Author: Alex Jidarian

The UCI Center for Armenian Studies and the Armenian Student Association (ASA), in collaboration with the Center for Truth and Justice, hosted “Armenian Rebirth: The Last Plight,” featuring Garo Paylan, at Humanities Gateway 1030 on Oct. 16. 

Garo Paylan, a former Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament, served from 2015 to 2023 for two terms as a founding member of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party. Hewas subjected to an assassination plot in 2022 for uplifting  Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire—present day Turkey— killing over 1.5 million Armenians  during 1915. 

“For more than 100 years, [ Armenians have] just been trying to heal our grandparents. So I struggled in Turkey,” Paylan said.

His visit comes during the aftermath of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War in the South Caucasus, a region in southwest Asia.  The war resulted in the Azerbaijani invasion and the ethnic cleansing of over 120,000 Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh, due to months of Azerbaijani military aggression and starvation tactics. Tensions around this region have been ongoing since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990 as both countries make claims to this territory.

Paylan also touched on the indifference of larger countries toward both the Armenians and the Israeli bombings on Gaza, expressing frustration with the United States’ involvement in specific international affairs.  

“Unfortunately, nobody cares about Armenians. After three generations, we suffered another genocide because Armenian lives do not matter.” Paylan said. “What Israel is doing is a hate crime, and Mr. Biden cares more about some countries.” 

The Biden Administration committed  over $3.3 billion in funds, including military aid, to Israel in 2022. According to an Aljazeera report, that same year during the time of the Nagorno-Karabakh War, Azerbaijan bought $295 million worth of arms from Israel, making it the second largest buyer of military weapons after India. More than 60% of Azerbaijan’s weapons are from Israel as the two countries maintain close relations.  

He explained that Armenia lacked political leverage, unlike Turkey, who is close with Russia, and Azerbaijan who is also close with Russia and Turkey. Although Armenia is a member of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which guarantees support in military attacks, Paylan  claimed that Russian favor had swayed to Azerbaijan while he served in office. 

“We were told Russians were our allies, and if Turks were to attack Armenia, they would help us.” Paylan said. “Russians interests have changed and now they need to sell and launder their oil to Azerbaijan after the Russia-Ukraine war.” 

Paylan urged the Armenian diaspora to unify in the midst of the ongoing crisis, looking to other discriminated groups in the Middle East who also face pressure from larger countries. 

“If we don’t unite and if we don’t stand up against Turks and Azeris, they will attack. Because I know Turks. I know Azeris. Look at Kurds. Look at what’s happening to the Palestinians. There are three identities that are vulnerable in the Middle East and Caucasus. One is the Palestinians … and Kurds … of course, and Armenians, unfortunately,” Paylan said.

He then spoke on the ongoing conflict between Armenia and the Azerbaijani occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh. He talked about the possibility of peace through open borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan, explaining that trade could help strengthen the political borders. 

“If we open borders with Turkey, Turkish people will see that Armenians are not their enemies. They will be doing trade, tourism, whatever. Everybody will benefit from each other,” Paylan said. “So we need this. We need this time, this five to ten years in peace. You’ll see. We’ll be stronger. We’ll go to the point where we can defend our country.”

However, there was disagreement among some of the audience regarding the normalization between the Turkish and Armenian border. CSULong Beach geographic information systems master’s student Haig Minasian echoed the disagreement over Armenia opening its borders with Turkey. 

“I think his presence is commendable,” Minasian said. “But what he said about peace and justice being achieved through power and strength did not make sense. He blamed Russia as the sole betrayer, but opening the borders will expose more untrustworthy allies.” 

Minasian also stated that strengthening the Armenian economy through open borders and trade with Turkey and Azerbaijan would not benefit the majority of its citizens. 

“This only benefits the rich, elite Armenians. Only Azerbaijan will have leverage, whether or not the [Armenian] economy grows,” Minasian added.

The Armenian Student Association gave an official statement in an email to the New University following Paylan’s talk.

“As Armenian students, we are united by a duty to use our diaspora privilege to help our homeland. In this, we follow Paylan’s example of leadership and initiative through this difficult time as our people endure and recover from ethnic cleansing,” 

The statement also emphasizes the role of the diaspora within the Armenian community: to uplift each other.

After the event, professor of history and Meghrouni Family Presidential Chair in Armenian studies Houri Beberian resonated with Paylan’s call for unity. 

“It was good to hear a new perspective. A perspective that seems common sense — that Armenians should unite in order to create solutions. I hope the message of unity will be carried through the diaspora and the republic,” Berberian said.  

Helena San Roque is a Campus News Editor for the 2023-24 school year. She can be reached at [email protected].  

In the shadow of towering mountains, the residents of Armenia’s southern province, Syunik, are living in the echo of a conflict that refuses to conclude. The specter of Azerbaijan, circling with a rapacious gaze, instills a palpable fear as the region becomes the new epicenter of a long-standing territorial dispute between the two nations.

(Also Read: Raising the Flag: Azerbaijani Sovereignty Asserted in Karabakh)

With the ink barely dried on the ceasefire agreement ending the violent six-week war over Nagorno-Karabakh last year, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev is stoking the embers of discord. He contends that the southern province of Syunik, a part of Armenia, is historically a region of Azerbaijan – a claim that has become a chilling foreboding of potential military aggression.

The United States, an active observer of the region’s complex dynamics, has denied circulating reports suggesting that Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned lawmakers of an imminent Azerbaijani invasion. Yet, the denial offers little comfort to the anxious Armenians, who feel the specter of the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh looming large.

As political tensions simmer, the human cost of the conflict is mounting. Over 100,000 refugees, homeless and traumatized, have sought shelter in Armenia following Azerbaijan’s offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian government, initially prepared for 40,000 displaced individuals, is grappling with the overwhelming influx of refugees.

While the Armenian government is providing relocation payments and monthly support, the UN High Commission for Refugees has called for international aid. The United States, in response, has pledged over $11.5 million in humanitarian assistance.

Amidst the chaos, hope persists in the form of various organizations and churches, both at home and abroad, extending their helping hand. Frontline Therapists, the Armenian General Benevolent Union, and the Armenian Missionary Association of America are among those organizations providing aid and support to the displaced individuals, offering services ranging from food and shelter to mental health support.

(Also Read: Azerbaijani President Raises National Flag in Disputed Karabakh Region)

The situation in Armenia’s southern province remains fraught with tension. A lasting resolution to the conflict requires careful diplomacy and a commitment to peace from both parties, a challenge made more complex by the deep-seated historical and political animosities between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The international community, including the United States and the European Union, has insisted on a peaceful resolution and urged Azerbaijan to respect Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Yet, these calls echo in an environment where fear and uncertainty are the only constants, as the people of Syunik wait, caught in a geopolitical crossfire with no end in sight.

Momen Zellmi, a prominent political analyst, researcher, and diplomatic advisor, calls Iraqi Kurdistan home. He has earned a PhD in Language Policy and served as the editor-in-chief for a number of local news organizations, including KomalNews, Shrova Agency, and Zanko Kurd. Zellmi's extensive writing portfolio has garnered international attention and acclaim. He has also penned two significant books: "Islamic Jihadists in the Middle East" and "ISIS: Origins and Trajectory." These works provide crucial analysis on the rise and influence of extremist factions in the region, delving into their underlying motives and strategies. Zellmi's deep knowledge of the subject matter makes him an indispensable asset for any newsroom seeking to comprehend the intricate political dynamics of the Middle East.

Assistant Professor in Global Humanities, Simon Fraser University

Azerbaijani forces attacked the breakaway and long-disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023. Less than a month later, and the region is now all but deserted.

The declared aim of the attack was to eliminate the last forces of the Armenian-majority self-styled republic. The lightning “anti-terror operation,” as Azerbaijan called it, precipitated the collapse of the breakaway republic. Most importantly — given that it came after a debilitating blockade that lasted for almost nine months — it instilled fear among the Karabakh Armenian population.

Many fled their ancestral homeland.

As an endless convoy of cars transporting desperate refugees filled the winding road to an uncertain future away from their homes, regional entities were lining up to influence the future shape of the South Caucasus region on the border of eastern Europe and west Asia. The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia has been unfolding there for decades.

In Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev has been investing heavily in cultivating nationalism and militarism over the past few years to shore up his authority and his regime.

Starting from the second Karabakh war in 2020 until the present, Azerbaijan’s Border Service and Armed Forces used inspirational pop music videos to glorify the government’s military posturing and patriotic films to incite nationalism.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev arrives for a summit in Moldova in June 2023. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

After Azerbaijan’s 2020 victory effectively cut off Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia — leaving only one precarious point of access to the outside world, the Russian-policed Lachin corridor — the international community urged a negotiated peace settlement that would ensure Nagorno-Karabakh’s reintegration to Azerbaijan in exchange for local self-government.

But Aliyev’s preference for military action was no surprise, since a self-governed Nagorno-Karabakh would have required conflict resolution that was at odds with his preferred authoritarian and centralized governance approach over the rest of Azerbaijan.

Aliyev’s boldness was enabled by Russia’s and Turkey’s interests. Both are intent on regional peacemaking. This allows them to maintain their dominance in the South Caucasus region and keeps both the European Union and the United States at arm’s length.

Russia and Turkey have developed a model I call “managed competition” in the South Caucasus to ensure their often competing objectives don’t undermine their common goal to exclude states with opposing interests.

They worked together during the 2020 conflict to ensure they were the only powers to have a presence by stationing peacekeeping and monitoring forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin corridor, albeit Turkey assumed a lesser and mostly symbolic role. The Turks are intent on doing so now as well.

The “two states, one nation” slogan used by Turkey and Azerbaijan to emphasize the ethnic kinship of their people underlies their strategic partnership, including co-ordination on foreign policy, energy and defence.

Turkey supported Azerbaijan with arms and by training the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in both the 2020 and 2023 conflicts.

Ilham Aliyev and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pose for photos in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in June 2021. (Turkish Presidency via AP)

Azerbaijan, in turn, has helped Turkey reduce its energy dependence on Russia and Iran by boosting its own gas exports.

Both Russia and Turkey regard military action in Nagorno-Karabakh as an opportunity to open the Zangezur corridor — a land bridge between the Nakhcivan (the only part of Azerbaijan sharing a border with Turkey and largely dependent on it) and the rest of Azerbaijan that will effectively provide a link between the two countries.

An increasingly isolated Russia sees in a friendly Azerbaijan a crucial link to Iran and its Persian Gulf ports and a valuable ally that gives it strategic depth in the South Caucasus.

By sacrificing its traditional alliance with Armenia and acquiescing to Azerbaijani aggression, Russia wants to convince Aliyev not to undermine Russia’s strategy of disrupting western natural gas supplies.

Furthermore, the destabilizing effect of a tense relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan strengthens Russia’s role as an arbiter in the region.

Aliyev knows how to stir nationalist fervour, and he’s likely to continue creating tensions if Russia allows him to.

He’s already been designating territories in Armenia as “western Azerbaijani lands” and vowed to work for “the return” of western Azerbaijanis to Armenia.

Another reason Russia is turning a blind eye to Azerbaijan’s military posturing — including its occupation of 50 square kilometres of Armenian territory — is the effect it has in destabilizing the current Armenian government.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan shake hands during their meeting in Russia in June 2023. (Ramil Sitdikov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

Russia considers Armenia a reluctant ally that’s increasingly looking westwards. Already, Armenia’s pro-Russian opposition anticipates the demise of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and its return to power, despite its history of corruption and cronyism.

If the current developments provide any indication of what a post-conflict scenario underwritten by Russia and Turkey will look like in the region, the picture is bleak.

Russia and Turkey opt for containment, not peace and reconciliation, and so tensions will likely intensify in the South Caucasus until the next opportunity to forge a genuine peace presents itself.

https://theconversation.com/nagorno-karabakh-whats-next-for-the-south-caucasus-region-following-azerbaijans-aggression-against-armenians-214661

Azerbaijan’s president scolded the European Union and warned that France’s decision to send military aid to Armenia could trigger a new conflict in the South Caucasus after a lightening Azerbaijani military operation last month.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev last week pulled out of an EU-brokered meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at which Brussels said it was standing by Armenia.

But Aliyev criticised the EU’s approach – and particularly France’s position – when European Council, Charles Michel, telephoned him, according to an Azerbaijani statement issued late on Saturday.

President Ilham Aliyev said “that due to the well-known position of France, Azerbaijan did not participate in the meeting in Granada,” the Azerbaijani presidential office said.

“The head of state emphasised that the provision of weapons by France to Armenia was an approach that was not serving peace, but one intended to inflate a new conflict, and if any new conflict occurs in the region, France would be responsible for causing it.”

France has agreed on future contracts with Armenia to supply it with military equipment to help ensure its defences, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on 3 October during a visit to Yerevan.

She declined to elaborate on what sort of military aid was envisaged for Armenia under future supply contracts. French President Emmanuel Macron scolded Azerbaijan, saying that Baku appeared to have a problem with international law.

Aliyev restored control over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh last month with a 24-hour military operation which triggered the exodus of most of the territory’s 120,000 ethnic Armenians to Armenia.

Aliyev said he had acted in accordance with international law, adding that eight villages in Azerbaijan were “still under Armenian occupation, and stressed the importance of liberating these villages from occupation.”

The Azerbaijani president visited Georgia on Sunday and thanked Tbilisi for offering to mediate for a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

But an Armenian envoy said he feared Azerbaijan could invade within weeks.

“We are now under imminent threat of invasion,” the Armenian ambassador-designate to the EU, Tigran Balayan, told Brussels Signal.

LOS ANGELES — Some mountains are places and some are symbols. Mt. Ararat is both, a national and cultural symbol of Armenia and popularly considered the Biblical resting place of Noah’s Ark. Which is why it’s striking to see mounds of earth from the mountain — little piles of soil, obsidian tools, and even animal remains — in a gallery alongside “The Light Under Dark Clouds,” a myth-making image of Ararat by photographer Sossi Madzounian that shows the mountain cast under dark and light clouds. These mounds of earth come from an 8,000-year-old farming community at Ararat, reminding us that it’s a place and a symbol, an ancient home since the dawn of agriculture.

The mounds, and Madzounian’s photo, meet visitors at the entry to Remain in Light: Visions of Homeland and Diaspora, an exhibition of Armenian photographers currently on view at UCLA’s Fowler Museum. Alongside Madzounian are photographers Ara Mgrdichian and Ara Oshagan, all diaspora-born Armenian artists who live in Los Angeles, a city and county that is home to the second-largest Armenian population in the world outside Armenia itself. 

“Quo Vadis?” by Mgrdichian, a photo of signs pointing to LA’s “sister cities,” highlights the importance of Los Angeles as a diasporic home. A small sign points to the right to indicate the direction of Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, 7200 miles (~11,500 km) away. Next to this work is “Hand in Hand,” a photograph of children from the Orran Center for socially vulnerable children and families in Yerevan. They hold pieces of paper with their handprints on them.

Much of the show jumps back and forth between Los Angeles and Armenia, underscoring the blurriness of living in diaspora. Part of what makes the exhibition successful is curator Gassia Armenian’s arrangements, which draw connections between themes and regions. In “Mother and Child,” Madzounian depicts the christening of a first-born son in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor Province. The photo is composed to look like a Virgin Mother and child, an important religious symbol in many Armenian churches.

A few walls down, Mgrdichian’s “Mgrdoutioune” depicts a baptism in Glendale, the heart of the Armenian diaspora in Los Angeles County, where a man, presumably a father, holds a crying child. In the nearby “Christening,” Ara Oshagan shows Der Hovaness, a priest at Gantzasar monastery in Vank Village, Armenia, administering a blessing. Like pictures traded on a family WhatsApp chat, the photos speak to each other across time and space, suggesting the glue that religion and ritual play for cultures in diaspora.

Other important connections include photos addressing the 1915 Armenian genocide — in Oshagan’s “April 24” (the date commemorating the genocide victims), a man wearing a t-shirt saying “Genocide Never Again” appears to be crying on the street, while in Mgrdichian’s “Fight the Power,” people march in solidarity as they wave the US and Armenian flags. “Lachin,” a photo Oshagan took in Artsakh, shows a young boy on wooden stairs in the Lachin corridor of Artsakh, which connects the region to Armenia. Azerbaijan launched an attack on the region in 2020 and, as of press time, over 100,000 ethnic Armenians have fled the area following a military offensive from Azerbaijan that started on September 19. 

Gassia Armenian’s decision to include the artists’ own words brings to life their stories, making them as much a part of the show as the people and landmarks they photograph. Oshagan offers his identity as “a neural network made up of American/Armenian/Arabic/French parts that are in constant flux, in harmony and contention.” It’s a useful way to describe the exhibition — like Ararat, the photos speak to home as both a place and a symbol. In the face of diaspora and resistance, dispossession and defiance, home is always in flux.

Remain in Light: Visions of Homeland and Diaspora continues at the Fowler Museum at UCLA (308 Charles E. Young Drive North, Westwood, Los Angeles) through October 15. The show was curated by Gassia Armenian, Fowler curatorial and research associate.

View photos at https://hyperallergic.com/847677/armenian-artists-contemplate-notions-of-home-and-belonging-remain-in-light-fowler-museum-los-angeles/

Washington, D.C. – A bipartisan initiative led by Representatives Frank Pallone, Jr (D-NJ), Jim Costa (D-CA), and Brad Sherman (D-CA), addressed a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development Samantha Power, urging them to take a strong stance to support Armenia and prevent Azerbaijan from further attacking the Armenian people, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).

The letter details the use of sanctions on Azerbaijan, ending all U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan, providing humanitarian assistance to Armenia, releasing prisoners of war and Artsakh government officials, providing security assistance to Armenia, and protecting Armenia's territorial sovereignty.

Highlighting the importance of promoting peace in the South Caucasus, the Members of Congress provide "concrete steps" to preserve Armenia's territorial integrity and express that the "United States must take bold actions to help democratic Armenia to protect itself against destabilizing, autocratic regimes like Azerbaijan."

Referring to the Administration's announcement of $11.5 million in humanitarian aid to help communities impacted by the Azerbaijani military attack on Artsakh, the letter states that the U.S. "must continue providing additional humanitarian assistance to Armenia to aid refugees who fled to Armenia from Artsakh" and "further encourage continued U.S. diplomatic engagement" to prevent "an all-out war in the South Caucasus."

"Signals from Azerbaijani President Aliyev indicate that his campaign of ethnic cleansing will not cease with his military attacks on Artsakh," the letter continues, citing reports that Putin, Erdogan, and Aliyev have "recently agreed to a deal in principle to dismantle the current Armenian state by allowing Azerbaijan to invade southern Armenia with full impunity."

"If these reports are accurate, this plan would trigger the full-scale invasion of a sovereign, democratic country whose foreign policy has made a sharp turn to the U.S. and the West."

Among the strong actions the U.S. can take to deter Azerbaijan's aggression, the letter underscores the use of the Global Magnitsky Act to "sanction President Aliyev and other Azerbaijani officials for their role in the military attack on and dissolution of Artsakh and associated atrocities and human rights violations," as well as ending all U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan by enforcing Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act.

The importance of providing strong security assistance to Armenia will help maintain peace and stability in the region, in addition to creating an international monitoring and peacekeeping force in Armenia to prevent a potential invasion.

The letter concludes by stating that the U.S. should "continue demonstrating [its] global leadership by taking strong actions to deter threats to the free, sovereign, and democratic Republic of Armenia."

"The Assembly applauds the Members of Congress for their relentless efforts to bring much-needed awareness and action to not only the Armenian people of Artsakh who have been forcibly displaced from their homes, but to prevent a potential attack onto sovereign Armenia," stated Assembly Congressional Relations Director Mariam Khaloyan.

The letter was cosigned by Representatives Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Dina Titus (D-NV), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and James McGovern (D-MA).

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

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NR# 2023-38

VAYK, Armenia (AFP) — Since Azerbaijan’s army overran the Nagorno Karabakh enclave in a lightning offensive last week, nearly 90 percent of the region’s ethnic Armenian population have fled out of fear of the victorious force.

Ofelya Hayrapetyan didn’t hesitate for a second when her son managed to reach Khachmach village and confirmed Karabakh’s border with Armenia had opened.

“I just took my jewelry. Women, children and the elderly, everyone left in the first vehicle they could find,” she said as she rested in Vayk.

In the Armenian town on the road to Yerevan, the authorities have set up a reception center to relieve congestion in the border town of Goris.

Removed from Nagorno Karabakh, the atmosphere seemed calmer — but refugees were unified in their revulsion at the Azerbaijani takeover.

“They are cruel! I don’t want to live with those dogs,” said Ofelya Hayrapetyan.

“It’s genocide pure and simple,” her husband added.

Sitting nearby, Spartak Harutyunyan played with his ten-month-old baby.

“The ‘Turks’ say we can stay, but they always lie. How can we live with them?” he said, using a derogatory shorthand for Azerbaijani forces.

By Saturday evening, separatist Karabakh was almost entirely deserted by its inhabitants.

According to a count by the Armenian authorities, 100,417 people have entered Armenia since September 24.

According to official figures, 120,000 Armenians lived in Nagorno-Karabakh before the Azerbaijani lightning offensive of September 19 and 20.

They arrived after fleeing, often without even having taken the time to pack a suitcase.

“A woman from the village stayed behind and they slit her throat,” says Hayrepetian, recounting an anecdote from two separatist soldiers.

Steps away, Alina Alaverdyan, 69, grimaces as she mentions the rumor “of the rape of the daughter-in-law” of an acquaintance.

“The kind of things that get into your mind,” she says.

“They’re not human. They’re dogs.”

Every family in Nagorno-Karabakh has heard such rumors, impossible to confirm and almost always obtained second-hand.

There are numerous accounts of babies being decapitated or young women being raped.

Yet most of the refugees admit that they did not encounter any Azerbaijani soldiers before fleeing.

According to the testimonies gathered by AFP, Baku’s army generally did not enter towns and villages, confining itself to the strategic heights and roads.

An exodus followed, sometimes spontaneously and sometimes at the instigation of local authorities.

“We were told to leave and in 15 minutes it was done,” says Marine Poghosyan, 58, insisting they would not return to Karabakh under any circumstance.

“I’d rather live here in a tent than go back there.”

A territory of less than 3,200 square kilometers — a little larger than Luxembourg — Karabakh has suffered four conflicts in recent history.

The first, between Armenia and Azerbaijan, lasted from 1988 to 1994 and resulted in 30,000 deaths and the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis and Armenians.

That was followed by numerous outbreaks of violence and wars in 2016, and then in 2020 when 6,500 died in six weeks and Armenia suffered a crushing defeat — and now the brief war in 2023.

Each refugee spoke of having lost at least one brother, son or husband in combat.

Images of alleged war crimes and atrocities, for which each side blamed the other, have begun to spread online.

“We talk about all this amongst ourselves. We’re going out of our minds,” said Alina Alaverdyan, a former military caterer who recalled that in Soviet times, “the Azerbaijanis were nice.”

“In this region, the Caucasus, there will never be peace,” said Hayrapetyan’s husband, who declined to give his name.

“There will always be wars, sometimes overt, sometimes covert.”