"I am the first Armenian, the first refugee and the first woman to lead the city’s council," Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte, an Armenian-American writer, philanthropist, lawyer and founder of the Anna Astvatsaturian Foundation, told Panorama.am in an interview, referring to the U.S. media reports about her “historic” election as the Westbrook City Council president.
Question: Armenians all over the world are excited about your election as president of the Westbrook City Council. What kind of position is it and what responsibilities does it entail?
Answer: I represent Ward 3 of the city on the Council. It’s a commitment of time and effort to lead the city, especially the direction of the city in terms of growth, development and budget.
Question: What made your victory possible? Was it due to being a writer, lecturer, lawyer or an activist?
Answer: The Ward 3 Council position was an election of the citizens of my ward. The newly elected Council then voted for me to lead them as a President. Hard work and dedication to my city is the reason for my success, and ability to work with variety of personalities and bringing differing opinions to reach common ground.
Question: Do you know that you are often called the “Armenian Anne Frank”?
Answer: I am uncomfortable with that comparison because Ann Frank died as a child in a Nazi concentration camp. I believe the media calls me this because of my published childhood diary I wrote in Baku when we survived ethnic cleansing. The hatred that made me a refugee and made Ann a victim of Holocaust is the same, however, and our childhood voices live on to remind the world what it does to generations of victims.
Question: The Azerbaijani agitprop has been so loose that today, even in Yerevan, one can hear absurd comments about the pogroms in Sumgait, Baku and Kirovabad. What efforts should be taken in this regard?
Answer: This is the Azerbaijan’s propaganda for the last 30 years. This is not new. This is what they have done to establish a basis of lies upon lies on which the Armenia lost the propaganda war. Now in many spheres of influence it’s accepted as a fact. When is advocated for Armenia to do more in responding to this strategy – not just this one but even past administrations – I was Ignored. And now Armenia is collecting the fruits of our inaction. This is one of many reasons we lost the war and continuing to lose. We are seen as an aggressor.
Question: 7. You are also known for your activities in defending the political rights of Armenians in the context of the Artsakh issue. Did the war change anything in this regard?
Answer: Of course. Everything changed. It’s been a year and we still can’t figure out how it changed the situation. Diaspora is still very much in shell shock and Armenian government is not helping resolve it. I’m doing what I’ve always done – working directly with the people on the ground and continue my work advocating for basic human rights of Artsakhtsis and I’m afraid to say this is not a priority for many.
Question: Is it true that you were one of the first American clerks at the International Criminal Court in The Hague? Please share your experience.
Answer: Yes, I clerked there in 2004. It was an amazing experience. I clerked there after working on the creation of the Court at the United Nations during law school. The ICC is a permanent international court, first of its kind.
Question: Your name is also associated with the recognition of the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic by the U.S. State of Maine. How did you achieve this?
Answer: My husband and aunt spearheaded this initiative and in mere 10 days the Maine legislature recognized Artsakh in 2013. This launched and became a momentum for my advocacy for Artsakh.
Question: Is your husband also Armenian?
Answer: He is a French Armenian.
Question: What about your kids? How do they feel about their nationality?
Answer: They consider themselves Armenians, while everyone else consider them American Armenians.
Question: Anna, you are known for your charitable initiatives. Wikipedia calls you a "philanthropist". Could you tell us about it?
Answer: I do what I have to do, but I do not like to talk about it, in any case, if there are people interested, they can get acquainted with my activity at the official website of the foundation. I will just say that today the most comprehensive and important initiative here is the fact-finding and documentary project of the Artsakh population, hostilities and damage caused to them – the Census.
Question: Our so-called neighbors are very active on your social media pages. How do you feel about threats, disturbing comments?
Answer: Sometimes they are aggressive enough to call the FBI for an investigation. And sometimes they are trolling just enough to ignore and move on. They don’t influence my work or level of my involvement. If anything – it makes me more determined.
Question: Do you think peaceful coexistence of the Armenians with the Turks and Azeris is possible? What could this "peace" propaganda lead to?
Answer: We lived in Azerbaijan for many years. My grandfather came in 1945. We always knew what was possible. What was done to Armenians during Genocide and the 1918 massacres in Baku. But we depended on the Soviet power to curb those violent sentiments amongst Azerbaijanis. For a while in worked. There was artificial peace. But the minute that power was shaken it was gone.
I don’t believe there could be peace without Justice. Reconciliation is a large component of moving away from tragedy and conflict. We do not see the conflict going in that direction. I believe with this type of propaganda we continue to hear against us in Azerbaijan more violence is inevitable. coexistence means mutual respect, trust and collaboration. Was this war a foundation for these sentiments? No.
Question: What are your fears?
Answer: I fear for the loss of Artsakh and Syunik.
Question: What about your dreams.
Answer: I am dreaming of peace and development in Armenia.
Question: How should we continue living? How did you overcome the post-war stress?
Answer: Just like we did after the Baku pogroms, by waking up and not forgetting who we are. They can't destroy us because we know who we are – Armenians, children of our ancestors, who survived worse. We, too, can do it.
Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte was born in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1978. She, along with her family, fled the anti-Armenian attacks in Baku in 1989. They spent three years in Armenia as refugees before immigrating to the United States in 1992. Her family was placed in Wahpeton, North Dakota, where she became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1997.
In 2012 she published her first book, “Nowhere, a Story of Exile”. It was based on a childhood diary she kept while her family faced the ethnic violence in Baku during the first Nagorno-Karabakh war. She began translating the entries into English at the age of 14. She also described their lives as refugees in Armenia after they escaped Baku. Her book was a first-person account of the anti-Armenianism in Azerbaijan and the Baku pogrom against Armenians.