Dr. Ohannes Geukjian to discuss "The Future of Artsakh" at ARF Boston event

WATERTOWN, Mass. – The Boston Sardarabad Gomideh of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) is hosting an event in solidarity with the Armenians of Artsakh and their struggle for the right to self-determination. Entitled “The Future of Artsakh: An Existential Matter for Armenians Worldwide,” the event will be held at the Armenian Cultural and Educational Center (47 Nichols Avenue, Watertown) on Thursday, May 5 at 7:00PM. The event is open to the public.

Dr. Ohannes Geukjian will be the guest speaker at the event. Dr. Geukjian is the chair of the Department of Political Studies and Public Administration at the American University of Beirut. His work focuses on nationalism and national identity, ethnic conflict and violence, conflict management and conflict resolution, negotiation and mediation and political systems, in the Middle East, Russia and the South Caucasus. He has written extensively on the topic, having published four books, with the most recent one on The Russian Military Intervention in Syria (2022) and two publications on Artsakh, Nationalism and Conflict in the South Caucasus: Nagorno Karabakh and the Legacy of Soviet Nationalities Policy (2016), and Negotiating Armenian Azerbaijani Peace: Opportunities, Obstacles, Prospects (2014).

The Armenian government has embarked on a shortsighted policy of gifting Artsakh to Azerbaijan. It is not difficult to imagine the fate of the Armenians of Artsakh, should the current course of action continue. As concerned Armenian Americans, we cannot and must not sit idly by and let a government that grossly mismanaged an unprovoked war, resulting in loss of territories, over 4,000 dead and tens of thousands of injured and disabled Armenians, to make inept decisions followed by misjudged steps and diplomatic blunders that will adversely alter the future of our ancestral homeland and Artsakh. As survivors of the Armenian Genocide, we know the intentions of our enemies all too well, given our history in the region during the past 120 years.

The Armenian Diaspora has time and again stood shoulder to shoulder with Armenia and Artsakh. Today, more than ever, we need to voice our strong support for our brothers and sisters in Artsakh and their inalienable right to self-determination, articulated through referenda, and to live with peace and security on their ancestral homeland, under their own rule. Similarly, the Diaspora has and will continue to support an independent, strong, prosperous and dignified Armenia.