The Armenian Revolution: A change came

By Tatiana der Avedissian

Photo courtesy of Raffi Ouzounian

2018 will go down in Armenian history as the year the young fought and took back control of their country. A small grassroots movement from the opposition turned into one of the largest protests witnessed in Armenia, and for once political support was pouring in from the diaspora, mainly the younger generation, the expats and the disenfranchised encouraged by what they saw on the news and on their screens. Many would argue the writing was on the wall, but no one believed we would reach this monumental milestone so quickly and with such little struggle. Seven months later Armenia has transitioned into a new government with a mandate to reform and revitalise its economy.

In 2017 I visited Armenia for the first time and fell instantly in love with my ‘motherland’ so I went back two months later to attend the diaspora conference organised and hosted by the Armenian government. It was a fantastic gathering of Armenians, however the conference itself lacked any clear vision on how to secure the future of Armenia and its people. Many of us were invited to participate in ‘meaningful discussions’ and ‘listen to the experts’ talk about the future prosperity of this beautiful country and yet, there didn’t seem to be a real drive to create impactful change. It was all fluff, a word which has almost become part of my daily vocabulary of late; we are surrounded by it, meaningful/meaningless calls for action with no clear strategy. One of the main topics of discussion that week was how to stop the outflow of Armenians, but no one was willing to address the big elephants in the room when discussing this critical topic; corruption, nepotism and lack of economic opportunity. The apparent solution to this and many other challenges seemed to be placed on the shoulders of the diaspora; we should invest in Armenia in order for it to prosper and not expect anything in return. While I may love my culture and its people, that is pure folly and not how the real world works. I have heard of many burnt fingers in the last 20 years spurred from such noble acts. I left Armenia that September with a realisation that things would never get better and no amount of money would affect change without radical reform.

դուխով (duxov) - Photo courtesy of Raffi Ouzounian

I have spoken to many young Armenians over the last few years who felt the same way as me so, when I started doing some research for this article I decided the best people to ask how they felt about the revolution were the very people who drove it through their enthusiasm and unrelenting resolve to change the direction their country was heading towards and take back control of their future.

One young Armenian living in London who participated in the demonstration here and watched the action from afar comments “I was so very proud of the unity our people showcased, and the clever - genuinely clever and quirky - ways people began protesting. It sort of ‘proved our Armenian-ness’ and character as a people if that even makes any sense. Kids blocking zebra crossings with their toy trucks, babies with ‘milk-eating strike’ written on their backs (կաթադուլ), regular workers like barbers, business owners, salespeople providing their services out on the street, people dancing, singing, playing drums. Ah, it was beautiful to watch.”

As if singing from the same hymn sheet they have all used the same words to describe how they felt about the revolution and its impact; hopefulness, empowerment, positivity and interestingly weariness.

Photo courtesy of Raffi Youredjian

The protests may have started from the opposition, but the real heroes are the youth of Armenia who were driven by an innate desire for change. They now talk about returning, investing, working in Armenia; a notion not often heard when speaking to them before. Meanwhile the diaspora, young and old stood behind the protestors, those with no stakes in the current government at least, because they too understood the urgent need for reform. Gone are the days when we would be compelled to give money to our ‘motherland’ to secure its future because it became abundantly clear that money was not the issue. Like any problem, throwing money at it doesn’t solve the core issues of cyclic poverty, hunger and desperation. Nevertheless, the high of the revolution is wearing off and people are settling back into reality, realising that one resignation and a new government alone will not change the fate of this land and its people. Yes, many feel corruption is on its way out, but is it really? Some are already feeling the change in their day to day lives. Valentina Hovhannisyan says her “family massively feels the change,” she goes on to say, “It's a hard process that has already begun and I think will continue. I think even people who used to take bribes have changed.” Others however feel we have not gone far enough. Do we have the right talent leading our country? Some are concerned by the amount of young people taking up posts with little experience on how to run government. Are the elders so inherently corrupt that we cannot rely on them?

The real test will be the economy, but reimagining institutions and changing norms takes time. One big event can change the course of history but more, a lot more, needs to be done, if we want to secure Armenia’s future. Hayk Bagradjans feels, “The revolution is not over yet—the hardest part has just started; thoroughly reforming institutions and changing people’s mentalities is needed.” He thinks, “Complacency is probably the greatest risk to the revolution, hence, we need to keep fighting for the aims of the revolution and not forget about the historical watershed moment we have been offered by history.”

Our biggest challenges can not only be found internally but externally too, with the influence of foreign powers, border security and regional instability. Lilit Gevorgyan, a senior economist at IHS Markit still has concerns. She thinks the old guard have retreated but have not been defeated, “As predicted right after the revolution, new parties have emerged that are covertly linked to the old regime, and the Russian capital. Their message is one of aggressive conservatism and pseudo-patriotism; their ultimate objective is to hijack constructive criticism with mud-slinging and continuous negative PR campaigns to discredit the revolution and bring the old guard back.” So like Hayk, for Lilit this is just the beginning.

As one young student further noted, “There’s a belief that locking up a few oligarchs or going after two-three key figures for PR and populism is the solution instead of working to solve the real issues...The view from many of those around me seems to be that Pashinyan et al are just playing politics now. The system needs to be overhauled from the roots, which I hope will come to fruition this year.” What does ‘New Armenia’ mean to these young professionals and students? For Andre Simonian, an Armenian rock musician, it means, “Hope, and hope was in a deep coma in Armenia for the past 20 years.” When the demonstrations first erupted, I was very weary because I was worried about the instability it would cause for our borders. But as the movement grew, I reminded myself that we cannot keep the status quo for fear of a worse outcome; that’s how autocratic states are created, they rely on the fear factor, the unknown! More importantly the young were not interested in party politics they just wanted change from the dysfunctional system they had to work with. In Pashinyan they found a man brave enough to stand up to the previous government, so they stuck with him whether they liked his politics or not.

Photo courtesy of Raffi Youredjian

So what is the immediate impact of the revolution and what is its legacy? American-Armenian Ani Garibyan says, “That the people have power; that is its biggest legacy.”

After interviewing many of these young Armenians I realised that none of them are under any illusion, they know there is a long road ahead before we can feel and see the benefits of the revolution, but these small wins encourage them and me to keep the momentum going. I cannot wait to go back and visit this ‘New Armenia.’

This article was originally published in the 2019 issue of Bardez, the bulletin of the Armenian Institute.

Stones that Speak, Stones that might Unite

Reflections on the Series ‘Re-Introducing Ani 900-2021’

 

One of our projects here at AI is the Armenian Studies Group, a safe, welcoming space for scholars, writers and artists to share their work-in-progress, and get constructive feedback. Back in March I gave a talk to the ASG, sharing for the first time an overview of the results from my current research project, a social, political and economic history of the medieval city of Ani 900-1400, seen in its global context. The response from the participants was so positive and encouraging, that it became clear that there’s a real appetite for a fresh look at this famous and familiar site, as well as a pressing need for long-term projects of various kinds to ensure its preservation, and enable further study. So, I began to get in touch with scholars and organisations working on Ani, and we began to discuss.

These discussions led to a series of talks held this last July, titled ‘Re-Introducing Ani 900-2021’ and co-hosted with our friends at the Association for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Turkey (Kültürel Mirası Koruma Derneği, KMKD). Founded in 2014 on the initiative of philanthropist and humanitarian Osman Kavala, KMKD’s mission is to document and preserve cultural heritage within Turkish borders, on the understanding that ‘the cultural assets created by all communities of Anatolia is the wealth of Turkey and the legacy of humanity.’ The series’ title indicated our desire to look with fresh eyes at one of the most spectacular, and perhaps most emotive and contentious, of Armenian sites within modern Turkish borders. We also wanted to honour and continue Osman’s crucial role in initiatives around the site since 2011, following his politically-motivated imprisonment, as seen in our Hrant Dink memorial lecture earlier this year. I think it’s safe to say we achieved both goals.

A symbolically broken bridge over the Akhurian river, half in the Republic of Turkey, half the Republic of Armenia.

A symbolically broken bridge over the Akhurian river, half in the Republic of Turkey, half the Republic of Armenia.

I first visited Ani in the summer of 2015. It was the end of my first year as a PhD student, and I wanted to see the landscapes and sites described in the eleventh-century history of Aristakes Lastivertsi, the focus of my doctoral research. Following an intensive course in the history and material culture of medieval Cappadocia, I travelled east, first to Van, and then up to Kars. My plan was to drive out to Ani, and then to go up to Erzerum and Artvin, to see the historic Armenian-Georgian region of Tao/Tayk, with its spectacular tenth-century churches. This whole region, from Van/Vaspurakan up to Tao/Tayk, formed Aristakes’ world.

On the road to Ani.

On the road to Ani.

So I arrived in Kars, went to my hostel, and started planning car hire for the next day. Driving out along the brand new road from Kars airport, I was overwhelmed by joy—as well as a little trepidation at driving on the right for the first time. The landscape between Kars and Ani is like a piece of the central Eurasian steppe, transported to the point where eastern Anatolia, northern Mesopotamia, and south-western Caucasia meet and intermingle. I passed Kurdish-speaking pastoralists with their herds, many of whom are Yezidis in this region, and experienced a sense of pure freedom at the prospect of discovering the city for myself. I was here, alone, equipped with bread, basturma, cheese and olives, and ready to explore.

Through the Gate to Ani.

Through the Gate to Ani.

Arriving at Ocaklı village, you’re immediately confronted by Ani’s famous double-circuit of walls. Walking through the Lion’s Gate for the first time, the sudden vista of the city space expanding before you is an experience no one can forget, let alone adequately describe. Of course, there’s a sense of melancholy, too. The information boards describing Ani’s history talk of kings with no mention of the fact that the Bagratuni rulers described themselves as shahanshahs of the Armenians, and, indeed, the Georgians. The legacy of the Genocide, and the consequent erasure of Armenianness from these lands in official historical memory, forms an inevitable subtext to any visit, underlined by occasional groups of Armenians on pilgrimage, and the sight of the Republic of Armenia just across the river. In fact Armenia was a financially tangible reality during my visit, as my phone connected to Armenian networks and incurred exorbitant charges for leaving the provider’s “Europe Zone”—a telling claim in itself. And this erasure and silence emphasises all the more Osman’s bravery in pursuing inter-communal initiatives for preserving Ani, provoking the fury of Turkey’s nationalist establishment, and contributing to his current persecution.

Inscriptions on the Cathedral of Ani.

Inscriptions on the Cathedral of Ani.

Aside from Aghtamar which I’d visited two days earlier, this was my first time at a medieval Armenian site, and I was struck by one thing above all else: the sheer density of inscriptions covering the walls of surviving buildings. My undergraduate degree was in ancient and medieval history, so the potential of inscriptions for uncovering unique aspects of social, political and economic history was clear. I had walked into an archive-in-stone, and my mind buzzed with curiosity at the stories Ani’s stones waited to tell, the worlds of which they might speak.

These inscriptions formed the basis of my contribution to the series, which gave an overview of Ani’s development from 900 to the 1300s, using the inscriptions to tell a social and economic history beyond the familiar tale of the rise and fall of the Bagratuni kingdom of Great Armenia. Following this historical overview, in our second session Christina Maranci discussed the archaeology of the site, and focused in on the citadel with an enticing interpretation of the cathedral’s placement and decoration in relation to the city’s royal centre. Our third session with Heghnar Watenpaugh moved from Ani itself, to its reception and representation in art and literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, an emotional tour that revealed how the city assumed its proportions in contemporary Armenian worldviews. The fourth and final session from Yavuz Özkaya, chair of the KMKD board, turned to the situation of the site today, and preservation efforts to ensure its survival into the future. This session was perhaps the most affecting and poignant, not least the story of how stone for the preservation of the eleventh-century church, Surp Amenaprkich, was sourced from Armenia, and worked onsite by an Armenian master mason.

Osman Kavala at the site of Ani.

Osman Kavala at the site of Ani.

The series had more than 150 participants in our Zoom sessions, with hundreds more watching on Facebook and YouTube afterwards. The level of participation has confirmed our view that there’s a big appetite out there for collaborative, transnational projects around the city of Ani, and, with our friends at KMKD, we’re planning exactly that. No new projects have been permitted by the Turkish Ministry of Culture since 2014, and Osman’s now more than three-year long imprisonment and persecution doesn’t suggest that things will change any time soon. What’s really needed is a transnational network of scholars, organisations and interested persons, who can come together to form the basis for new collaborations and projects that will preserve the site for future research and generations. Ani’s stones can speak to us, and, maybe, they might be able to bring us together too.

Sophia Armen: Armenian Genocide Justice Today

In April, we released a podcast with U.S. based organiser, activist, scholar and feminist Sophia Armen, talking about the importance and nuance of what Armenian Genocide justice could truly look like today.

Olivia: My name is Olivia Melkonian and today I’m joined with our program manager Dr. Nik Matheou, a Cypriot activist within the Kurdish freedom movement and Sophia Armen, a Los Angeles based organiser, scholar and writer. Today we are going to be discussing the importance and relevance of organising across global communities, and also why the Armenian struggle does not end at recognition.

Sophia: My name is Sophia Armen, I am born and raised in Los Angeles, California where I am coming to you today. I have a hard time identifying in this way… but I am organising in the community here and I am a writer and I am also a scholar. My most recent work has been with two organisations, The Feminist Front, which is a grassroots youth organisation which is at the intersections of gender and racial justice; and the Armenian Action Network, which is a very exciting, new platform for research and advocacy for the needs of Armenians in the United States. Of course connecting our issues of social justice, to global justice as well.

O: Nik and I were talking about this as well when we were looking into the episode as well, but that article that you.. well I guess it was the conversation that was transcribed into the article in 2019.. about how activism for the Armenian Genocide is still an issue today. I remember reading it and it was kind of when I started using sounds and I got into telling Armenian stories through sound and it just really was the first literally like modern take on it and, I guess, an explanation as to why it is so important to today and why everyone has a role to play in it.

Nik: That was the way I found out about you as well Sophia and it was a real breath of fresh air to see the Armenian Genocide and activism for recognition being spoken about in this way because it has at least been rare in my experience to see people speak about it as an issue of racial justice that is immediately connected to other issues of social justice in the region, that has both it particular Armenian struggle and also it’s broader regional and human struggle. So really excited to talk today.

S: Appreciate it, and I just, because you brought it up, I want to say that the woman who I did the interview with was Banah Ghadbian who is a deep personal friend and sister organiser. And she really helped, I think, me be brave about trying to address many of the issues I think we are facing globally. And I say this only to affirm her incredible work that she has been doing. She is a Syrian Arab poet and really a daughter of the revolution. So I want to say that part of the easiest way to do these things is to do them in community and so that is why I am happy to be here with you all to continue those conversations in community.

O: So my first question for you is quite topical, you are based in the U.S., and the U.S. is on the verge, we hope, of recognising the Armenian Genocide. Nik and I are here in the UK; we don’t see any progression on recognition, so what do you think this means for the respective U.S. and U.K. based diasporas, and how do these governmental decisions impact our activism?

S: Right before this conversation (laughs) I was literally emailing different organisers across the U.S. to get them to urge Biden to recognise it, that I don’t think it is quite in the bag yet! (laughs) But I will believe when I see it, and I only say that because, especially the Democratic party unfortunately has often given us some false hope and promises. So I believe, a hundred percent that it is so possible, and that has to be the lifeblood of how we continue to work, but I just want to say that I don’t think it is guaranteed until it happens and then we will see it. (laughs) But I think we not only are in a prime moment for this recognition within the U.S. but it’s been a long time coming. And that is what I really want to emphasise, is that when the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate passed this in 2019, I received a lot of questions about you know, is this just the timing, why is this happening and I just have to emphasise even with Biden: the possibility of finally recognition happening in the U.S., right, that this is the product of one hundred years of struggle, of grassroots Armenian struggle, in this country, and also around the world. And this is not some coincidence. It is really because of the compounding effects of all of those generations who have fought. Those legacies all are needed so that each next generation can take it up.

S: And so unfortunately, and I say this unfortunately because it is just the truth for so many Armenians in the U.S., is that three generations of my family have fought for this within the U.S. and so many times we have heard the same response be--well it is not politically convenient, it doesn’t help America’s geopolitical, (sigh) imperialist interests in the region, we need to worry about Turkey’s alliance with the U.S., we need to worry about NATO, etc.--- and I think we really need to probe at why it has taken so long, more honestly, because I think other communities need to understand those dynamics that we face. And so, I want to say that if Biden, does recognise it, and he must, He must! It is a complete outrage, a moral outrage, that the U.S. has not recognised the Armenian Genocide because of these geopolitical interests. And if he does, it means that we have triumphed. Our grassroots organising, our activism has triumphed. That is what has won. I think what it means is, is that community organising, that our initiatives, that our building together does work.

S: So now when we talk about the U.K., and I am sure you all have much more insight on this than me, but what I will say is that so often the United States and the U.K. have essentially assisted with their global human rights violations or their lack of reckoning with history, right, or have been accomplices in repressive regimes around the world-- together. And often one will do something and one will follow suit and that is both ways. And so I am really hoping that if Biden does recognise the Armenian Genocide, which we are deeply hopeful will happen on April 24th this year, that that will encourage all global leaders to recognise the Armenian Genocide. And as we know this recognition piece in the Armenian struggle, in its history has always been only one slice of it, one part of it, and it is definitely not justice, but it is deeply necessary and needed. 

N: I think that is a really important perspective to see these kinds of changes, especially when they go against the geopolitical grain, or they seem to go against the geopolitical grain, not as just decisions of governments like you say. It might be just a decision that they make because that option is available in a particular political moment, but what’s made that option available and what has given it the political weight that it has behind it is exactly the organising of generations of people on the ground. And I think, yeah, that can get lost very often in these kinds of struggles. I see it as well as the Armenian Genocide, also in Cyprus, with trying to get negotiations. We can't have a sort of lobbyist attitude to this. This has to be a continuous mobilisation.

S: We saw the House finally bring it to the floor in the United States, because we elected the most diverse, and the most women in Congress in the history of the United States. And it is no coincidence that finally the elements of the Democratic Party that were able to bring forward this global justice issue, happen to align in the moment with the community organising and with who was, then, in power. And so I also want to say that Biden’s election is thanks to the work of people on the ground, in especially Southern states, communities of colour, who really.. all of these pieces have to all fall in line for us to now finally be here in this beautiful, triumphant moment. So each of these wins are built on each other, just as the Senate was built on the House win. And so I always want us to think about that U.S. recognition is always connected to the other struggles that are happening in the United States and the more we empower those that are structurally disempowered in the U.S…it helps all people who are struggling.

O: So what do you think Armenian self determination looks like today and how do you think we can learn from these indigenous struggles that reimagine sovereignty? This question was kind of inspired by looking at the resistance of Armenians in Van in 1915 and looking at the same place today and the strong presence of the Kurdish resistance there which makes the city a historical and modern centre of survival against the same forces.

S: So I think, for one, when we talk about the Armenian Genocide as a system and structure of power, it’s not about a one time event, or a one time moment in history. So if we think about genocide as a structure of racism that replicates itself over and over again, then we are able to get at the root of what is causing it and how to prevent it, or how to stop violence. And of course, we know that the roots of the Armenian Genocide is a racial ideology, pan-Turkism, or Turanism, depending on how you want to frame it, but, in the experience of the Armenians this was very obvious in that the construction of “the Turk” was not only named as superior but anyone who did not fit that construction was a target of violence, and is to this day. And so that’s what we see: the refusal within Turkey to reckon with these historical ghosts… are still haunting everywhere. And it is very interesting I think that you all bring up Van, because I am Vanesti (laughs) and my grandfather’s father was in the self-defence of Van. His name was Anooshavan. And he is part of those absolutely fascinating Armenians who, unfortunately not only had to flee, but then left his family here and went back to fight in the self-defence of Van… all within the period of a couple years. 

S: And I say this because I think people think of these moments in history very romantically, or abstractly, or outside of people who are living today, but the truth of the matter is just like my family from Van, my family from Kharpert, my family from Istanbul, my family from Hadjin.. we all still know where our houses were or are; we all still know the land that we are connected to. And the Kurdish struggle today in so many ways, though it is not the same and I want to emphasise that... it mirrors so many of the not only forces, but ways that people have had to resist those forces with the Armenian struggle, in Turkey. And we know this because it’s not just that, you know, Kurdish people are seen as second class citizens, but once again that the very foundation story of the Turkish state is unraveled by those of us who do not fit within this Turanist or pan-Turkist vision. And that there will be no peace without justice. Not only for these historical crimes, but for a justice that is forward-thinking, that thinks about a Turkey, or thinks about a region, in a much different way.
S: Because this racism, is actually also poisoning the people who are inflicting it. Because when you define yourself, based on the “othering” of communities, you will constantly have to perpetuate violence, in order to erase those other people, through every generation. And so, when we see Van today as such an important centre of the Kurdish struggle, to me I think that everywhere, and within every question, also are talking about Armenians. There is no future of justice, there’s no future of recognition, there’s no future of responsibility, even joint struggle without actually acknowledging these histories and understanding their connections.

S: And I would only add, because this question is so important, is when people think of the Armenian struggle as this past, you know, phenomenon, these people who were there, right - that is not a coincidence. That’s actually how indigenous people throughout the world are purposefully erased, right. Otherwise are not only having to acknowledge that they are there, but ask why they are not there. When we talk about 10-15 million Armenians, right (laughs) here I am talking to Armenians (laughs) across an ocean. We are talking about the living afterlife of genocide, in the flesh and blood: that is us. We are enough proof. There are more of us out here, and we live, we live these stories. Anooshavan had a child: my grandfather; my grandfather had a child: my mother; I’m here, her daughter. We are not some abstract historical text that is removed from the everyday reality of people who live on the land. And also for the Armenian diaspora from these events we have to learn about the current struggles that are happening on the land, from which we are from.

S: When we are talking about Middle East history, the erasure of Armenians and Assyrians is not a coincidence. It is part of that exact same Turanist logic, that mirrors our physical erasure.. and also the intellectual erasure of what we have contributed to this deeply diverse region! And I really believe it is of utmost importance, we have to fight erasure at all levels, at all times.

N: I think a couple of things that feel really important that you are pointing to is, one, about this discontinuity of a certain structure in the Turkish State, from the late Ottoman state into the Republic. For one thing, I think that’s the way we avoid some of the racism on our own sides. It’s something I see endlessly in Greek communities, in Greek Cypriot communities, against Turks, against this abstract, ethnic, sort of “barbaric” other that reproduces so many similar tropes to like nineteenth century racism around the Turk, and instead you have to locate this violence in a really specific historical thing. It is a State that has a beginning, has a middle, we hope that it will have an end and a different thing will replace it which will enable all of us to have a freer life. And I think that makes it much more concrete. 

N: And it is interesting in the Kurdish freedom movement this is really clearly the perspective. It’s something that I notice straight away on slogans or demonstrations. It’s not Turks or Turkey, it’s the Turkish state. And it is interesting the conclusion that got drawn from this, like anyone who is sort of hearing something about Kurds, often they’ll hear this phrase “world’s largest stateless nation” and one of the friends actually said to me, in the movement, “they always say this like it’s a bad thing but I feel happy (laughs) I’m glad we never managed to get a state! I am glad that we never got this nation-state because it means that we don’t have this hang up on the state” When we are looking at self-determination like we were saying, it is about not having an exclusive claim but seeing a particular claim, and having an idea of self-determination that doesn’t cancel another one’s out. Where all of us claiming our history, where all of us reclaiming our role in the region, is a kind of value-added process. It adds more each time.

N: I think also, reflecting on the Armenian Genocide and the role of Kurds in the Armenian Genocide, Abdullah Öcalan issued an apology for that role in the nineties … it’s a big way they get to that. Like you said, if you look at this resistance today then the presence of Armenians is everywhere.

S: Those of us who have been, I think, part of the Armenian liberation struggle throughout history have always named the Turkish state as the source of oppression. But I also want to just name, because I often feel the pressure to have to say that repeatedly and I find that very interesting as someone whose entire family does not get to live on the land because in every way everyone was displaced that of course, one hundred percent, this is about the consolidation of that racism in the state and that’s the truth, right, that is what enacts this violence. But I also have to say especially as U.S. recognition might now finally be a reality after a hundred years is that there has to be, there has to be, a reckoning within the hearts of the public of Turkey and also Turkish society does not deal with these issues, which is that these are foundational, fundamental issues that affect everyone. That the people who are in Turkey, who are Armenian, are not a minority, they are who are left. And if you understand that within a historically legacy, you will also understand that not only should there be 20 million Armenians within Turkey today but we actually still exist out here and we can be in dialogue with you constantly, and we should be.

S: You have young organisers who are across the world, who are Armenian, who not only know their own history, but who are living proof and evidence of, not just the Armenian Genocide, but our continued stuck in limbo reality, right, in regards to these issues. We are also talking about our identity, and our identity across the world. And I think many Armenians, especially who are young today, think about “what is my place and relationship to this region, right? What is my relationship to Armenia? What is my relationship to Turkey?” And those are living questions, they are not a question of a hundred years ago. They are questions that are genuinely about our current day existence, and keep following generation after generation. You see, we have the same questions that emerge and pop up, and so instead of us continually asking for validation elsewhere, instead of us continually saying well our governments just need to get in line.. our struggles need to get in line! Our people need to be building this across differences, across communities. And if I were to say anything to the public of Turkey, honestly, to Turkish youth, who are incredibly struggling against their government on a day to day basis especially today, is that we are out here! We’re not myths. We are not dead people. Our families were not just people who were massacred and displaced. We are living, breathing people who have come from not only these communities but who have preserved these legacies, within our families, and who are building off them today. I really truly believe we have to be talking to each other, we have to building with each other and it is so not an issue of the past, it is such a current day, urgent, desperately needed, existential issue. 

O: Why is Turkish identity mutually exclusive to the othering of these indigenous groups?

S: I think there needs to be an existential reckoning with Turkish identity and I believe that many communities fates are at stake. And if it's not the Armenians, and then the Kurds, or Greeks or you know, Jewish folks, etc. there will always be a new community… if you create identity and humanity based on this racial classification of superiority. And that’s really at the root of it. It’s racism. And racism is a system that I believe is the most powerful system in the world in so many ways, and it intersects with so many things but… its at the heart of so much of this violence and at the end of the day Turkish identity has to be challenged, itself.

S: But I really do not believe that Turkey will ever see true democracy, I don’t believe Turkey will ever have peace, honestly, for people in Turkey, unless we deal with afterlife of the Armenian Genocide. Unless we not only have an honest conversation, but right the historical wrongs through reparations, through completely, fundamentally changing Turkish society, right, for a more inclusive vision of what that means, to be from this land. And the mythologies are so powerful today it’s no coincidence that the “enemy Armenian” is still such a prominent figure in Turkish politics. If we get U.S. recognition, and U.K. recognition, our next question is now what? Right? Something that Monte Melkonian was talking about (laughs) decades ago. Now what? The Turkish public needs to have a mirror to itself. And that’s why this issue around the Armenian Genocide, its recognitions, its historical legacy, reparations, even the question of return.. what would it mean for Armenian diasporans around the world, the connection to the physical country, what is the status...I really want to bring this back up again because I don’t think it is just a closed question now that time has passed. When we are talking about that relationship, that is why it is so charged, because finally means sitting with those ghosts. And I think that is why Turkey is so afraid of opening it, because it will challenge people’s very identities that they have built on exclusion.

S: I want to meet people to have these conversations across borders because that is what is needed. And justice will not come from the U.S. government, it will not come from the U.K. government, all these things are deeply important on the route to what that justice looks like but ultimately it will happen in the people. And we are out here, not only to have those conversations, but to build those futures, that look like justice. And that’s my only hope.

N: It’s only by creating similarly robust structures that can anchor a different kind of ideology that it is ever going to be overcome. And it is only this that can make sense of the people who are raised believing in this mythology and then seeing so many identities that have to be denied.

N: So many massacres that just recognising their existence is an existential threat to them, and to everything that they’ve learned. And of course the Armenian Genocide, the Assyrian genocides, the expulsions of Greeks, the Pontic genocide, but also Alevis, the Dersim genocide, also the massacre of Marash. The existence or the potential for anything that could be even meaningfully called democracy in this land, in this space, depends on that question.

O: National governments regularly use “lack of evidence” as a reason to not officially acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. How do you believe oral histories can be used as evidence and how do they hold the power of autonomy for Armenians within our very hands and within our very homes?

S: I think there is an over emphasis on number one, needing Western recognition as an idea, and number two Western academics as the arbiters of truth for the entire world so I don’t think that just because something that I would write about my family if someone else wrote it, makes it any better or worse, or less objective to be honest. And I think when we say even in the war recently, we see the kind of bias that we are accused of by birth and I think that is really unfortunate and does not get placed on Western academics in the same way, who are invested in power just like their governments and so we need to analyse that. And so if we understand that, that Armenians have historically been marginalised in Western archives... and we understand that Armenians have been largely erased… we understand that there are forces of power that have done that, but we also understand that there are parallel archives and that we have not let them go! (laughs) For example, the Armenian Institute are such a beautiful example of that right? Which is that Armenians have never just silently let our history go or let these stories die, right, we are actively organising, and building, and creating institutions and organisations to preserve them. 

S: And so when we talk about how we can have evidence the truth of the matter is, is that one of the tactics of Turanism is to gaslight us and tell us that we are crazy, and that it is not true, and so that we constantly have to be proving it. And this is what the U.S. has done every year to the Armenian-American community, which is hmmm we’re not sure, massacres, you know “time of war” the same Turanist talking points. And so every year we have to essentially, what I would call, “bring out our dead” and it’s a deeply dehumanising process. It is reliving these stories over and over again. I know Armenians have at times felt like we need to fit these narratives to an audience, and that really isn’t true. We just need to speak them and not only preserve them, but, again, talking about their contemporary implications. And talk about them honestly and authentically, for what they are. 

S: So the evidence of the Armenian Genocide doesn’t live in any master volume, it lives in the millions of us around the world. And we are proof enough in our very existence that we don’t live in our homeland. And that is enough. So our stories are the most powerful forces against that revisioning and that denial.

An open letter regarding the war in Nagorno-Karabakh

Here is the Open Letter regarding the current war in Nagorno-Karabakh, which was sent to the Prime Minister, party leaders, and other MPs this morning. While connecting with a number of well-informed and experienced people in the area to sign the letter, we were touched and grateful for all the support we received. We would like to warmly thank everyone for standing up for peace.

An open letter regarding the current conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh

London, 9 October 2020

We, the undersigned, call upon the government of the United Kingdom and other countries with interests in the region of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh to push for an immediate and full truce with parties returning to negotiations and outside military involvement halted. Human rights are not served by war and without such intervention, destruction and loss of life will only increase.  The potential for much wider instability and turbulence is great.

On September 27, Azerbaijan began an unprovoked and sustained attack on the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, also called Artsakh. With direct and active military support from Turkey, this has great potential for destabilising the entire region.

This is not, as some have portrayed it, a war of Muslim against Christian.  It is an attack on human rights and lives are at stake.  Although an 89% majority in the 1926 census, Armenians there were forced to settle for an autonomous region within Azerbaijan until the fall of the Soviet Union. They are not an occupying force, but a majority, indigenous ethnic population who sought independence in 1991 because of decades of discrimination against them under Azerbaijan’s rule. The right to self-determination is enshrined in the 1975 Helsinki Act and we ask that this be upheld.  It is of greatest concern that now President Aliyev demands that all Armenians leave Nagorno Karabakh before negotiations can begin.

Today’s war is not restricted to the disputed area but now includes Armenia where Turkish planes have invaded its airspace and Azeri shelling hits civilians, homes and schools in Nagorno-Karabakh and within the borders of Armenia.  Threats have been voiced about destroying sites that would mean environmental disaster for the region. The war is now spreading to areas of Azerbaijan with a proportionate Armenian response in retaliation.  Reports confirm that mercenaries brought from Syria through Turkey are fighting for the Azeris, in breach of a UN convention banning this practice. Azerbaijan is a party to the convention.

It is clear that there would have been no advantage to Armenia beginning such a war. The Armenian government has asked for a return to the negotiation table with the Minsk Group, a call rejected by Azerbaijan and Turkey.  Meanwhile, a humanitarian crisis is quickly deepening across the region with tragic loss of life on both sides. Dangerous rhetoric by Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continues as he threatens to invade Armenia and “continue until the end”.  The history of the past century demonstrates the real threat of ethnic cleansing of Armenians by Turkish forces.  The Genocide of 1915 is still denied by Turkey and yet President Erdoğan threatens to continue ridding the land of Armenians.

In Turkey itself, the Armenian minority are facing growing intimidation and hate speech since the war began. They are not part of the Caucasus conflict themselves and have called for peace but still are targeted. Clear and immediate action is needed to stop the fighting and prevent further ethnic cleansing.  We call upon the United Kingdom, along with the United Nations, the OSCE Minsk Group and indeed the international community to act now.

This letter was initiated by the Armenian Institute.

The signatories are expressing their own views and not those of their associated institutions.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool

  • Lord Berkeley of Knighton CBE

  • Baroness Cox,  Independent Member of the House of Lords 

  • Lord Darzi of Denham

  • The Reverend the Lord Griffiths of Burry Port

  • Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, on behalf of the Diocese of The Armenian Church of the United Kingdom & Ireland

  • Geoffrey Robertson, QC

  • Marc Willers, QC

  • Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Royal Academy of Music

  • Anna Arutshyan, Director of 'Women's Solidarity Fund', Oxford, LLM In International Human Rights Law, Oxford Brookes University.

  • Armand Abramian, Chair of the Armenian Community Council of the United Kingdom

  • Arsine Aghazaryan

  • R. Paul Alcock (LL. B, solicitor)

  • Dr. Daniel Altshuler, Associate Professor of Semantics, University of Oxford

  • Richard Mourad Anooshian, Retired Banker, Armenian Institute, Trustee

  • Marianna Asatryan, Head of Admissions Operations, University of Oxford

  • Tatevik Ayvazyan, Armenian Institute, Director  

  • Karina Avakyan

  • Dr Karen Babayan, Artist and Curator

  • Tamar Babekian

  • Sharice Babakhani

  • Greg Krikor Basmadjian RIBA, Director, KVB Architects Ltd

  • Professor Haro Bedelian CBE FREng, Honorary Fellow , St Catharines College, University of Cambridge

  • Anoushka Berberian, Armenian Institute, Digital Strategist

  • Aren Berberian, Armenian Institute Advisory Committee

  • Garo Berberian, Filmmaker

  • Cllr Julian Bell, Labour Leader of Ealing Council 

  • Vicki Bertram, Poet

  • Dr Seda Boghossian-Tighe, Principle General Practitioner, South Central Ambulance NHS Trust and Surrey Heartlands CCG, NHS England. 

  • Sara Calian Kaprielian

  • Alexander Chaushian, Musician

  • Anahit Chaushian, Musician

  • Gregoir Chikaher, Consulting Engineer

  • Christina Chikaher, Pharmacist

  • Levon Chilingirian, OBE, Musician

  • Ruby Chorbajian, LL.M., Armenian Institute Advisory Committee

  • Dr Vazken Khatchig Davidian, Post Doctoral Fellow, University of Oxford

  • Tatiana Der Avedissian, Armenian Institute, Trustee

  • Stella Der Hakopian 

  • Barouyr Der Haroutounian

  • Sebooh  Der Hakopian

  • Anayis N. Der Hakopian  

  • Sonia Duggan, Mental and Emotional Fitness Coach

  • Hratch Djerrahian / Human Rights Supporter

  • Arda Eghiayan, Armenian Institute, Trustee

  • Bedo Eghiayan, CEO Wigmore Medical

  • Gareth Evans, Event and Film Producer; Adjunct Moving Image Curator: Whitechapel Gallery

  • Jacqueline Faridani

  • J. S. Gallagher, Past Mayor, London Borough of Ealing, 2011/2

  • Rouben Galichian, Armenian Institute, Advisory Committee

  • Kate Griffiths, documentary producer

  • Dr Cengiz Gunes, Associate Lecturer, The Open University

  • Asadour Guzelian, Guzelian picture agency

  • Charles Hazlewood, Conductor

  • Annie Hogg

  • Prof. Kevork Hopayian   

  • Sylvie Howse

  • Jack H Atamian, Chartered Engineer

  • Karen Howse

  • Ms. Naneh V Hovhannisyan (MA, author)

  • Ara Iskanderian, solicitor, BA, MA, LLB, former councillor London Borough of Ealing

  • Dr Armine Ishkanian, Associate Professor of Social Policy, London School of Economics 

  • Steven Isserlis, CBE, Musician

  • Robert S H Istepanian, Visiting Professor, Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College, London 

  • Diane John, Company Director

  • Dr. Becky Jinks, Chair, Armenian Institute Trustees, Lecturer in Modern History, Royal Holloway, University of London

  • Professor Sian Jones, Professor of Heritage, University of Stirling

  • Dr Sossie Kasbarian, Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Stirling

  • Dr Suzan Meryem Rosita Kalayci, Director of the Oxford Network of Armenian Genocide Research and College Chaplain of St Hilda’s College Oxford

  • Reverend Canon Dr Patrick Thomas, author, Chancellor and Canon Librarian, St Davids Cathedral, Pembrokeshire, Wales

  • Arpiné Kebranian

  • Silva keondjian

  • Sona Kalenderian,  Librarian and Western Armenian Teacher.

  • Tamar Kalenderian, Events Coordinator.

  • Kevork Kapikyan, Entertainer-Musician, Howlin' Entertainment Ltd  

  • Dr Raffi Kaprielian MD FRCP, Consultant Cardiologist Chelsea and Westminster NHSFT

  • Belinda Keheyan, Armenian Institute Advisory Committee

  • Audrey Kalajian

  • Maral Keoshgerian

  • Sophie Keoshgerian

  • Hratche Koundarjian

  • Ani King-Underwood, retired TV producer/director, Armenian Institute Advisory Committee

  • Dominic Lawson - Journalist

  • Jo Laycock, Senior Lecturer in Migration History, University of Manchester

  • John Lubbock, journalist

  • Charles Masraff

  • Cllr Tariq Mahmood, London Borough of Ealing

  • Matt Malcomson, CEO, Kumano Ventures

  • Dr. Anoosh Major, Retired Ophthalmologist, Moorfields Eye Hospital

  • Sharon Major Tchilingirian, Orthoptist, Moorfields Eye Hospital

  • Dr. Stella Major, Associate Professor Family Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar

  • Prof. Ruth Mandel, University College London

  • Dr. Paul Manook (Dishchekenian)

  • Mrs. Isobel Manook

  • Philip Marsden FRSL

  • Charles Masraff

  • Stephen Masters, Managing Director, Scattercode Ltd, Armenian Institute, Trustee

  • Nouritza Matossian, Author, Armenian Institute Advisory Committee

  • Neil McPherson, Playwright

  • Diran Meghreblian, formerly a broadcaster at the BBC World Service Russian department

  • Dr. Jawad Mella, Kurdish writer and politician

  • Dr Tatevik Mnatskanyan, Lecturer in Diplomacy and International Governance, Loughborough University London

  • Paula Melville, Retired teacher, Armenian Institute Advisory Committee

  • Annette Moskofian ANC-UK Chairperson

  • Cllr Margy Newens

  • Sandra Newens

  • Stan Newens, Former MP and MEP

  • Misak Ohanian, CEO of the Centre for Armenian Information & Advice

  • Kevork Oskanian, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Birmingham

  • Dr Vassilios Paipais, Lecturer, School of International Relations, University of St Andrews.

  • Tony Palmer, film maker

  • Martina Picmanova

  • Dr Susan Pattie, Academic Advisor, Armenian Institute. Honorary Senior Research Associate, UCL

  • Vaughn Pilikian, Filmmaker

  • Hovhannes Poghosyan

  • Vartoug Pourian 

  • Russell Pollard Journalist/Photographer Artsakh.Org.UK

  • Dr Natalie Naïri Quinn, Fellow and Tutor in Economics, Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford

  • Jasmine Samvelyan

  • Emil Sahakyan, Senior Immigration Law Caseworker 

  • Cllr Mik Sabiers

  • Ara Sarafian, historian and director of Gomidas Institute, London

  • Dr. Bared Safieh-Garabedian, Professor of Biochemistry, College of Medicine – QU Health

  • Dr Marina Shahinyan Shapira, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stirling

  • Helen Sheehan, photographer and journalist

  • Dr Miriam Snellgrove. Research Fellow - University of Stirling

  • Emma Spencer

  • Elias Spencer

  • Dr Gagik Stepan-Sarkissian, Armenian Institute, Librarian and Research Advisor

  • Mr James Sturdy 

  • Aram Shishmanian

  • Cllr. Andrew Steed, London Borough of Ealing

  • Professor Svetlana Stephenson, London Metropolitan University

  • Dr Hratch Tchilingirian, Associate of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford

  • Revd Dr Andrew Teal, Chaplain, Fellow, Lecturer in Patristic & Modern Theology, Pembroke College, University of Oxford, Warden, Community of the Sisters of the Love of God

  • Carole Tongue, former MEP

  • Hasmig Topalian, Armenian Institute Advisory Committee

  • Haig Utidjian

  • Dr Bert Vaux, King's College, Cambridge University

  • Prof Theo Maarten van Lint, Calouste Gulbenkian Professor of Armenian Studies, University of Oxford 

  • Kristina Vardanyan PhD Candidate 

  • Dr Simona Vittorini, Department of Politics and International Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies.

  • Dr. Tamara Wilson, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Roehampton

  • Dr. Sarah Wilson, University of Stirling

  • Dr Sirvart Yeretsian 

  • Elise Youssoufian, poet

  • Sossi Yerissian

  • Dr David Zakarian, Associate Faculty Member, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford

  • Dr Ulrike Ziemer, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Winchester

  • Joanne Zorian-Lynn, Actor.

Why peace looks a long way off in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

At the end of September, conflict erupted between forces fighting for Armenia and Azerbaijan, reviving a decades-old dispute over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armine Ishkanian argues that while it remains to be seen if a diplomatic solution can be found, there seems little prospect of peace emerging in the short-term.

In the early morning of 27 September, Azerbaijan launched large-scale military operations along the entire line of contact (approximately 180 km) of Nagorno-Karabakh, an unrecognised state in the South Caucasus with a population of about 150,000 people. A week on, this is now an all-out war which involves numerous parties, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh, and Turkey. Armenians are vastly outnumbered both in terms of population size (Armenia has a population of 3 million, compared to 10 million in Azerbaijan and 80 million in Turkey) and military strength.

In this blog, I consider the conflict from the perspective of the political dimension in Armenia and examine the historical and contemporary factors which shape Armenians’ attitudes, perceptions, and responses to the conflict. These perceptions have implications for the resolution of the conflict and the prospects for peace in the region.

Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, Credit: European Council

Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, Credit: European Council

A brief history

The indigenous Armenian population has lived in Karabakh for millennia. Shortly after the establishment of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin included the territory of Karabakh, with its majority ethnic Armenian population, in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan. As such, it came to be known as the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (administrative division).

In 1988, responding to the political liberalisation initiated by General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, the Armenians of Karabakh began a movement to have the oblast transferred to the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. This move was supported by the Armenia SSR and opposed by the Azerbaijan SSR, leading to pogroms against Armenians in the cities of Sumgait and Baku. All attempts to resolve the matter within the framework of the Soviet Union failed.

On 10 December 1991, a referendum on the Independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic took place in which 108,736 registered voters (82.2% of the total) voted for independence. When Azerbaijan refused to honour the result of the referendum, a war ensued which left 30,000 people dead. The war ended in a ceasefire in 1994 and since then, Azerbaijan has demanded the return of Karabakh claiming territorial integrity, while Armenians have demanded their right to self-determination. Negotiations under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, which France, Russia, and the US co-chair, have failed to achieve a durable peace.

Today, Turkey’s direct participation in the current conflict is further complicating an already complex situation. Moreover, there is growing evidence from a number of international news outlets that Turkey has facilitated the movement of jihadist mercenaries from Syria to the region to take part in military operations against the Armenian side, creating concerns that the South Caucasus will become another theatre of operations for international terrorism.

The impact of Armenia’s 2018 Velvet Revolution

On 31 March 2018 now Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, began a protest march which would become the Velvet Revolution. On 23 April, then PM Serzh Sargsyan resigned from office and the corrupt and authoritarian Republican Party of Armenia was in disarray. The Velvet Revolution was not only a political revolution, but also a revolution of values. Today, the impact of the Velvet Revolution on Armenians’ attitudes is undeniable.

The success of the revolution and the overthrow of the corrupt regime gave Armenians a deep sense of confidence and belief in their ability to affect change. The revolution’s slogan, “With Courage” (Duxov), strongly reverberates today. There is a determination among Armenians to protect the democracy they fought so hard to achieve. Armenians, both in Armenia and Karabakh, view this war as one for freedom, independence, self-determination, and ultimately, sheer survival.

Memories of genocide

Apart from the impact of the Velvet Revolution, the memories of the 1915 genocide of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire are also shaping attitudes today. The genocide has had a lasting impact on the consciousness of Armenians around the globe. It is a collective trauma which inspires feelings of existential threat.

The Turkish Government’s continued denial of and refusal to recognise the genocide, its active support for Azerbaijan in this war, coupled with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erodgan’s imperialist, neo-Ottomanist ideology and his criticisms of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne that established the borders of modern Turkey, fuel fears among Armenians. These fears are widely shared and are reflected in Armenian PM Pashinyan’s following statement in which he accuses Turkey of “continuing its genocidal policy towards the Armenians” and adds that, “…this is an existential threat for us, and there is nothing else to do but to defend ourselves.”

Armenians living in Turkey, including MP Garo Paylan and the civil society group Nor Zartonk, have called for peace and expressed concerns that Turkey’s involvement in the war is leading to intimidation and hate speech towards them.

Democracy or dictatorship?

In contrast to Armenia’s democracy, Azerbaijan is an authoritarian state that has been ruled by members of one family for nearly three decades. Heydar Aliyev was president of Azerbaijan from 1993 until his death in 2003, after which his son, Ilham, became President and has held that post ever since. His wife, Mehriban, is Vice President. According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, the Aliyev family has taken large shares in lucrative industries including the telecom, minerals and construction industries often through government related deals. The 2020 Freedom House report describes Azerbaijan as an authoritarian regime where corruption is rampant and the formal political opposition parties and civil society have been weakened by years of persecution.

Karabakh Armenians have expressed their resolve and made it clear that they will never consent to live under Aliyev’s authoritarian regime. Furthermore, there has been too much bloodshed and the promotion of anti-Armenian propaganda by Azerbaijani leaders for them to feel safe in Azerbaijan. These factors cannot be ignored if peace is to be established.

This war will only spread suffering and destabilise the South Caucasus and the wider, already troubled, region. It remains to be seen if a diplomatic solution to the war can be found. A durable and lasting peace is of utmost importance, but it should not come at the price of the safety and security of Karabakh Armenians. The OSCE Minsk Group have called on the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to “commit without delay to resuming substantive negotiations, in good faith and without preconditions.” But sadly, the outlook for a peace at present is grim.

This article has orginally posted on the LSE website and is cross-posted with the author’s permission