pretend to be advocates of truth and justice. Armenians are again victims of genocide and losing more of their centuries-old territories, which throughout history have been an integral part of Armenia.
Artsakh is a victim of the ongoing conflict between the United States and Russia, including the allies of each side. Their conflict provided the right milieu for Azerbaijan to reoccupy Artsakh, when geopolitical interests of the key actors gained priority over the well-being of the people of the region.
Dear nations worldwide: We mourn over your silence as a dictator—Recep Tayyip Erdoğan—who is destabilizing Arab countries (Syria, Iraq, Libya) and spreading terror worldwide, is justifying and supporting, if not guiding, Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population of Artsakh.
We, Armenians, loyal citizens of the countries we inhabit, indeed feel sad and disappointed with both communities and leaders globally for refusing to speak up for the victims of the ongoing ethnic cleansing in Artsakh, and for not having the courage to condemn the Azerbaijani government, the perpetrator of these atrocities.
We mourn our martyrs—children, elderly, and soldiers—massacred by the Azeri government. We also mourn the silence received from the international community as we cried for help, especially from those countries that the Armenian diaspora has created thriving communities in. The countries that provided a safe haven to our ancestors after the Armenian genocide, where we continue to be peaceful citizens.
The Armenian nation is once again alone in its sufferings, without a single voice of support or any assurances that truth and justice will prevail.
The voices of the tortured martyrs defending their usurped lands still echo. The sacrifices of the past and current martyrs defending Artsakh will never be forgotten.
The souls of the Armenian martyrs, of the innocent children and elderly from Artsakh, will haunt the perpetrators of both the Armenian genocide and the current genocide taking place in Artsakh, as well as all those who remained silent as Turkey and Azerbaijan worked in unison.
Today, Armenians kneel and ask our martyrs, and those displaced from their homes, for forgiveness for our naivety in believing that truth and justice can prevail. That we believed human rights advocates would guard and protect the rights of the indigenous people of Artsakh.
Now, we must prioritize lobbying worldwide to prevent Azerbaijan from destroying cultural sites in Artsakh. We have learned, from experience, that Azerbaijan aims to uproot any link between Artsakh and its centuries old Armenian identity.
Armenians may forgive, but we will never forget how we were abandoned during our darkest days. We have to accept the painful fact that we, the victims of ongoing genocide, remain completely on our own in our struggle to survive.
*On September 21 of each year, Armenians with great agony remember the assassination of the First Republic of Armenia during September to November of 1920, when the Red Soviet Army invaded the First Republic of Armenia and Sovietized it. On October 13, 1921, the peace treaty of Kars was signed between Turkey and the three Transcaucasia Republics including Soviet Armenia, which reaffirmed the treaty of Moscow between Turkey and Soviet Russia. Ani and Mount Ararat, among other Armenian territories, were ceded to Turkey. This was followed by Stalin gifting Nakhchivan and Artsakh to Azerbaijan on July 7, 1923.
Madeleine Mezagopian is a scholar and an academician based in Amman, Jordan.