On June 17, hybooksonline.com, a newly established publisher specializing in the publication of electronic books (e-books), released Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte’s Nowhere, a Story of Exile, which chronicles her lost childhood in Azerbaijan.
In 1988, Astvatsaturian Turcotte was a 10-year-old girl living in the seaside city of Baku, in the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan. Like any other young girl, she had childhood aspirations, crushes, and dreams. That entire life was swept away as the majority Muslim Azeri population drove the minority Christian Armenians out of the country using terror and violence. Her family was forced to flee to Armenia, a neighboring republic still reeling from the massive earthquake and unprepared for the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Azeri-orchestrated pogroms. Once there, she found herself an outsider—a nation-less girl surviving in an unheated basement and facing discrimination again, this time by her own people.
Nowhere, a Story of Exile is a riveting, heart-wrenching story told through a personal medium— Astvatsaturian Turcotte’s diary entries that documented the organized terror in Baku, her life as a refugee, and her struggle to find herself, all against the backdrop of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The author gives a voice to the horrific tragedy little reported in the West, to the Armenian population of Azerbaijan, and to the child victims of ethnic cleansing everywhere.
Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte came to the U.S. as an Armenian refugee from Baku in 1992, and became a U.S. citizen in 1997. She now holds a law degree and was one of the first Americans to clerk for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, after observing its creation at the United Nations. She is married and has two children.
To purchase Nowhere, a Story of Exile ($9.99), visit www.Amazon.com or www.hybooksonline.com.
Abris to the author for her new book. Perhaps as lawyer she can help Armenians get justice in the courts, at least in part?
Such a courageous woman you are, Anna. You refused to let this major event in Armenian persecution go unrecognized. Thank you.
” facing discrimination by your own people”…. this was the hardest and cruelest part of their ordeal. Many refugees from Azerbaijan opted to leave and take refuge in other countries, instead of staying in our motherland. Now they are saying ” Ari dun” and let the people go.There is a big irony and no one is paying attention to that. Thank you so much for writing this book and continue the great job by revealing the truth.
I am looking forward to reading this book as I lived through the genocide in Baku. I was 4 years old when I left Baku and moved to Moscow. Came to US in 1993 as a refugee. So I can relate.
Thank you Anna!
Best,
Inna
I cannot wait to read your book, Anna. I am from Baku and came to the States at the same time you did, Dec.1992. I am upset by the true fact of Armenians from Baku, who now leave in Armenia are being called refugees. It brought me to tears to here them tell me this when my husband and I went to visit this village in Armenia. The Village is populated by the people from Baku. The conditions of their life there is extremely poor to the point of burning cow manure to keep warm in the winter. It is embarrassing to see how non Armenians try to help these people, yet local government and people disregard them as 2nd class citizens. They tell me “how are we refugees, if we came to our country, our soil”.
Unfortunately there is no unity in Armenian people that is why our problems will not go away.
Thank you for your book and donation to SOAR, looking forward to reading it.
Deana
As an American Armenian who has helped resettle Armenians from Baku in Michigan, I am very interested in reading and sharing your account of events and feelings as a young person whose life was changed forever. As I have witnessed many times, you were fortunate to be live free in America and prosper. I am proud of your accomplishments!
How many more and more years we need to learn that we are all together are Armenians. That’s really a BIG shame that until now we didn’t learn it. I feel very bad and disappointed.
CONGRATULATIONS Anna, thanks for your mission, God bless you and your Dear family. Amen.