By Armen Sahakyan
Already this year we have seen Barack Obama inaugurated as U.S. president on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday and the European Union declare 2013 as the Year of the Citizen. Both of these celebrate democracy and liberty. A third event, less noted but important in its own way, is the celebration by the people of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic (Artsakh) of the 25th anniversary of their liberation movement, which led to the freedom they enjoy today.
Twenty-five years ago, the brave men and women of Artsakh decided to fix Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s arbitrary and illegal decision to sever Artsakh from Armenia, and to rejoin with the Republic of Armenia. Following the existing Soviet Constitution and all appropriate laws, the Nagorno Karabagh Autonomous Oblast held a referendum, in which over 90 percent of the people voted in favor of reunification with Armenia. It was an extremely rare example of a human rights movement and a brave step toward freedom within the Soviet Union. The West enthusiastically backed the struggle of the people of Artsakh for self-determination and self-governance. After all, this was the driving principle for the American, French, Haitian, and other revolutions that took place in the last three centuries. Why should Artsakh be any different?
Today, Artsakh serves as an oasis of democracy in the South Caucasus region. It holds regular and free elections, greatly praised by international observers and organizations. The economy of the country is growing each year, paralleled with a rising number of tourists. Recently, Artsakh rebuilt its airport to establish airway connections with third countries, only to witness neighboring Azerbaijan pass a law allowing its armed forces to shoot down “Air Artsakh” civilian airplanes.
In January, we all celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday and the National Day of Service. Following Dr. King’s philosophy of non-violence to achieve justice, the people of Artsakh have made great sacrifices in the last two and a half decades. It all began with non-violent protests in Yerevan and Stepanakert, which were aggressively resisted by the Azerbaijani and Soviet authorities, resulting in a bloody massacre of Armenians in Baku, Sumgait, Kirovabad, and other locations. And so the long-repressed and mistreated people rose up to demand their rights for freedom, self-determination, and democracy, all engraved in and supported by numerous international legal documents.
Azerbaijani authorities, drunk with petrodollars, have escalated their threats and acts of aggression. They have exponentially increased their military budget and begun a phase of unprecedented armaments buildup; declared the Armenians of the world as “their number one enemy”; pardoned and praised an Azerbaijani soldier who murdered an Armenian soldier at NATO’s Partnership for Peace Program; intensified ceasefire violations on the border; and claimed Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia that will soon be celebrating its 2,800-year anniversary, is “historical Azerbaijani territory.” The list goes on. Sadly, Azerbaijan’s destructive actions undermine prospects for regional security and prosperity, and even its own democratic development.
Azerbaijan’s aggressive stance is enabled by the “diplomatically balanced” statements coming from the OSCE Minsk Group and other world powers in the wake of every new Azerbaijani outrage. Rather than constraining Baku, these artificially even-handed responses only encourage greater aggression. Whereas Artsakh and Armenia have always maintained a position of resolving the conflict exclusively through peaceful means, and have never declared any group of people as their enemy, Azerbaijan has constantly threatened the world community with the possibility of war, and has increased its military budget exponentially year after year. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Where are the friends of peace when they are needed the most? Why expect Azerbaijan to step back from its march toward war if no one is willing to stand in its way?
I do not wish to believe that the morality of humankind has sunk so low as to rank oil a higher priority than a people’s unalienable right to self-determination. The same right that allowed Americans to declare their independence in 1776 and the same right that the U.S. has vowed to protect for other nations should always be provided for all the people living on this planet. Now is the time to reaffirm our principles and stand up for the same rights upon which this great American republic was founded. The Artsakh Republic has constantly proven that it is capable of sustaining itself as a democratic, prosperous, secure, and independent country, and it deserves its own place among the free countries of this world.
Armen Sahakyan is an honors student studying international political economy at Bloomfield College in New Jersey.
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Wow, this article must win an award if there was one for factual distortion. Where do I start?
You cite Martin Luther King and his non-violent moves. And yet you have resorted to military means to achieve your objective, with the result of over 600k refugeess and 3000 people killed ….
You say Stalin severed Karabak from Armenia. Show me one proof that it was part of Armenia before 1920! The last proof of official ownership of the land is the 1790 agreement between the Azeri King Penahali Khan and Russian, a vassal aggreement. Show me one proof or historical interevening event that puts Karabak uner Armenian rule between 1790 and 1920. Before even Stalin was born, Karabak was part of Azerbaijan. Yes, there was a dispute in 1920s but Stalin simple decided to keep Karabak in Azerbaijan. A far cry from “severing it from Armenia.”
You call Karabak an oasis of democracy. Really? How about 25% of its former population that was Azeri? Yep, an excellent democracy to murder and evict 25% of your population based on ethnicity! Very much like the US, Yes, indeed.
You also say, West enthusiastically supported Karabak independence? Really? Have you heard of multiple UN resolutions demanding the withdrawal of your military from occupied territories? How about EU documents?
I understand you may or may not have had legitimate claims to Karabak. Fine. Again, let’s be enemeis. But is there really a need for BS? Yes, there is, if you are lobbying (aka misleading) the White House or Congressment. BUt here on AW? BS for your own consumption? Really?
Kerim,
Where do you think such lies will lead you and your people? You guys will hardly move forward with such lies and ignorance, it is with the truth that your people will see better and bright days. Lies bring lies and eternal obscurity, because lies live in darkness. Truth brings peace and light eternally.
Are you really sure that your personal choice is the one which will guide you towards the light?
Your name ‘kerim’ means Generous, try at least to stay faithful to it.
{” And yet you have resorted to military means to achieve your objective, with the result of over 600k refugeess and 3000 people killed ….”}
Kerim:
If you stop lying, and retract your false accusations, I may take the time to refute the rest of your myths.
You know, and I know that the violence and bloodshed was started by your side.
Our side started with petitions, a legal referendum, and peaceful protests.
Your side resorted to violence and massacres starting 1988, and full scale military invasion of NKR in 1991.
And how nice of you to remember 600K Azeri refugees and IDPs.
No comment about 500K Armenian refugees and IDPs ?
(full disclosure: 170K Azeris were also forced out of Armenia)
(the 600K was originally 400K IDPs: 200K are children born in 20 years to those 400K IDPs.)
And the 30,000 killed were soldiers (actually 35K): about 5,000 Armenian soldiers KIA and about 30,000 Azeri invaders and their allies whose attempt to exterminate and ethnically cleanse indigenous Armenians from their ancestral homeland failed. AzeriTatarTurk invaders and their savage collaborators thought they will have a repeat of 1915: have a field day murdering defenseless Armenian civilians. Who would have imagined the cowardly gyavurs would put up an armed resistance against the mythical invincible warriors from Turan ?
No more long lines of unarmed Armenian civilians meekly marching to their deaths. Only one 1915 for Armenians. Even Artsakhtsi women stood right next to their men with AK-47s and RPGs ready to kill any invaders that broke through the lines of their men.
Tell your warmongering buddies that next time Artsakhtsi madmen may not listen to Moscow as they did in 1994, and may torch the whole region, if they face extermination. Don’t mess with Artsakh’s mountain men.
(yeah, the total is about 30,000 invaders KIA: some sources say 35,000 invaders were given a one way ticket to paradise by Artsakhtsi Mountain Warriors)
Kerim, you are back here in AW with your BS assumption and Turkified theology!! There was no Azerbaijan in the past until 1918 .. you are brainwashed and proclaimed fake historian like your Sultan!!!
Azerbaijan exist only in Iran and it is Persian name!! The new Axerbaijan is a stolen land and created first by British, then adopted by Soviets to get oil out of Baku GHANAT!!
We congratulate the 25th Anniversary of Artsakh’s Independence, however my disapointment is, why hasn’t the Armenian Government not incorporated our historic Provence of Artsakh into the Armenian Republic. We all know that Stalin the Dictator was the main cause of the loss of many of our Provences such as Nakhichevan, Javakh, Kars & Ardahan to the Turks, the Azeri’s & the Georgian’s. The Armenian Government must move immediately on our Historic lands of over 3000 years.
Only terrorists shoot down or warn to shoot down civilian airplanes & this is your infamous AXEbaijan.
HALO Trust, the world’s largest humanitarian de-mining organization is the only agency that conducts minefield surveys and clearance in Karabakh. The cleared areas are handed over and are now being used by farmers. Suspected areas are marked with signs “Danger! Mines!”.
Since 2000, HALO Trust has cleared about 10,700 mines, in addition to 43,000 explosive devises and cluster bombs. Cluster bombs are listed internationally as a prohibited weapon and Azerbaijan claims it did not use such bombs in the war. But according to a HALO Trust statement “evidence found on the ground speaks to the contrary — the Azeri forces had significant air capability, which involved the use of cluster munition bombing”.
Over the past 12 years, HALO has cleared a territory of about 27 square miles from mines, and 126 square miles from cluster bombs, which is nearly 90 percent of all minefields and 75 percent of areas affected by cluster bombs.
So far this year sappers of HALO Trust have found 183 cluster bombs in addition to 125 mines and 555 UXO.
Azerbaijan began shelling Stepanakert by “Alazan”, the modified “anti-grad” jet missiles. Weapons used against the civilian population included also military jet missile launchers BM-21 Grad, which supposedly had been internationally banned for use against civilian settlements.
We will never ever want to live with Azeris.