Author: Kanayan Tamar

German Historian, “War in Nagorno-Karabakh is a Struggle of Civilization Against the Hitler of our Times”

Kanayan Tamar
POLITICS 14:10 04/11/2020 ARMENIA

Religious historian Michael Hesemann believes the war in Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh is a war of Turkey's puppet regime of Aliyev against Armenia – which is the lighthouse of civilization in the midst of barbarism. He believes that Turkey’s goal is to silence the Armenian genocide by silencing the Armenian nation. Dr. Hesemann calls for stopping Erdogan and condemns Israel’s sales of weapons to Azerbaijan, saying that Artsakh is a red line that shouldn’t be crossed.

• Dr. Hesemann, as a historian who studied the Armenian genocide, can you comment on the current military-political support of Turkey on behalf of Azerbaijan against The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/Artsakh and Armenia in the light of Turkey’s long-term goals? 

Turkey feels threatened by Armenia because more and more nations recognize the Armenian genocide. Everybody who is a member of the ruling class in Turkey today owes his riches and possessions to the Armenian genocide. Thousands of Turks robbed the Armenians and their houses after they were either directly massacred or sent on the death marches to the Syrian desert. So if indeed an international court would serve justice and demand a compensation from Turkey, just like Germany supports the state of Israel with billions of Euros as a compensation for the murder of 6 million Jews during the holocaust, Turkey with its fragile economy would collapse. This is why Turkey tries everything to silence talks about the Armenian genocide – and now tries to silence the Armenian nation! This is not a war of Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh, but a war of Turkey's puppet regime against Armenia – always keep this in mind.

• What measures by the international community (especially countries that have recognized the genocide) can be effective in putting a stop to Azerbaijan’s aggression, if any? You once said, "had Turkey been condemned for genocide, the situation in Middle East would have been different". How about the current situation?

Turkey should become a total outlaw until it recognizes the Armenian genocide. You can only prevent future genocides if you don't let anyone get away with it. Genocide should be considered an unforgivable, major crime against humanity which in any case requires adequate retaliation. The denial of any recognized genocide, not just the holocaust, should automatically cause sanctions on the responsible state. The international community should recognize Artsakh, which has been an Armenian land for 5000 years or more; so is Western Armenia. Turkey broke the taboo of international justice and re-introduced genocide into modern history.

The Armenian genocide was the role model for the holocaust and any other subsequent genocides. Also, Neo-Ottoman aspirations caused the terrorist war in Syria, in Iraq and now in Libya and Artsakh. Turkey is the main aggressor in any of those cases, the power behind the murderous civil war in Syria, behind Islamist terrorism, behind the chaotic situation in Libya. First of all, Turkey deserves no place in NATO. It should be outlawed until it learns that terror is not a method of 21st century policy any longer. If Turkey is not willing to become a civilized nation, the international community should reinforce the Treaty of Sevres and return the stolen territory to the Greeks, the Armenians, the Kurds, the Aramaic and the Assyrians.

• As a citizen of Germany – a country which apologized and paid Israel for holocaust, how do you feel about Israel providing massive amount of arms to Azerbaijan fueling its intentions to destroy Artsakh and Armenians?

I love the state of Israel and would defend the Jewish homeland at all cost. But Israel ignores that holocaust was a brainchild of Turkish Islamic-fascism and that the Turks even planned to massacre the Jewish Zionist settlers in Palestine in 1917 and now they support Azerbaijan! This is a Schande – a great shame! Israel should be a natural ally of the Armenian people, especially because of their common history. I can only call the Israeli alliance with Azerbaijan extremely short-sighted, because Azerbaijan is just the puppet state of Turkey and Erdogan already openly declared that the ultimate goal of his policy is the "liberation" of Jerusalem, the Israeli capital. Liberated from whom? From the Israelis and from the Jews. The murderer of Armenians today is the murderer of the Jews tomorrow. Any Israeli who supports Erdogan should know that he supports the new Hitler, the ultimate enemy of the Jewish people and the great, beloved nation of Israel!

• Why should the world care about Armenia and about stopping Erdogan? To what extent do you see this as a fight against civilization or Christianity? What consequences would this have for Europe and the civilized world?

Because Armenia is a lighthouse of civilization in the midst of barbarism. The Armenians by nature are a peaceful nation of artists and intellectuals. Armenia has given so much to the world and has the potential to give even more. Armenians just need to live in peace. That's their nature. They are builders of civilizations, not destroyers. The civilized world has the responsibility to protect a peaceful civilized nation against any aggressor. Erdogan is the Hitler of our times. He inserted Islamist terrorism into Syria and Libya, he supported Islamist terrorism in Egypt. Why nobody stops him? Why is there appeasement everywhere, like there was in Munich 1938? Artsakh should be the red line.

The world should get up and tell the most dangerous dictator of our times, Mr. Erdogan, to stop now or he would be stopped. The Turkish aggression has to end right here and now. Not one step further. Otherwise, he will also go for Jerusalem, attack Israel, and then we all have to expect World War III. If you learned anything from history, from the great mistake of the masters of the "Appeasement" policy in Munich 1938, it is this: Never give any dictator the impression that the world would hesitate and close its eyes, since this always is understood as a permission to go one step further. Erdogan has to be stopped now by the international community, before it is too late. If we wait, we will all regret it sooner rather than later.

Interview by Nvard Chalikyan


Number of mercenaries deployed from Middle East to NK conflict zone reaches 2000 – Russian FM

Kanayan Tamar

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 18:27, 3 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. Russia calls on external players to use their capacities to prevent the deployment of mercenaries from the Middle East to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone, as their number is already approaching 2000, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview to Kommersant.

“We, of course, are concerned over the internationalization of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the involvement of militants from the Middle East. We have repeatedly called on the external players to use their capacities to prevent the transfer of mercenaries whose number in the conflict zone is already reaching 2000 according to the existing data. This topic was discussed in particular during the October 27 telephone conversation of Russian President Vladimir Putin with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as during the regular contacts with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. We continue persistently pushing forward our position through various channels”, the Russian FM said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Asbarez: Aliyev Urges Russia to Stay Neutral In Karabakh Conflict

Kanayan Tamar

November 2,  2020



Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has called on Russia to maintain neutrality in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh given its status as an international mediator.

According to Interfax-Azerbaijan, while receiving in Baku Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States Baghdad Amreyeev on Monday, Aliyev said: “The prime minister of Armenia has sent a letter to the president of the Russian Federation, asking for military support. This is completely unacceptable. And there are absolutely no grounds for that, because we are conducting actions in our territory, we are defeating the enemy in our lands, freeing them from the Armenian occupation, while we do not attack the territory of Armenia.”

Aliyev went on to say that as a co-chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group Russia is supposed to maintain a neutral position on this issue, which he said is stipulated by the mandate of the OSCE, whose Minsk Group co-chairmanship also includes the United States and France.

On October 31, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin in which, invoking a 1997 treaty with Russia, he formally asked Moscow “to define types and amount of assistance” that it can provide to Armenia. Pashinyan said that the fighting between ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan that broke out on September 27 was approaching the country’s borders and that some encroachments on the territory of the Republic of Armenia have already taken place.

In response to the letter the same day, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed Moscow’s commitment to Armenia under the 1997 Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, saying that “Russia will render all necessary assistance to Yerevan if military operations take place directly on the territory of Armenia.”

At the same time, the Russian ministry again called on the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to halt military operations immediately, deescalate the situation and return to “substantive negotiations” to achieve a peaceful settlement.

Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan also signaled Yerevan’s agreement to the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, but said that such a move would require the consent of all parties to the conflict.

Last week, U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said that he believes that Scandinavian peacekeepers should be deployed in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.

Meetings with members of the Armenian community of Los Angeles on Friday, October 30, O’Brien said any armed peacekeeping force in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone should not include Minsk Group co-chairs, including the United States, or neighboring countries.

“Any sort of Turkish mediation or peacekeeping role is a non-starter for the United States, as well as for Armenia,” O’Brien said.

“We believe that both countries should accept Scandinavian peacekeepers, and we are working with Scandinavian governments to put together a peacekeeping force that could be deployed into the region to keep the ceasefire,” the senior U.S. official added.

Commenting on O’Brien’s statement on Monday, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said that issues like this should be coordinated with the parties to the conflict.

“You should ask the Americans where they got these proposals and ideas from. All the necessary parameters of possible mechanisms should be agreed upon in consultations with the parties to the conflict,” the Russian diplomat said when asked by journalists to comment on O’Brien’s remarks.
Officials in Yerevan and Baku have not yet commented on O’Brien’s statement.

Azerbaijan Sets Over 4,000 Acres of Artsakh Forests on Fire

Kanayan Tamar

November 2,  2020



Azerbaijan is now burning Artsakh’s forests

In addition to targeting the civilian centers and population in Artsakh, the Azerbaijani armed forces, specifically in that past few days, have been deliberately burning Artsakh’s forests, said Artsakh Human Right Defender’s office, which added that Azerbaijan has been using white phosphorous to set the fires.

A fact-finding mission headed by Artsakh’s Human Rights Defender Artak Beglaryan released that the deliberate fires set by Azerbaijan have already burned more than 1,815 hectares (more than 4.400 acres) of forest across Artsakh. He warned that the fires, which can spread fairly rapidly, continue to burn.

”The State Service of the Emergency Situations of Artsakh is taking steps to extinguish the fires where applicable,” said a statement by the state body. “But a crisis remains imminent.”

“With this, the enemy is trying to create an environmental crisis, in addition to the humanitarian one it has already perpetrated,” added the statement by Artsakh’s Emergency Situations Service,

“Given the size and geographic stretch of the burned forests, the population of Artsakh is facing an ecological disaster, which undermines the environmental security in the region and can have long-term dangerous consequences for the life and health of the people of Artsakh. Moreover, the Azerbaijani armed forces, with these criminal methods, intend to harm the civilian population sheltered in the forests,” warned Beglaryan.

Artsakh Human Rights Defender’s office shows where the forest fires are burining

The Ombudsman emphasized that the deliberate burning of the forests by the Azerbaijani armed forces is a war crime, and called on the international community to take practical steps to condemn Azerbaijan and apply punitive measures.

“We strongly and resolutely condemn the continued employment by Azerbaijan of prohibited means and methods of warfare under international law in the course of armed aggression waged against the Republic of Artsakh beginning on September,” said a statement by Artsakh’s foreign ministry on Monday.

“Specifically, the Azerbaijani armed forces, in addition to using cluster munitions, have begun deploying phosphorus-containing incendiary ammunition in wooded areas close to the areas of the Republic of Artsakh, where some civilians from nearby villages have been temporarily seeking shelter,” the ministry said.

Official Stepanakert waned that “terror tactics” used by Azerbaijan are aimed to exterminate Artsakh’s population and urged the international community to recognize Artsakh’s independence, utilizing mechanisms adopted by the U.N. and other international bodies to salvage a threatened population.

“First of all, in this context, it is necessary to consider the consistent refusal of the Azerbaijani side to observe the humanitarian truce, since the continuation of hostilities allows the Baku authorities to further terrorize the civilian population of Artsakh. It is for this purposes that the Azerbaijani side resorts to the use of prohibited weapons, deliberate attacks on the civilian population and civilian objects, including medical units, setting itself the main task of exterminating and forcibly deporting the entire population of Artsakh,” the ministry says.

“Thirty years ago, the people of Artsakh chose the path of independence as a means to protection themselves against Azerbaijan’s deliberate policy of exterminating the Armenian population. We are convinced, that under these circumstances whereby official Baku is attempting to complete its criminal plan, international recognition of the de facto independence of the Republic of Artsakh would an urgent and proper steps by the international community to fulfill its generally accepted obligations to prevent crimes against humanity,” the Artsakh foreign ministry said in its statement.

Russia comments on US-proposed Scandinavian peacekeepers in Karabakh conflict zone

Kanayan Tamar
Public Radio of Armenia

Nov 2 2020

The idea of deploying Scandinavian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, proposed by the US, should be discussed with the parties to the conflict, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko told journalists on Monday, TASS reports.

“It is necessary to ask the Americans where they got these proposals and ideas. All the necessary parameters of possible mechanisms must be agreed upon in consultation with the parties to the conflict,” he said.

Asked whether the Russian side is aware of the idea, Rudenko said that “we only know what US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien said.”

O’Brien said at a meeting with the Armenian community of Los Angeles that “any armed peacekeeping force in Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone should not include Minsk Group Co-Chairs, including the United States, or neighboring countries.”

“Any sort of Turkish mediation or peacekeeping role is a non-starter for the United States, as well as for Armenia. We believe that both countries should accept Scandinavian peacekeepers, and we are working with Scandinavian governments to put together a peacekeeping force that could be deployed into the region to keep the ceasefire,” Mr. O’Brien said.


How Mercenaries in Nagorno-Karabakh can destabilize the situation

Kanayan Tamar
Modern Diplomacy
Oct 28 2020
 
 
 
 
 
By  Vishal Sengupta
 
It is almost a month now since two of the former Soviet countries pitting against each other, The orthodox Christian Armenia and Muslim majority Azerbaijan. So far many casualties have been reported from both the side, however, what drew the attention and need to address soon is the involvement of the mercenaries in the conflict.
 
Historically mercenaries were used by many historic kingdoms to fight on their behalf or protect themselves from outside attacks for example the group called The Ten thousand a mercenary unit mostly consisted of Greeks who were hired by Cyrus the young to fight against his brother.
 
Then in the 14th Century came the famous John wood’s “The White Company“. An English Mercenary group consists of people of English, German, Hungarian origins. This group was famous for its expedition in Italy
 
Similarly, during the infamous raids by the Ottoman king Mahmud the II on the Byzantine Empire, the defence of the walls was handover to a famous Italian Mercenary Giovanni Guistiniani, who was given the task of defending the walls of the Kingdom with his army of Mercenaries. Throughout the raid, he and his mercenary army were able to hold up the post until he was shot and wounded during the last raid.
 
In the modern era, the mercenary fight was seen during the world war when few American volunteer pilots who called themselves The American Volunteer Group later were known as the infamous The Flying Tigers. Fought along with the Chinese against the Japanese forces in Burma (Myanmar).
 
Due to changes in the War and international Scenario, countries started hiring people for their conflicts so that anonymity can be kept. From Afghanistan to Syria the concept of mercenaries can be seen. But due to the complex international structure, the use of Mercenaries has become a debating topic for many reasons.
 
Destabilizing and international issues related to the hiring
 
Any military has to follow the basic rules of engagement that protects those combatants who were injured during the conflict and civilians who had to face the wrath of the conflict so for better understanding the International Humanitarian law had categorized the conflict into two areas a) International armed conflict b) No international armed conflict.
 
As per the Geneva Convention 1949 Article 2, the international armed conflict is when two ‘High contracting parties’ are involved. So technically it means in an international Armed conflict only military combatants of the states will be used however the situation with mercenaries is very different. The definition provided in the Additional protocol I suggested six-point that makes a party or individual a mercenary and as per IHL Database Customary IHL, the group had to meet all the six points provided in the definition to be claimed as a mercenary.
 
However, the problem arises when foreign Mercenaries started to enter into the war as many countries like Italy, France, and even Additional Protocol I does not acknowledge the mercenaries as a combatant or POWs that means any involvement of mercenaries will not just destabilize the situation more but it will cause great human rights violation
 
The legal Status of Mercenary is again something that causes a major issue in the international arena for example Under International Humanitarian Law being a mercenary is not seen as a crime and they had to be treated properly according to the fundamental guarantees under Article 75 whereas under two International conventions one is International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing, and Training of Mercenaries adopted in 1989 and second is African Union, the Convention for the Elimination of Mercenaries in Africa both deem the use of mercenary as a crime.
 
Another important aspect brought into the light was the fact that these groups function anonymously and secretly and because of their secret nature it becomes hard to trace their origins as we have seen in the case of 2014 “The little Green man” incident was Russian involvement was alleged however the government denies any involvement with the incident, similarly the recent news of Turkey sending ex Syrian fighters to fight along with Azerbaijan was also denied by Turkey despite recent Reuters report of two Syrian fighters agreeing to the fact that they were sent by Turkey. Due to the clear deniability of the host nation, it became tougher to implement international law on them which lead to more human rights violations.
 
Human rights Violation
 
As the conflicts are becoming more private with the hiring of mercenaries the chances of human rights violations are also increasing and to address such issues Resolution 7/21 by Human Rights Council suggested the creation of The Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination. But it was the Nisour Square Massacre 2007 by the employees of “The Blackwater” PMCs that forced the international community for having a strong global regulation for mercenaries or PMCs.
 
Mercenaries in Nagorno-Karabakh has a greater impact not only on the disability of the region but also might cause human rights issues, as mercenaries are notorious for committing heinous crimes like Drug trafficking, rape, murders, etc there are high chances that the hiring of Syrian mercenaries will lead to a humanitarian issue as the majority of the  Syrian fighters who previously belonged to the Anti-government rebel faction called the Free Syrian Army is being used in the conflict, though Turkey denied their involvement in hiring however many reports suggests that at least twenty of the soldiers belong to the Syrian rebels were killed in action who were hired by Turkey. As per the Guardian article written by Bethan Mckernan suggest that Turkey was paying the soldiers of the Murad division with almost 10,000 Turkish liras to protect the Azerbaijani Oil refineries.
 
The Mercenaries are always convicted of committing human rights violations like Murder, Drug Trafficking, Rape, etc. So far it is not exactly clear which group is being used in the Nagorno-Karabakh region but as per the news reports, the fighters mostly belong to the Turkish-backed Murad division and Free Syrian Army. Interestingly the members of the groups were involved in the recent Syrian crisis were as per the United Nations the same rebels were involved in many human rights violations like execution, torture, etc. that mostly went unnoticed in the similar lines an article in Business insider suggests how the Free Syrian Faction started involving in crimes like smuggling, Kidnapping, etc even Amnesty International on War Crimes in Syrian Conflict reported the human rights violation committed by the members of the Free Syrian Army.
 
Similarly, Murad Division has a history of attacking and torturing the members of the People’s Protection Unit (YPG). The division was also accused of committing violence in the parts of Afrin a Human Rights Digests published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human rights pointed the violence like theft, harassments, murder and other abuses were committed by this group in the Northern Syrian region.
 
As there are no reports of hiring procedure there is a high chance that some criminals might have been hired in the conflict and might commit the same level of crimes they had committed during their days in Syria.
 
Paving way for terrorism and more conflict
 
Mercenaries have a history of committing crimes especially Transnational in nature and that is something even Antonio Guterres the current Secretary-General of United Nations had mentioned during his meeting summoned by Equatorial Guinea.
 
The usage of Syrian mercenaries will not only create a way for terrorism in the region but might lead to more sectarian and proxy conflict. As historically in many conflicts world has seen ex-terrorist being hired as a mercenary force in different battles for example Chechen rebels have been fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan similarly many Yemeni mujahedeen fighters went to Afghanistan during the Afghan-Soviet fight who later became the reason for the creation of Al-Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula. Similarly, recent reports on ex ISIS fighters are being hired and sent to Nagorno-Karabakh is not only alarming information but this might also lead to the rise of the declining Islamic State of Levant- the Caucasus.
 
The historically Caucasian region was never free from insurgency and extremism the North Caucasian region was always infested with terrorism from groups like Al Qaeda, Jaish al-Muhajireen Wal- Ansar, Islamic Djamaat of Dagestan, and most importantly the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant – who involves a large number of foreign fighters for their fights. During the First and Second Chechen War, the region had seen a huge influx of Arab fighters participating in war similarly the group Jaish al-Muhajireen Wal and the Islamic States also believes in hiring foreign fighters for their cause and this is what makes them more troublesome in the region and involvement of Ex Islamic State fighter in the battle will open the Pandora box.
 
With Azerbaijan having their band of mercenaries fighting for them, reports also suggest that Armenia is also hiring Kurds especially Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and The People’s Protection Unit (YPG) to train the Armenian Militias to fight the war against the Azerbaijani forces and also the infamous Armenian Secret Army for the liberation of Armenia, fighters allegedly being hired to fight on their behalf. Kurds had a history of fighting on the behalf of Armenia as this is not the first time that Armenia had hired Kurds as their mercenaries, in 1923 – 1929 Armenia supported the Kurds group to form what previously was known as Kurdistansky Uyezd. This is the same group that is being designated as a terror outfit by Turkey, United States and even by the European Union, however, Armenia does not deem them as terror outfit this will create an issue for the international community to decide who is a terrorist and who is not and whom to put under trial as International Humanitarian law suggests that these mercenaries can only be prosecuted under the national laws, so if Armenia denies their involvement they might escape the trial and continue their fight and with such complexity in the international law famous dilemma of one man’s Terrorist Another Man’s freedom fighter will again arise and make this situation more tricky.
 
As Kurds, Free Syrian Army, Turkey getting involved in the fight this will surely push the parties into a different sectarian war as Kurds had an old rivalry with the Turks and Syrian rebels, similarly, the fighters of the Armenian Secret Army for the liberation of Armenia had a history of attacking the Turkish interest in the 1980s. With Pro – Armenian groups arriving to fight against the Turkish backed Azerbaijan, and countries like Russia coming into play this will increase the insecurity of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan which might push Erdoğan towards recruiting more no-state actors to achieve its dream of spreading its power and with insecurity more international state and non-state actors in the conflict might arrive which will make the issue more violent and complicated.
 
Conclusion
 
As the world becoming more privatized, countries are trying hard to make the war privatized as well by hiring mercenaries to protect their interest. Due to the lack of a proper international framework for mercenaries identifying the crimes committed by mercenaries is becoming hard and with such complexity bringing Mercenaries by both parties not only pave way for more insecurity in the region but also opens the door for more human rights violation.
 
It is high time that international parties especially Armenia and Azerbaijan should pledge to remove all the mercenaries form the current conflict so that proper international mechanism can be used to create peace among the parties
 
 
  

EU Says Armenia’s Airspace is Safe

Kanayan Tamar

October 20,  2020



Armenia’s air traffic control room

The European Union’s Aviation Safety Risk Assessment Group said Tuesday that it deems Armenia’s airspace as safe and manageable, give the ongoing military aggression by Azerbaijan, the Armenian Civil Aviation Committee said.

The committee said it has taken measures to ensure the safety of Armenia’s airspace for civilian and humanitarian flights during the war in Artsakh.

The committee said it has published three “notes to airmen,” which in aviation circles are commonly know as NOTAMs addressed to all airlines. The first notice advises pilots to carry out extra risk assessment before flights in conditions of the ongoing military actions at the border. The second warns pilots about the possibility of drones flying in Armenian airspace given the several airspace breaches by Azerbaijan using UAVs during the course of the past three weeks.

The third NOTAM informs pilots about certain restrictions in the airspace, with some parts declared as no fly zones as safety precaution.

EUROCONTROL and EASA have expressed their confidence in the Armenian aviation authority’s measures regarding implementation of obligations and ensuring safety.

Armenian Genocide Continues

Kanayan Tamar
Colorado Boulevard
Oct 17 2020

By Elya Ouzounian

Artsakh, also called Nagorno-Karabakh, is an independent republic of ethnic Armenians situated between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This mountainous region of the Southern Caucasus has been a center for Armenian life and resistance for thousands of years. Before the 18th century, the population of Artsakh’s highlands and lowlands was exclusively Armenian. Artsakh’s Armenian majority has never dropped below 75% of the overall population.

In the mid-1700s, Turkic tribes infiltrated the region from Northern Artsakh, starting a war with local Armenian families. A century later, in 1805, the historical territory of Artsakh fell under rule of the Russian Empire. A long period of peace between the Armenians and Turkic Azeris of this region followed. After the Russian Empire fell in 1917, this tranquility ended.

Following the dissolution of the Russian Empire in 1917, three independent states emerged in the Southern Caucasus: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the First Republic of Armenia were established in 1918; since their creation, these states have had disputed borders. Within three years of their establishment, both countries would become Soviet Socialist Republics.

Between the years 1918 and 1920, taking advantage of the turmoil of World War I and the collapse of the Russian Empire, Turkish forces joined by Azeri military units destroyed Armenian villages in the regions of Artsakh, Nakhichevan, Baku, and Ganja. On March 23, 1920 Turkish and Azeri troops plundered the Artsakh city of Shushi, massacring the entire Armenian population of 20,000 people and burning to ashes the Armenian half of the city. These killings in Eastern Armenia were an attempt to expand the 1915 Armenian Genocide to the Caucasus region.

The 1915 Armenian Genocide took place in the Ottoman Empire where the Young Turk government systematically deported and massacred Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks living in Anatolia. One and a half million Armenians were massacred and hundreds of thousands were marched into Syria’s Deir al Zor desert; this displacement resulted in the 11-million-person Armenian diaspora. The settler-colonial state of Turkey and its proxies have been trying to cleanse West Asia of its indigenous people and create a pan-Turkic nation for centuries.

In 1988, Armenian groups both in Artsakh and in The Republic of Armenia began a campaign for a union of the two regions. This campaign began with demonstrations and led to violence and bloodshed between Armenians and Azeris. Pogroms targeting Armenians in the towns of Baku, Sumgait, and Ganja forced Armenians to abandon their communities in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.

In 2001, Anthony Bourdain visited Armenia and Artsakh for an episode of his show, Parts Unknown. Following this visit, Bourdain was banned from entering Azerbaijan; anyone who has traveled to Armenia and Artsakh or has Armenian ancestory is banned from entering Azerbaijan.

For the Armenian people, this war is existential. As a lifelong Artsakh resident says in the above clip, “If we lose, we know we will be destroyed.”

<a href=”"https://youtu.be/WOc3bhVFB9U"><img src=”"https://i1.wp.com/i.ytimg.com/vi/WOc3bhVFB9U/0.jpg?resize=420%2C295&ssl=1" alt="" width="420" height="295" data-recalc-dims="1" /><br />Watch this video on YouTube</a>

Anthony Bourdain shares a meal with three Armenian men from Artsakh while they discuss the situation.

The most recent aggression by Azerbaijan in 2020 has sparked the most destructive and deadly fighting in the region since the 1990s. Armenian soldiers between 18 and 22 years old are fighting and dying on the frontline. Veterans of Artsakh’s first liberation war and Armenians from the diaspora have returned to defend the region.

The states of Azerbaijan and Turkey are connected by strong ethnic, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and historic ties. Their relationship has been referred to as, “two states, one nation.” Azerbaijan is a major economic investor in Turkey and Turkey is the main channel for Azerbaijan’s petroleum exports. Both states harbor a hatred of Armenians and have systemically embedded Armenophobia into their institutions.

In a tweet from October 12th, 2020, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev says, “We will build cities across the liberated lands and turn those areas into paradise. Those lands will reinvigorate, life and children’s laughter will return there. Citizens of Azerbaijan will live on those lands in dignity.”

The Armenian population of Artsakh is nearly 150,000 people, Armenians have inhabited the region since before the country of Azerbaijan existed.

In a speech on July 22, 2020 regarding the Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict, Turkish President Recip Tayyin Erdogan threatened to continue the genocide of Armenians and pledged support to Azerbaijan.

“We will continue to fulfill this mission, which our grandfathers have carried out for centuries, in the Caucasus again…. Turkey will not hesitate to side with Azerbaijan, a country that has a long friendship and brotherly relations against any attack on its rights and territory.”

Ethnic minorities in Azerbaijan have begun boycotting forced conscription in this war. Talysh people in Azerbaijan are refusing army conscription, blocking roads, and facing off against Azeri military. A live broadcast from the Azerbaijani TV “Hural” confirmed that in the Talysh city of Lenkoran, the population protests Aliyev’s order to enlist in the army.

President of the Independent Republic of Artsakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, is a veteran of the first liberation war and has been on the frontline alongside Armenian soldiers. Harutyunyan comments on the current situation in a press briefing on October 11:

The people of Artsakh started the struggle for self-determination, to live freely, in 1988; what is taking place today against the people of Artsakh is outside the scope of humanitarian principles. It can be considered ethnic cleansing, a genocide, that is being committed not only by Azerbaijan but with the support of Turkey and international terrorists. It is clear to the world, that terrorists now have a foothold in the region.

Nikol Pashinyan was elected as Prime Minister during Armenia’s Velvet Revolution in 2018 and has been serving since. Pashinyan said on October 3rd in an address to his nation:

Turkey and Azerbaijan are pursuing not only military-political goals. Their goal is Armenia; their goal is continuation of the genocide of Armenians.

Many young Armenians cannot visit the lands of their parents and grandparents in Azerbaijan and Turkey because of border policies barring them and fear of violence. The 60,000 Armenians who remain in Turkey live in fear of aggression. The Armenian people have been surviving, fleeing, and dying from genocidal violence for centuries. Their land has been stolen by the Turkish and Azerbaijani states and abused under Soviet Russian leaders. Azerbaijan’s latest attempt to steal Armenian land and cleanse it of its people and its ancient history does not come as a surprise. The Armenian people are fighting against large, heavily armed neighboring countries to live peacefully in their homeland.

Elya Ouzounian is a resident of Los Angeles and studies Critical Theory in Social Justice.

 

 

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