Armenians worldwide are witnessing new lows committed by the incumbent government, made worse by the Armenian nation’s subsequent silence this past week.
In an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on October 19, 2024, parliament speaker Alen Simonyan said, “Attacking Karabakh and occupying territories from Armenia are different things from the point of view of the law. Azerbaijan carried out an operation in Karabakh, behind which it had at least three to four U.N. [Security Council] resolutions.”
The speaker of the Armenian National Assembly is thus rationalizing the genocide of the Armenians of Artsakh by falsely bringing up U.N. resolutions. David Davidian, a lecturer at the American University of Armenia in science and technology, provided a fact check of Simonyan’s treasonous statement in which he detailed all U.N. resolutions involving Artsakh, noting that Azerbaijan continues to violate Armenia’s international borders and use force for the acquisition of territory.
The callousness of equating the genocide of the Artsakh population with an “operation” as an Armenian, regardless of political position, is astounding. Unfortunately, Simonyan’s interview has garnered nary a response from Armenia or the Diaspora. In 2020, Simonyan stated, “Akna (Aghdam) is my homeland,” but today, he states, “that territory in question was and is internationally part of Azerbaijan.” Such statements in his official capacity are treasonous.
Not to be outdone, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was seen cozying up with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during the 16th BRICS summit in Russia in late October — the same Aliyev who has troops on Armenian soil and refers to Armenia as “Western Azerbaijan.” It is unimaginable that any leader with any dignity would engage as PM Pashinyan did with the architect of the most significant Armenian human and land loss in contemporary times.
These are part of the harsh realities that Armenians face today.
In a recent article in Time covering the plight of the Armenians of Artsakh, journalist Charlie Campbell wrote, “Many refugees don’t feel safe even amongst the tree-lined boulevards of Yerevan,” quoting Gayane Movsisyan, a 55-year-old former army worker from Stepanakert. During the displacement, Azeri soldiers taunted her, stating, “Where are you going? We are going to attack Armenia soon. Do you think you’re escaping?”
Since the 2020 war in Artsakh, Pres. Aliyev has claimed that the lands of modern-day Armenia are historically Azeri lands, referring to them as “Western Azerbaijan” and calling for their inevitable liberation. Weather reports in Azerbaijan use the “Western Azerbaijan” map for Armenia. Azeri students study the map of Armenia as Western Azerbaijan, and a Western Azerbaijan TV building opened this year in Baku.
According to the Virtual Western Azerbaijan site, “Western Azerbaijan is one of the oldest and most geographically diverse areas of Azerbaijan. In the past, it was located along important caravan routes that connected the northern and southern parts of Azerbaijan, as well as the entire Caucasus and the Near East. Currently, it is bordered by Georgia to the north, the Azerbaijan Republic to the east and southeast, Turkey to the west, and Iran to the south and southeast, covering an area of 29,800 square kilometers. While this land is now recognized as Armenia, its territory has historical significance as the ancient Turkic-Oghuz homeland and the historical land of Azerbaijan.”
Pres. Aliyev has demanded a clear statement from Armenian authorities about the return of ethnic Azerbaijanis expelled from “Western Azerbaijan.” He has also called for the repatriation of ethnic Azerbaijanis who lived in Soviet Armenia, but he has not mentioned the repatriation of ethnic Armenians who lived in Soviet Azerbaijan. Aliyev has made these demands amid negotiations of an Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty, with the signing of the treaty conditional on removing a reference to Artsakh from Armenia’s Constitution.
Moreover, an initiative group was established in the Azerbaijani parliament in October to facilitate the return of Azerbaijanis to “Western Azerbaijan.” The group aims to support “displaced Azerbaijanis” in returning to what they call their ancestral lands. The Western Azerbaijan Community, a public institution dedicated to this perversion of history, has called for international support.
All the while, Armenia’s government is happy to lie and manipulate the nation and host one festival after another to keep the people busy and sow further seeds of division between the homeland and the Diaspora. It acts with impunity and little criticism from Armenian citizens or diasporans, besides from the current opposition, yet no one seems to care.
Hanna Arendt, German historian and philosopher, said, “What makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other dictatorship to rule is that people are not informed; how can you have an opinion if you are not informed? If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer. This is because lies, by their very nature, have to be changed, and a lying government has constantly to rewrite its own history. …And a people that no longer can believe anything cannot make up its mind. It is deprived not only of its capacity to act but also of its capacity to think and to judge. And with such a people you can then do what you please.” The question is whether the Armenian nation has crossed this threshold where no one can believe anyone or anything, even when it’s to their own or their loved ones’ detriment.
As Lin Yutang said, “When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set.” The small men of the ruling regime have cast their ghastly shadows on the Armenian nation, lest the sun rises again.
Ara Nazarian, PhD
Latest posts by Ara Nazarian, PhD (see all)
- “When small men begin to cast big shadows” - October 30, 2024
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where is the opposition ,where is my fathers and grand fathers ARF and Fedayis .All the oposition does today is talk and talk and talk.Today and for the past 35 years we have no government in Armenia , all mafia thieves that destroyed the country.The people of Armenia are too passive.And we have no real and tough leaders any longer.All we have is a bunch of whimps.
Despite being a significant element of Armenia’s past, ARF–as well as other “traditional parties”– no longer have impact. They are part of history.
As you say, we no longer have leaders.
Just like the U.S.
It seems that Armenians have become accustomed to too much civility and are incapable of making hard choices. But there is hardly any counter-leadership. Tens of thousands of Armenians were on the streets not long ago. We saw a lot of pushing and shoving, an occassional bloody nose, but ultimately it turned out to be a forgettable fizzle… The Archbishop, in his infinite wosdom, stated that he didn’t want Armenian blood to be spilled. Was he expecting another Velvet Revolution? Pashinyan wrote that book and in this instance calculated perfectly that he doesn’t even need to blink. Clerics in another religion would have issued a fatwah. Vehapar visited Boston and gave inspirational and clean sermons. I didn’t hear a full-throated criticism of Pahinyan or the other scoundrels. The leaders of the ANC are great at photo ops in perfectly groomed poses. I’ve not seen Hamparian chain himself to the doors of the Armenian embassy and demand acocuntability. So if this is about insufficient rage (Dylan Thomas) and blowing off steam rather than a call to arms, dont expect anyone to be fired up.
The modus operandi states that protesters always eventually calm down and end. All you have to do is resist them for a few days and it is a done deal. This has been proven many times. Only violence can overthrow a government like the one in charge of Armenia.
Your conclusion is apt but seems not practical in the Homeland
Pash is a servant of you know who.
Let’s talk about harsh realities, shall we? The Armenian army is small and not very effective. Armenia’s closest ally in the region, Iran, is reviled by the West and facing its own problems. Armenia’s other ally, Russia, is unreliable at best. Armenia cannot rely on either Europe or the Us, but if Trump wins the election, his America First policy means an effective disengagement from NATO and a likely total abandonment of Armenia. Under these circumstances, Armenia’s best chance is to sign a peace agreement as soon as possible and normalize relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey. Otherwise, it may have to face either or both on the battlefield. And Yerevan is not that far from either Baku or Ankara.
So, now, an orthopedic surgeon and weekend politician thinks he knows what’s best for Armenia, a country in which he doesn’t live. So tell us, o great and stable genius, what do YOU offer as an alternative? All you have in your oped is criticism.
First off, why would Armenia have to face Turkey? Armenia is in conflict with artificial gas station of Azerbaijan not Turkey. Armenia has not made any provocations against Turkey and they already got what they wanted through state-sponsored mass murder and genocide a century or so ago. How would Turkey, as an aggressor, explain itself to the international community if it did what you suggest it might? Besides they are already conducting a proxy war against the Armenian interests through their criminal-collaborator Azerbaijan.
With the right leadership in office Armenia can handle Azerbaijan. We have the blueprint to defeat them. They are incompetent militarily and that is why terrorist Turkey has once again shown its ugly face in our backyard after a century of absence. The problem is not the Armenian army. The army was in much worse condition in the first Artsakh Liberation War three decades ago and triumphed. The enemy despite its massive petrodollar wealth and three times the population was handed its utmost devastating defeat they won’t forget in a thousand years. The problem is the traitor-in-chief Pashinyan who should never have been allowed to run the country let alone one in a state of war for the last thirty years. He weakened the army by retiring and replacing battle-hardened Armenian army officers and generals with many victories under their belts and replaced them with inexperienced ones subservient to him. This clown-in-charge has no clue about the army and has been a gift to the enemy. Our enemies his biggest supporters and are making sure he stays in charge so they can milk him for all they can and want while he is still in office.
What is best for Armenia is not to be antagonistic towards its traditional allies and have a much more balanced approach in terms of its foreign policy decisions, alliances it forges, and most important of all, Armenia needs to be self-sufficient and invest in the manufacturing and production of weapons it needs to defend itself. We can not afford to rely on others to come to our aid, not to mention putting all our proverbial eggs in one basket, and ultimately we must become self-reliant. When we commit to these things and fight for our rights, instead of acting like this defeatist loser in office, we will automatically gain the respect of the world community who will want to help us. Plain and simple, we must be in charge of our own destiny and plan for it accordingly.
Unfortunately Ara Nazarian‘s views and perspectives do not reflect current realities. For 30 years Artsakh was liberated and free from Azerbaijani rule yet successive Armenian governments of all political persuasions failed to turn the 1994 ceasefire into a permanent or durable peace. We blame other countries for failing to recognise Artsakh’s independence yet how do we expect other nations to recognise Artsakh’s independence when Armenia failed to do so for decades or even attempted to unify Artsakh with Armenia proper.
Armenia can’t forever dismiss or downplay UN resolutions we don’t have the influence or power of Israel. The fact is no international power – the USA, European Union, Russia, China or Iran supported Artsakh breaking from Azeri rule. They all continued to consider Artsakh part of Azerbaijan. We Armenians have justifiably have a different view and perspective, but when even Armenia failed to recognise Artsakh’s independence what basis to we formulate or justify our arguments on?
It is easy to be critical of current and even past Armenian administrations and demand a response to their actions by the Armenians living in Armenia and the diaspora, but the fact remains current geopolitical realities are shaping policies and events and not centuries old fantasies.
And while it is true that Azerbaijan makes threats against Armenia and calls it “Western Azerbaijan” etc, do we forget that until 2020 Armenian weather reports regularly showed Artsakh as a region of Armenia and presented the weather forecast for cities and towns in Artsakh? Or the fact that most Armenian households have images of “Mount Ararat” hanging on the walls of their houses as well as maps displaying “Greater Armenia” that incorporates the current territories of Georgia, Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan? Should Armenia’s neighbours of Georgia, Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan constantly fear possible Armenian expansion and aggression because Armenian households proudly display maps of “Greater Armenia”?
The recognition of Artsakh by Armenia was part of a planned process and Armenia could not, on the one hand, engage in peace negotiations with the enemy mediated by OSCE and, on the other hand, recognize Artsakh as an independent state or part of Armenia because that would have jeopardized the peace process and it would most likely have led to clashes and war with the enemy. The fact that Artsakh Armenians were carrying Armenian passports for travel abroad and were using Armenian currency was a proof that in many ways Artsakh was already integrated into Armenia and it was just a matter of diplomatic and political maneuvering to bring that recognition into fruition. Unlike Armenia, other nations could recognize Artsakh without risking war with our enemy. If “other nations” could carve out a piece of Serbia’s sovereign territory and create a state for the Kosovans with no connection to that land, and based on People’s Right to Self-Determination, why could they not do the same for the Armenians for a region nearly exclusively populated by native Armenians and with deep connection to that land since time immemorial unlike the case with Kosovo and the Kosovans? For many reasons among them the reliance and massive investments in Caspian oil & gas by these two-faced and spineless “other countries” comes to mind!
If the so-called current geopolitical realities in effect can force us to turn our back on seeking justice for our tragic past and throw in the towel, so to speak, what does that say about us as a people? To me it says that we are resigning ourselves to our tragic fate and that the World at large can make decisions for us and treat us as they see fit based on their own self-interests. That is a mentality that must be resisted and rejected.
How can anyone compare the legitimate view of Armenians on Artsakh which has been a crucial part of our ancient homeland and in many ways has acted as a defensive shield against enemy aggression and designs on our homeland while enemy’s fabricated history is purely based on anti-Armenian pan-Turkic fascist ideology that not so long ago led to the premeditated and state-sponsored terrorism, mass extermination and genocide of our nation resulting in the seizure and the loss of about 90% of our historic homeland’s total landmass, Western Armenia, to terrorist Turkish tribes from Central Asia?
Armenians are hanging pictures of the sacred and Biblical Mount Ararat because Ararat is the epicenter of the Armenian homeland and it is the national symbol of the Armenian nation. It is a reminder to every patriotic Armenian that our homeland is still under the occupation of genocidal Turkey. Turning our back on that is turning our back on our past and on our identity. Ararat literally means The Land of the Armenians as referenced in the Holy Books and when our enemies throw at our faces the current bitter reality that Ararat is in Turkey they are, in essence, acknowledging that Armenia is in Turkey. If an Armenian were to say what the Turks claim on this their expression is nothing less than an act of treason.
Armenians need to focus on current realities and not on the historical past. It is true the current land mass of Armenia is only 10 percent of the territories covered by ancient Armenia but we also need to acknowledge that international borders are never constant and subject to change. That change could be enacted via military means as is the case with Russia’s annexation of eastern Ukraine or Azerbaijan’s military operation and annexation of Artsakh or Through diplomatic processes. Let us suppose Turkey does the right moral thing and returns Western Armenia to Armenia with its current inhabitants of 15 million people becoming part of Armenia overnight. That will result in Armenia overnight moving from having a population of approximately 3 million to 18 million. Since the vast majority of the 15 million people living in current Western Armenia are Kurds, it would result in Kurds becoming the majority of the newly enlarged Armenian state – accounting for 83 percent of the population whilst Armenians would comprise 17 percent of the population. Even if the entire Armenian Diaspora is persuaded to move to Armenia and settle in the enlarged Armenia, Kurds would still form a majority of 54 percent. We know the entire Armenian Diaspora will not move to Armenia, let us assume 50 percent of the Diaspora or 5 million Armenians which is an extremely high number actually move to the new enlarged Armenia, that will increase Armenia’s population to 23 million with Armenians comprising 35 percent of the total population. No matter what population scenario we consider Armenians become a minority in Armenia if Turkey does the honourable thing and returns Western Armenia and its Kurdish inhabitants currently under Turkish occupation to Armenia.
The simplistic explanation provided by Ararat to explain Armenia’s defeat in the 44-day war is exactly the type of analysis that will ensure Armenia suffers ongoing military defeats. Hopefully military policy makers in Armenia will not be guided by such simplistic and fatal information. Armenia lost the 44-day war because it failed to keep pace with the military build up of Azerbaijan, especially from 2010 onwards. Largely thanks to purchases from Russia, Turkey, and Israel, the Azerbaijani army had superior tanks, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, and light utility vehicles.
Azerbaijan also achieved a quantitative advantage over Armenia in the number of artillery systems, especially self-propelled and long-range multiple launch rocket systems. Armenian forces had such systems, but in significantly smaller numbers. Azerbaijan also had an indisputable advantage in the numbers of aircraft and combat helicopters. Azerbaijan changed tactics and deployed drones for both surveillance and attacking purposes whilst Armenia continued to rely on 1990’s military tactics and technology. It is true that Armenia would have managed better militarily against Azerbaijan but after a week of military operations and with little progress being made by Azeri forces on the battlefield despite their superior numbers and technical and military capabilities, Turkey decided to intervene and assumed command of Azeri military operations. Under the direction and influence of Turkish generals the tide of military operations turned in favour of Azerbaijan. The new military leadership of the enemy started deploying kamikaze and attacking drones supplied by Turkey and Israel more effectively to take out Armenian defensive forces and positions and destroy their weaponry in the process. Armenia was simply overwhelmed as the enemy soon took total control of the skies and relentlessly deployed hundreds of kamikaze drones against Armenian forces causing high daily casualties. This is the reason Armenia lost the 44-day war. Armenia was not equipped to fight a new generational war based on drones and satellite technology and data. While Azerbaijan with its 80,000 active troops had the backing of Turkey, Israel, Pakistan and some 15,000 jihadist recruits from the Middle East, Armenia was left isolated with its traditional ally Russia remaining passive initially and later effectively cooperating with Turkey.