If only it were a simple nightmare from which we can wake up and realize that the last five years have not happened.
But, alas, it is not.
On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan — aided and abetted by Turkey and other forces — launched an attack on Artsakh that not only devastated the region, but after 44 days, saw the occupation of all of historic Shushi and the fall of strongholds that had kept Azerbaijani forces at bay for more than three decades. An estimated 5,000 Armenians lost their lives, on the battlefield and in their homes, as the world sat idly by and watched Azerbaijan and Turkey wreak havoc amid a global pandemic that gripped the entire world.
What followed was more devastation in both Artsakh and Armenia, with Azerbaijani forces occupying sovereign territories of Armenia and the 2022-2023 blockade of Artsakh, which culminated in the September attack that forced the displacement of Artsakh’s Armenian population.
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday — the fifth anniversary of the start of the 44-Day war — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan did not use the international platform to recall the barbaric attack on Artsakh and the devastation that ensued, including what many international human rights experts and advocated have called an ethnic cleansing of Artsakh.
Instead, he declared that peace has been established between Armenia and Azerbaijan, citing the vague agreements that he signed with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan at the White House last month.
“I am happy to report to the entire international community, that peace has been established between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, ladies and gentlemen,” Pashinyan told the UN General Assembly, touting President Donald Trump for his “decisive” role in the peace talks.
The silence about Artsakh reflects his government’s policy of erasing Artsakh from the Armenian reality and espousing — and advancing — the so-called “Real Armenia” doctrine that not only does not have any mention of Artsakh, it also calls into question key historical aspects of the Armenian National reality, such as the Genocide and the definitive Artsakh Liberation Movement that set the stage for Armenia’s independence in 1991.
The Armenians of Artsakh who were forcibly displaced and find themselves as refugees in their own homeland also have been relegated as second class citizens. The tenor and the vernacular used by Pashinyan and his cronies — especially the loose-lipped parliament speaker, Alen Simonyan — have created an atmosphere of hate and vitriol directed at the Artsakh Armenians, by some locals who find the displaced population’s presence in Armenia to be a nuisance.
After all, when the leader of the country deigns to diminish and discredit a segment of his own country’s population, many might follow his lead, just as they did during the war when the government advanced the lie of “Յաղթելու ենք — We are going to Win,” with its defense ministry spokesperson advancing untruths and misleading the entire Nation on a daily basis.
Pashinyan declared last week that only he and his government are the true torchbearers of democracy in Armenia, while the rest of the population are “Stalinists,” referring to the notorious Soviet leader under whose direction Artsakh was placed within Azerbaijan SSR as an autonomous oblast.
These so-called torchbearers and shepherds of democracy do not understand that the fundamental tenets of democracy involve respect for human rights, justice and right to self-determination, and not the ability to hold jury trials, as Pashinyan cited as a main priority for advancing democratic institutions.
Democracy also does not include government-sponsored persecution against and crackdown of dissent and opposition voices.
What happened in 2020 was the culmination of actions taken by successive regimes in Armenia, all of whom failed to act as the stewards — the protectors — of not just Artsakh, but the victory through which we had regained our historic homeland and the thousands of men and women who gave their lives at the altar of liberation and freedom.
Opportunities were squandered. From the first day of its independence, the oligarchy and monopolies that enriched the upper echelons of the government and their lackeys became a much more crucial priority for Armenia’s leaders, than the fate of Artsakh or any other Armenian for that matter.
In the last 30 years, I have traveled to Armenia frequently. Never did I feel that this was a country at war. The urgency to protect our sovereignty, national interests and truly advance through social justice and institution-building was upstaged by the cafe culture that has become almost a totem of Armenia.
Much-needed reforms in the armed forces, education and other key sectors of society did not occur, in order to ensure that the new generation of Armenians would not only flourish, but also have an understanding of our interests as a Nation, whose potential and power does not only lie in Armenia but all over the world.
The potential of Armenia’s main resource — its strong Diaspora — has also been squandered. The current government’s policies are furthering the marginalization of the Diaspora and its institutions — and capabilities — making Armenians who do not live in Armenia mere tourists in their own homeland.
There were many signs that preceded the September 27 attack.
Aliyev’s unabated threats of military action, the proliferation of anti-Armenian sentiments in Azerbaijan, as well as Baku’s will and determination to go to war — at any cost — by investing billions in military capabilities, were never challenged by Armenia’s leaders or the international community that was tasked to find a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Decades of parity and deference by international players, only emboldened Azerbaijan to take action.
More practically, certain events foreshadowed the September, 2020 outcome, beginning with the four-day war in 2016 that happened as the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan were returning from a visit to Washington, where they met with then Vice-President Joe Biden. Armenia’s vulnerabilities were highlighted when then President Serzh Sarkisian told European leaders that the Artsakh forces were fighting with 1980’s armaments and weaponry.
That was followed by pressure from mainly Russia, but also the United States and France, which were the co-chairing countries of the now-defunct OSCE Minsk Group, for ceding the territories around Artsakh without succinctly addressing Artsakh’s status or presenting a road-map.
American diplomats, both in Armenia and Azerbaijan, were calling for Yerevan and Baku to “prepare their populations for peace.”
Then came the ominous travel advisory on September 26, 2020 from the U.S. embassies in Yerevan and Baku warning American to not travel near the border regions, where Azerbaijan was to launch its attack the following day.
The end of military hostilities on November 9, 2020, set the stage for more vitriol and finger-pointing by political forces in Armenia, which spilled into Diaspora communities, further dividing out Nation, which at that moment needed to, first and foremost, understand what had happened, then heal, grieve and come together to confront the aftermath of the devastating defeat.
Instead we are where we are now: A Nation divided and a government that has taken advantage of that division to advance an agenda that will only see more concessions in the name of “Real Armenia.”
The 44-Day War and its aftermath indeed have shaped up to be a National nightmare. Only we can determine and choose whether we wake up from it or remain dormant.
