Author: Ani Kharatian

Many Armenians from the Nagorno-Karabakh region have been moved from their houses for the second time in their lifetimes. This is the second time that they have been forced to leave their homes.

Following their escape from the war-torn region in the 1990s, they reestablished their lives in Armenia, only to be displaced once more by the conflict that occurred in 2020. They are currently dealing with a sense of belonging that is becoming increasingly weak, as well as poverty and trauma, and they are facing an uncertain future.

Karabakh, which had been under Armenian control for a considerable amount of time, was retaken by Azerbaijan as a result of the current war. Because they were afraid for their lives, thousands of people fled the area as the conflict became more intense. A great number of people crossed the border into Armenia, coming with minimal possessions other than the clothes they were wearing.

Mariam, a 50-year-old woman who arrived in Armenia with her two children mentioned that they left behind everything that they had which included their house, their animals and their memories just so they would be able to survive.

The Armenian government scrambled to provide shelter, but many refugees ended up in overcrowded camps or temporary housing. They face a harsh reality of poverty and unemployment. Many lack proper documentation, making it difficult to access social services and find work.

They felt disoriented and did not know where they would be able to start because they have nothing there, according to David, a young man who lost his leg in the war. David stated that they knew they had nothing there.

Deep psychological trauma is caused by being uprooted from one’s home. A great number of refugees have the wounds of war, having been witnesses to acts of brutality and tragedy. Having trouble falling asleep due to the presence of nightmares. Especially vulnerable are children, who frequently withdraw from others and experience anxiety.

The prospects for these refugees are not clear at this time. There are many who continue to hold on to the hope that they will one day be able to return to Karabakh; nevertheless, the new peace accord has left the status of the territory unclear. Others are making a gradual but steady effort to reconstruct their life in Armenia, but the obstacles they face are enormous..

Mariam stated that they require assistance. In order to find work, to educate their children, and to recover from the trauma that they have experienced. The international community has pledged aid, but it has been slow to trickle down. Local NGOs are doing their best, but their resources are stretched thin. The plight of Karabakh refugees is a stark reminder of the human cost of conflict.

They are caught in a political limbo, their lives uprooted, their futures uncertain. As the world focuses on the geopolitical implications of the war, it must not forget the human stories – the families, the children, the individuals who have lost everything, twice.

Only through sustained support and a commitment to finding a lasting peace can these refugees hope to rebuild their lives and find a place to call home, once again.

The Karabakh issue no longer exists, Yerevan supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. This was stated by the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Alen Simonyan.

Azerbaijan continues to refuse to attend peace talks with Armenia, citing what it calls the biased approach of Western mediating countries. This time it was the U.S. that displeased Azerbaijan. 

On November 16, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry put out a statement announcing the country's decision not to attend a meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Washington scheduled for four days later.

The snub was in large part a response to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James O'Brien's testimony the previous day at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing titled "The Future of Nagorno-Karabakh." He told the committee that the U.S. was working on establishing a "comprehensive, thorough and transparent" record of what happened in the formerly Armenian-populated enclave before and during Azerbaijan's September military takeover. 

"We have commissioned independent investigators, we have our own investigators working in the field. There is information available from international non-governmental organizations and other investigators. And as we develop the record of what happened, we will be completely open about what we are finding. I can't put a timeline on this investigation, but we will inform you as we go forward," he said. 

O'Brien went on to express support for Armenia, which has been attempting a pivot away from Russia and is scrambling to accommodate the 100,000-some people displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh in September. 

"I am very impressed by the Armenian government's commitment to reforms and diversifying the relationships that it has – economic, political, energy and security – particularly in the Trans-Atlantic community," he said. "And I think we owe it to the people of Armenia to help them through this difficult situation so that those choices they have made very bravely are able to help them to make them have a more secure, stable and prosperous future." 

O'Brien also said that the U.S. had canceled high-level bilateral meetings and engagements with Azerbaijan (without specifying exactly when) and would keep urging Baku to "facilitate the return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians who may wish to go back to their homes or visit cultural sites in the region, as well as restore unimpeded commercial, humanitarian, and pedestrian traffic to the region."

In its statement the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry called the hearing "a blow to the Azerbaijan-U.S. relations in bilateral and multilateral formats."

"The groundless accusations voiced against Azerbaijan are irrelevant and undermine peace and security in the region," the statement read. 

On the day of the hearing, the U.S. Senate also adopted a bill titled "Armenian Protection Act of 2023". If it becomes law, the bill will suspend all military aid to Azerbaijan by repealing the Freedom Support Act Section 907 waiver authority for the Administration with respect to assistance to Azerbaijan for the years 2024 and 2025.

On that front, Azerbaijan's diplomatic body argued that the U.S. was repeating "the same mistake" it made in 1992, when Azerbaijan was sanctioned with this amendment, "despite being a state who faced aggression and occupation" at the hands of Armenian forces.

Also on November 16, the U.S. reaffirmed its support for Armenia-Azerbaijan rapprochement irrespective of who mediates. "We would encourage the two parties to engage in those talks, whether they are here, whether they are somewhere else, and that'll continue to be our policy," spokesperson of the U.S. State Department Matthew Miller told a briefing.

Baku for its part does not seem interested in the U.S. having an active role in those talks. For some months now, it has been expressing distaste with Western-brokered negotiations and instead shown a preference for regional mediators like Russia, Turkey, and Iran. 

And its latest statement, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry warned that, "[S]uch a unilateral approach by the United States could lead to the loss of the mediation role of the United States."

Defense News November 2023 Global Security army industry

According to information reported by the Indian news site Euarasiantimes.com, Armenia is strengthening its defense capabilities by signing a $41 million contract with India to acquire ZADS anti-drone military equipment. This new arms agreement is part of deepening bilateral relations between the two nations, which have intensified in recent years.

Armenia is strengthening its defense capabilities by signing a $41 million contract with India to acquire ZADS anti-drone military equipment (Picture source: ZEN)

Yerevan has concluded a deal with the Indian company Zen Technologies to supply the Zen Anti-Drone System (ZADS). The deal includes the delivery of an unspecified number of ZADS units and the maintenance and training of Armenian military personnel. Zen Technologies also plans to open an office in Armenia to facilitate these operations. Zen Technologies is a Hyderabad, India-based company specializing in the design and manufacturing of advanced simulation systems and drone countermeasures solutions.

Zen Technologies' Zen Anti-Drone System (ZADS) is a countermeasure solution to unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS). It is designed to detect and neutralize hostile drones by disrupting their communication with the ground control station. The ZADS is equipped with a radio frequency (RF) detector, a jammer, as well as antennas dedicated to jamming and detection. It also integrates a video-based drone identification and tracking (VDIT) system.

With a 5 km detection port and a 4 km detection capacity, the ZADS can simultaneously detect the signals of the global satellite navigation system (GNSS), the industrial, scientific, and medical radio bands (ISM), and the signals móviles. All frequencies are intercepted. This function allows you to deactivate the conflict between a hostile aerial vehicle (UAV) and the solar control station, meaning that the drone returns to its mission or returns to its base.

This acquisition comes in a context where the Armenian army is seeking to improve its air defense, particularly after the intensive use of drones by the Azerbaijani army, manufactured in Turkey and Israel, during the recent attack on Nagorno-Krabagh in September 2023.

As of September 2022, contracts worth $245 million have already been signed between Armenia and India for the purchase of Pinaka Mk-1 systems of multiple launch rockets, anti-tank rockets, and Indian ammunition. In November of the same year, an additional $155 million deal was reached for the delivery of Indian ATAGS (Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System) 155-millimeter howitzers to the Armenian army.

Pinaka is a multiple rocket launcher produced in India and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Army. The system has a maximum range of 40 km for Mark-I and 60 km for the Mark-I enhanced version and can fire a salvo of 12 HE rockets in 44 seconds. The system is mounted on a Tatra truck for mobility. Pinaka saw service during the Kargil War, where it was successful in neutralizing enemy positions on the mountaintops. It has since been inducted into the Indian Army in large numbers. About 5,000 missiles are being produced every year while an advanced variant is under development with enhanced range and accuracy. In 2019, an upgraded guided-missile version of the system had been test-fired, with a range of over 90 km.

The Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) is a cutting-edge towed howitzer developed in India. This artillery system was designed between 2013 and 2017 by a consortium of Indian organizations, including the Armament Research and Development Establishment, Tata Advanced Systems, and Kalyani Strategic Systems. The manufacturing of ATAGS began in 2019, with key players such as Advanced Weapons and Equipment India, Bharat Forge, and Tata Power SED contributing to its production.

If you would like to know more about the delivery of the ATAGS and Pinaka Mk-1, do not hesitate to consult the article written by the Army Recognition Group editorial team dated October 30, 2023.

Historically, India and Armenia have enjoyed friendly relations, and this support intensified following the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, where India's regional enemy Pakistan openly supported Azerbaijan.

As for the transfer of arms, it is reported that the military equipment sold by India to Armenia was transported through the Iranian corridor. Iran, which shares borders with Armenia and Azerbaijan, has historically maintained a neutral position, but with tilts favorable to Armenia, notably due to the presence of a large Armenian community in Iran and mutual distrust of Turkish expansionism in the region. This Iranian corridor provides a vital passage for Armenia, landlocked and blocked by its borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan, allowing a logistical route for the import of military equipment and other essential resources.

Historically dependent on Russia for its supplies of arms and ammunition, Armenia is diversifying its sources of supply, in particular, due to the deterioration of Russian-Armenian relations and Russia's involvement in the conflict with Ukraine. Armenian leaders have expressed frustration over Moscow's inability to honor post-2020 defense contracts.

Additionally, as reported by the Army Recognition editorial team on October 24, 2023, Armenia recently signed two arms contracts with France, including the purchase of three Ground Master 200 radar systems from Thales and a letter of intent for the future acquisition of French short-range surface-to-air missiles. Although financial details and delivery dates have not been disclosed, these agreements demonstrate the growing support of France, which has a large Armenian diaspora, and India, which supports Armenia in its conflict with Azerbaijan.

Watertown High School’s Armenian Club raised more than $1,100 to donate to the Armenian Relief Society in the wake of the ongoing conflict in Artsakh.

The Armenian Weekly reported that the students held a bake sale recently to raise money to help people impact in the region, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, which has displaced over 100,000 Armenians from the region.

The funds raised will provide food, shelter and medical assistance to the affected Armenians of Artsakh, according to the story.

Read the Armenian Weekly story by clicking here.