Armenian Christians Face Being Cleansed in Nagorno-Karabakh: Nakhchivan Awaits!
Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The Christians of the dismantling Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) face the fate of Armenian Christians throughout recent history. This concerns the pogroms before the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and countless massacres in history – when Islam enforced the sword, dhimmitude, and jizya.
In vast parts of modern Turkey – after the Armenian genocide committed by Turks and their Muslim allies, including the Kurds – only the ghosts and the odd embattled ancient Armenian Christian church survive.
The Yazidis understand the fate of the Armenians and how the haters of history will not let go concerning Islamists to the Turks respectively. Accordingly, Turkey supported Azerbaijan in its war against the Armenians. Similarly, Islamists (ISIS – Islamic State) recently butchered the Yazidis and continue to hold Yazidi slaves.
Nakhchivan once had a thriving Armenian community. This concerns ancient Christian churches, architecture, and graveyards steeped in history.
The Guardian reports (Nakhchivan), “Local researcher Argam Ayvazyan, now exiled in Armenia, photographed 89 Armenian churches, 5,840 khachkars, and 22,000 tombstones between 1964 and 1987 – which the report states have all disappeared. A Scotsman named Steven Sim traveled on a whim to eastern Turkey in 1984 and has taken in excess of 80,000 slides and photographs over the past 35 years documenting ancient Armenian heritage across the region: “It was the nearest faraway place to Britain, at the time, that was cheap to go to,” he says. He’s been regularly returning ever since, amassing a 1,000-tome library – with many books by Ayvazyan – mostly on Armenian architecture.”
The Armenian Christians of Nagorno-Karabakh have been abandoned – barely reaching the news in most nations to any great extent.
Artak Beglaryan, former ex-state minister of Artsakh, told Al Jazeera, “Without international high-level guarantees, it’s impossible [to sign an agreement] given the depth of the conflict.”
He continued, “People here fear that we are still under high risk of genocide and ethnic cleansing, and that’s why an overwhelming majority is thinking of fleeing the country.”
Al Jazeera reports, “Resource-rich Azerbaijan used oil and gas proceeds to expand its military capacity while strengthening ties with international powers, especially neighboring Turkey. On the other side, Armenia found itself increasingly isolated and economically weakened.”
Armenian Christians during the late stages of the nineteenth century – which culminated in the genocide of 1915 – face similar forces one hundred years later. Therefore, Armenian Christians in Nagorno-Karabakh face being uprooted from their ancient lands.
Thomas de Waal (senior fellow at Carnegie Europe) said, “The main losers are the Karabakh Armenians who have lost their 35-year-old struggle for self-determination or secession from Azerbaijan.”
He continued, “They now lose any means of self-defense and face a very uncertain future in Azerbaijan. The Karabakhis may have avoided complete destruction but they are more likely facing a slow-motion removal from their homeland, as Azerbaijan is not offering them any autonomy or special political rights.”
Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh need special autonomy – if not, Nakhchivan Awaits!
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/22/what-lies-ahead-for-the-armenians-of-nagorno-karabakh
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