Category: Harut Sassounian

During last week’s massive attack on Armenia’s eastern border by Azerbaijan’s military, over 200 Armenian soldiers and civilians were killed. In addition, the Republic of Armenia lost additional territories to Azerbaijan.

This unprovoked Azeri attack comes on the heels of the 44-day war in 2020 when Azerbaijan occupied most of Artsakh and killed thousands of Armenian soldiers.

Since then, Azerbaijan has been regularly attacking the Armenian population of Artsakh as well as the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. Azerbaijan’s military penetrated Armenia’s border on May 12, 2021 and is still there.

Facing a politically and militarily weak Armenia, Azerbaijan with the support of Turkey is applying increased pressure to extort further concessions, which include the elimination of the remnants of Artsakh Armenians and occupation of more of Armenia’s territories. In addition, Azerbaijan repeatedly insists that Armenia accept what it calls “the Zangezur Corridor,” which implies Azeri sovereignty over the planned road across Armenia from Azerbaijan to its enclave of Nakhichevan.

While Armenia’s Prime Minister continually announces his desire to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan and open the border with Turkey, these two hostile countries persist in issuing threats to achieve their demands by force.

Armenia expects to be protected by CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) composed of Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. CSTO is a mutual defense treaty that requires all members to protect any one of them from attack by an outside power. The CSTO did not defend Artsakh during the 2020 war, because it was not a part of Armenia. Even though last week’s attack was clearly on the territory of Armenia, CSTO did not come to Armenia’s defense. Due to the engagement of Russian forces in Ukraine, Pres. Putin neither wishes nor is capable of sending his troops to a second war front. On the contrary, Russia is doing everything possible to maintain good relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey, which are much more important to Russia than Armenia, particularly at a time when Russia is isolated from the Western world. Last week, President of Russia Vladimir Putin, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev along with several other leaders gathered at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s summit meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Armenians were disheartened to watch the videos of a profusely friendly meeting between Putin and Aliyev, and a walk by Putin and Erdogan while holding hands. For the first time, several high-ranking members of the Armenian government expressed their disappointment in CSTO’s inactive stand, at a time when Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is the current Chairman of the CSTO Collective Security Council.

Two of Armenia’s neighboring countries indicated their mutually contradictory positions after Azerbaijan’s attack on Armenia. Iran massed its troops on Armenia’s Southern border and repeatedly declared that it is unacceptable to alter by force the Iran-Armenia border. Turkey, on the other hand, massed its troops on Armenia’s western border after many high-ranking Turkish officials expressed their support for Azerbaijan and falsely condemned Armenia for initiating an attack on Azerbaijan.

Armenians were pleased that the international community finally started paying attention to Azerbaijan’s attacks on Armenia. At the invitation of France and the request of Armenia, the United Nations Security Council held two meetings last week, one open and the other closed, to discuss Azerbaijan’s attack on Armenia. Armenians had been unhappy that the world’s attention was focused exclusively on the war in Ukraine, ignoring Armenia’s plight. All 15 members of the UN Security Council (France, India, Albania, Gabon, Norway, Ireland, Kenya, China, Mexico, Ghana, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Russia), in addition to Armenia and Azerbaijan, delivered remarks on the fighting. Only the United States and France described the situation as an attack inside Armenia’s borders. The rest of the Council members urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to end their hostilities without naming Azerbaijan as the aggressor.

The other positive development was the surprise visit of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States to Armenia along with three other pro-Armenian members of Congress. Given the disappointment with the inaction of Russia and CSTO, Armenians welcomed the Speaker warmly who carried a very supportive message, condemning Azerbaijan for its attack on Armenia. Pelosi, the highest ranking U.S. official to ever visit Armenia, was seen with tears in her eyes at the Armenian Genocide Memorial. She also visited the Parliament, held a press conference, and met with the Defense Minister and Prime Minister Pashinyan.

It is a welcome development to expand Armenia’s relations with as many supportive countries as possible. However, there is no substitute to Armenia being able to defend itself by strengthening its own military. No one else will do that for Armenia. Armenians have to give up the belief that an outside power, whether Russians or Americans, will save them. No one has and no one will.

California State Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian has finally succeeded in passing a legislative bill (AB 1801) he had sponsored to declare April 24, Genocide Remembrance Day, a state holiday.

The bill mandates that every year on April 24, all community colleges and public schools throughout California will close. State employees will be given time off with pay.

The text of the bill explains that: “The Legislature finds and declares that Genocide Remembrance Day would be a day for all to reflect on past and present genocides, but especially those that have felt the impact of these atrocities and groups that have found refuge in California, including, but not limited to, the Holocaust, Holodomor, and the Genocides of the Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, Cambodian, and Rwandan communities. Genocide Remembrance Day would be observed annually on April 24, also known as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, during the week the state of California traditionally recognizes Genocide Awareness Week.”

The text further states that on April 24 or on an alternate date “public schools and educational institutions throughout this state may include exercises, funded through existing resources, remembering and honoring the many contributions that survivors of genocide have made to this country. The State Board of Education may adopt a model curriculum guide to be available for use by public schools for exercises related to Genocide Remembrance Day.”

The State Assembly and Senate members worked tirelessly for months to have both Chambers of the California legislature adopt this bill. The odyssey started on February 7, 2022 when it was introduced in the State Assembly. The bill passed through several committees: Governmental Organization: 20 yes, 0 no; Higher Education: 12 yes, 0 no; Appropriations: 12 yes, 0 no; and the full State Assembly on May 26, 2022 by a vote of 75 yes and 0 no.

The bill then went to the State Senate passing through the following committees: Governmental Organization: 14 yes, 0 no; Education: 6 yes, 0 no; Appropriations: 7 yes, 0 no; and the full Senate on August 23, 2022 by a vote of 40 yes 0 no. The bill then went back to the State Assembly on August 24, 2022 in order to reconcile it with Senate amendments. It passed by a vote of 77 yes, 0 no.

The bill was then submitted to California Governor Gavin Newsom for his signature on August 31, 2022. I contacted the Governor’s office and was told that he has until September 30, 2022 to sign or veto the bill.

I spoke with the sponsor of the bill, Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian, and congratulated him on his great efforts to pass this historic bill.

Another close friend of the Armenian community, State Senator Anthony Portantino, sent me the following empathetic message: “Far too many Californian families have been tragically affected by genocide. It’s sadly something that has touched many cultures since the first genocide of the 20th Century was perpetrated against the Armenian people by the Ottoman Turks. While we learn about Native American conquest, the Holocaust and other horrific violence committed against humanity, in our schools we don’t currently have one day that speaks to all of these atrocities and brings people together to remember, to love and to care for one another across ethnic communities. One day out of 365 for grieving and healing purposes is appropriate and I was proud to support it.”

Meanwhile, Turkish denialists are lobbying against the bill, trying to convince Gov. Newsom not to sign it into law. The Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA), a notorious genocide denialist organization, issued a statement on September 5, 2022 urging “the Turkish American community and friends of Turkey to send letters, faxes, and emails to Governor Newsom in order to urge him to veto” the Genocide Remembrance Day.

Here is what the ATAA urged its supporters to do: “Please communicate to Governor Newsom and his staff today and get your voice heard! Please copy/paste and send your sample letter using the email form link: Web contact form: . Please choose subject: AB01801\State holidays: Genocide Remembrance Day. Or send a letter to: The Honorable Gavin Newsom, Governor, State of California, 1021 O Street, Suite 9000, Sacramento, CA 95814.

In addition, the ATAA urged its supporters to send emails to: Jim DeBoo, the Governor’s Executive Secretary: jim.deboo@gov.ca.gov; and David Sapp, the Governor’s Chief Deputy Legal Affairs Secretary: david.sapp@gov.ca.gov, with this subject line: “AB01801\State holidays: Genocide Remembrance Day,”

To counter the Turkish denialist lobbying efforts, the Armenian community should inundate Gov. Newsom’s office with emails and letters, using the above provided contacts, urging him to sign AB 1801 into law. Act quickly, because the Governor will make his decision between now and Sept. 30.

Let us see who has the stronger voice in California: The large Armenian community numbering hundreds of thousands or a few Turks who want to export to California the Turkish government’s denial of the Armenian Genocide?

The Consul General of Azerbaijan, Nasimi Aghayev, departed from Los Angeles at the end of August to become his country’s new Ambassador to Germany. Aghayev left behind a trail of deception. I hope the German government keeps a close watch on this questionable Azeri “diplomat.”

Let us start with the most recent scandal. Last week, Aghayev proudly posted on Twitter and Facebook a certificate bearing the signatures of four out of five Los Angeles County Supervisors, expressing their appreciation for his service as the Consul General of Azerbaijan.

The first hint that something was amiss when it was noticed that the name of the fifth L.A. Country Supervisor, Sheila Kuehl, was not on the certificate. Such documents are usually signed by all five Supervisors, which is diplomatic protocol. There must have been a particular reason why Supervisor Kuehl’s signature was missing. When the Armenian National Committee of America — Western Region (ANCA) asked Supervisor Kuehl’s staff why her signature was not on the certificate, they said that they had asked the L.A. County Protocol’s Office not to add her signature. It turns out that the other four Supervisors had also not given their permission to add their names to the certificate.

Shortly after Aghayev posted the certificate on Twitter and on his Facebook page, each of the four Supervisors — Holly Mitchell, Hilda Solis, Kathryn Barger, and Janice Hahn told the ANCA through separate Tweets that their signatures “were mistakenly added to the certificate without their authorization.”

The four Supervisors attached to their Tweets the letter of apology issued by Lourdes Saab, Chief of Protocol of LA County Supervisors. The letter was sent to all four Supervisors. Here is an excerpt from one such letter: “The County of Los Angeles Office of Protocol mistakenly added Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s signature to a scroll presented to the Consul General of Azerbaijan last week and would like to publicly note this error.”

After I contacted Brenda Duran, Deputy Executive Officer, Los Angeles County Executive Office, asking her to clarify the status of the certificate issued to Azerbaijan’s Consul General by mistake, she replied in writing: “The County of Los Angeles’ Office of the Protocol (Office) apologizes for any confusion. The Supervisors’ signatures were applied in error. Accordingly, the Office is declaring that the unauthorized scroll is void and should be taken down from any social media or any other platforms. Because the County of Los Angeles is not bound by an unauthorized and erroneous action taken by an office in excess of that office’s authority, no one should rely on the subject scroll as any kind of declaration by the County of Los Angeles.”

Nevertheless, the certificate wrongly issued to Azerbaijan’s Consul General is still posted on his Twitter and Facebook page, falsely claiming that he was honored by the L.A. County Supervisors. That certificate is null and void and publicizing such an erroneously issued certificate is dishonest. Instead of being embarrassed, Aghayev lashed back at the ANCA for bringing this mistaken certificate to the attention of the Supervisors.

No one should be surprised that this is not the first time that Azerbaijan’s Consul General is involved in such a scandalous and dishonest behavior. There are four other examples. I wrote an article last October, revealing that Azerbaijan’s Consul General publicized a proclamation issued and later cancelled by the Mayor of San Diego. The Mayor apologized, rescinded his proclamation the following day and pledged not to issue proclamations on Azerbaijan in the future. Similarly, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh issued on February 2021 and later cancelled a proclamation to commemorate the so-called “Khojali Day.” The Mayor rescinded his proclamation two weeks later and apologized to the Armenian community.

The same scenario was repeated in Portland, Maine. Mayor Kathleen Snyder initially issued a proclamation on February 17, 2021 to commemorate “Khojaly Remembrance Day.” However, on April 1, 2021, the Mayor wrote: “I have decided to rescind the Mayoral Proclamation…. I once again apologize for the pain and harm that the issuance of this proclamation has caused.”

Finally, the City of Torrance, California, issued a proclamation on October 15, 2021 to celebrate “Azerbaijan Day.” Later that day, Torrance Mayor Patrick Furey stated that the City “issued a proclamation in error. On past occasions, the City has proclaimed Azerbaijan National Day in the City of Torrance on the effective date. In light of recent events in the associated region, the City has respectfully requested that the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles remove the proclamation from all media.”

Nevertheless, the rescinded proclamations of San Diego and Torrance remain on Consul General Aghayev’s Facebook page.

Amazingly, such an incompetent and dishonest Consul General is elevated to become Ambassador to Germany, instead of being fired. Given Aghayev’s repeated undiplomatic behavior in Los Angeles, Pres. Aliyev could not have made a worse choice in promoting him to the rank of Ambassador.

Can’t the Armenian government do anything right? Not a day passes without additional bad news from Armenia and Artsakh! Rather than blaming our enemies, we need to look at our own shortcomings and stop inflicting more wounds on ourselves.

In the midst of the severe crisis in Armenia after the devastating defeat in the 2020 Artsakh War, one would think that Armenian leaders would have the wisdom to unite the nation and strengthen the military to prevent further attacks on the country.

Surprisingly, Armenia has embarked on a course of action that is further dividing and weakening the nation. Armenian leaders are too incompetent to run a country with so many critical issues. Rather than trying to minimize Armenia’s losses, they are determined to add to the damage inflicted by its enemies.

For four years, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been dividing Armenians into “blacks” and “whites,” Artsakhtsis and Hayastantsis, former leaders vs. the current one, and Armenia vs. Diaspora, at a time when Armenians desperately need to be unified. He has threatened to slam into the wall or the asphalt his domestic political opponents. He even went on the campaign trail last year holding a hammer in his hand, promising to smash the heads of those who oppose him.

Not only Pashinyan is too incompetent to lead Armenia, so are his cabinet ministers and advisors. An incompetent leader cannot make competent appointments.

Take for example, Pashinyan’s appointment of Zareh Sinanyan to the post of “High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs.” Sinanyan’s only qualification is that he is a blind supporter of the Prime Minister. Consequently, Sinanyan has hardly accomplished anything worthwhile during his three years on the job, except for wasting the government’s meager budget on his and staff’s frequent travels around the world.

Sinanyan just announced that his office will hold a “Global Armenian Summit,” at the end of this October. One would have expected that he would have the common sense to invite to the “Global Summit” the representatives of all Armenian organizations and prominent individuals in Armenia and the Diaspora, regardless of their political affiliation.

However, Sinanyan’s and the Prime Minister’s only goal is to give the impression that they are busy doing something rather than actually accomplishing anything useful for the nation. Sinanyan shortsightedly decided, with the blessing of his boss, to invite to the “Global Armenian Summit” Armenians who are the regime’s supporters, leaving out those who have dared to oppose the current leaders. The government of Armenia is actually engaged in dividing, rather than unifying the Diaspora.

In any other normal country, an employee like Sinanyan would have been fired long ago for being incompetent and wasting the government’s precious resources. However, this Prime Minister will not fire an underling who is more incompetent than he is! Regrettably, Sinanyan does not even know his job description. He has foolishly advocated inviting Arab immigrants to Armenia, not realizing that his responsibility is dealing only with Diaspora Armenians, not Arabs or other nationalities. In his frequent TV interviews, Sinanyan constantly engages in partisan politics, criticizing major Armenian organizations, and creating further divisions in the nation. He does not understand that his job is not to act as a propagandist for Pashinyan’s regime, but be a government employee who is getting paid a salary to be a bridge between Armenia and the Diaspora.

If the excuse of Pashinyan and Sinanyan is that their political opponents would have refused to attend the “Global Armenian Summit,” that would have been a good reason to invite them. Those who reject the invitation would have looked bad and the government would have looked magnanimous rather than petty. The Armenian government cannot behave like a thug who wants to settle scores. Regrettably, it does not possess the maturity to rise above the fray. Armenia is the home of all Armenians, not only those who agree with the regime. A small and weak nation surrounded by powerful enemies cannot afford to splinter itself into smaller fragments.

Rather than embracing all Armenians worldwide, the government has rejected in recent weeks the entry of several prominent Diaspora Armenians whose sole guilt is that they are opponents of the supposedly “democratic” regime! Meanwhile, Turkish members of the Grey Wolves terrorist group are allowed to enter Armenia and insult the memory of the Armenian martyrs on the grounds of the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan!

In the past 20 years, Armenia has organized several Diaspora-Armenia conferences. None of them accomplished anything useful. Sinanyan’s planned “Summit” will have the same result. Pashinyan has repeatedly talked about allowing Diaspora Armenians to assume high-level positions in the Armenian government. Regrettably, beyond paying lip service, he has not taken any step in that direction. Similarly, Sinanyan announced with much fanfare around a year ago that his office will appoint Diaspora commissioners in Armenian communities around the world. Until now, he has not appointed a single such commissioner.

When Pashinyan came to power in 2018, he pledged to increase Armenia’s population from less than 3 million to 5 million by the year 2050. Regrettably, Armenia’s population in his four years in office has declined, not increased. Beyond just talking about encouraging repatriation to Armenia, nothing has been done.

It is high time that all Armenians unite to defend the homeland against the powerful enemies on both sides of the border. Before reconciling with Turks, Armenians first need to get along with each other.

I write this column with great sorrow and dismay.

Vahakn Dadrian, the preeminent expert on the Armenian Genocide, died in upstate New York on August 2, 2019, at the age of 93. Born in Istanbul, Turkey, he devoted his entire life to expose the Turkish denials of the Armenian Genocide. Dadrian conducted his meticulous research in Turkish, English, French, German and Armenian, publishing dozens of scholarly books and articles in professional journals.

One would think that a distinguished individual such as Dadrian would be respected, not only during his lifetime, but also after his passing. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan took the right step by issuing a decision on August 19, 2019, to appoint a high-level State Commission to make the necessary arrangements for Dadrian’s burial in Yerevan and allocated an appropriate budget for the funeral expenses.

The members of the State Commission were: “A. Harutyunyan, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports; Z. Mnatsakanian, Foreign Minister; A. Torosyan, Minister of Health; A. Janjughazyan, Minister of Finance; H. Marutyan, Mayor of Yerevan; R. Martirosyan, President of National Academy of Sciences; V. Terteryan, Deputy Minister of Territorial Management and Infrastructure; V. Movsisyan, Deputy Police Chief of Armenia; Bishop Hovnan Hakobyan, Grand Sacristan of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin; A. Iskankaryan, Director of the Special Services for the Population; H. Marutyan, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum; and G. Sarkissian, President of the Zoryan Institute (Canada).” Dadrian was the Director of Genocide Research at Zoryan.

After the Embassy of Armenia in the United States transferred Prof. Dadrian’s ashes to Armenia, a Memorial Service was held on August 31, 2019, at the National Academy of Sciences, where Dadrian was a member. The Service was attended by the State Commission members, as well as Ararat Mirzoyan, then Speaker of the Parliament, Dadrian’s 90-year-old sister, and other dignitaries and academicians. Prof. Dadrian’s ashes were interred at the Tokhmakh Cemetery in Yerevan.

Recently, when Maggie Mangassarian Goschin, Director of the Ararat-Eskijian Museum in Mission Hills, California, wanted to include a photo of Dadrian’s grave in her museum where Dadrian’s archives are stored, no one could locate Dadrian’s grave. After a lengthy search, Baghdig Kouyoumdjian of Paris and Hrair Hawk Khatcherian of Canada finally found Dadrian’s unmarked grave. It turned out that after three years of his burial, the State Commission did not have the courtesy of placing on Dadrian’s grave a tombstone or even a plaque indicating his name. The grave was shockingly covered with weeds and garbage. The two gentlemen placed a temporary plaque on Dadrian’s grave and cleared the weeds. This is the horrible treatment that this eminent scholar received in his homeland after his death.

Prof. Taner Akcam, a well-known scholar of the Armenian Genocide and Director of UCLA’s Armenian Genocide Research Program, was the first to sound the alarm on his Facebook page about the deplorable neglect of Dadrian’s grave. It is ironic that an individual of Turkish origin is more concerned about the despicable treatment of Dadrian’s grave than the Armenian government. Dadrian was Akcam’s mentor and collaborator on Genocide research. Akcam wrote on his Facebook page: “Dadrian does not deserve this. It is unacceptable and an immense shame that the grave of the founder of modern Armenian Genocide research is neglected and forgotten.”

In response to Prof. Akcam’s justified outrage, Mari Hovhannisyan, Program Coordinator of the Zoryan Institute (Armenia), issued a statement titled, “Tempest in a teacup.” She gave the excuse that the delay was “due to COVID-19 and the 2020 Artsakh War, Armenia was burying several thousand of its brightest sons and daughters, tragically lost due to both of these crises, each requiring their own appropriate tombstones.” This is an unacceptable excuse. Dadrian was buried seven months before COVID-19 affected Armenia and more than a year before the Artsakh War. That’s plenty of time to place a tombstone or at least a plaque on Dadrian’s grave, not to mention that almost two years have passed since the 2020 war and COVID-19 is no longer prevalent in Armenia. Furthermore, since Dadrian’s death, other individuals have been buried in nearby graves and they have a tombstone!

More troubling are the attempts to cover up this scandal. Zoryan’s Hovhannisyan wrote on her Facebook page: “We kindly request those who have raised this issue publicly to refrain from spreading unchecked information and making unnecessary comments, which can only lead to tempest in the teacup.” Vahan Hunanyan, spokesperson of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, and Harutyun Marutyan, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum in Yerevan, issued similar meaningless excuses. This is the usual behavior of those who want to cover up their embarrassing mistakes. It would have been more appropriate to issue an apology and take immediate steps to place a tombstone on Dadrian’s grave.

If the State Commission members, appointed by Prime Minister Pashinyan, could not arrange to place a tombstone on the grave of a highly-respected Armenian scholar in three years, they should have been reprimanded by Pashinyan for their negligence and incompetence. This is a national scandal. It is also a regrettable indication that if Armenian officials cannot place a tombstone on a grave, how can Armenians trust their government to run a country with so many serious problems?

Finally, Prof. Dadrian’s grave should not have been placed in the Tokhmakh Cemetery. It would have been more appropriate to place the urn of Dadrian’s ashes at the Memorial Wall next to the Genocide Monument or the Komitas Pantheon, alongside other prominent individuals. That is the least the Armenian government could do to rectify its grave error.

Azerbaijan’s order to evacuate around 150 families from three Armenian villages in the Lachin Corridor, which connects Armenia to Artsakh, has alarmed Armenians worldwide.

As a result of Azerbaijan’s ultimatum, Armenians in the villages of Bertzor, Aghavno and Sus are obliged to move elsewhere in Artsakh or Armenia. After losing a devastating war in 2020, Armenia and Artsakh, both suffering from poor leadership, are demanding that the villagers comply with Azerbaijan’s demand to leave their homes and churches by the deadline of August 25.

The source of the problem is the joint “statement” of November 10, 2020 signed at the end of the war by the Prime Minister of Armenia, President of Azerbaijan, and President of Russia. Even though the first line of that “statement” declared “a complete ceasefire,” this is the most unusual kind of ceasefire in the history of all wars. Instead of stopping where the opposing armies had reached, the Armenian side agreed to turn over to Azerbaijan large areas of land not conquered by Azerbaijan. Furthermore, the Prime Minister of Armenia, without any authority, signed a document relinquishing lands, including most of Artsakh and its surrounding territories, over which he had no legal authority. Therefore, the Nov. 10, 2020 trilateral agreement should be considered null and void.

Paragraph 6 of that agreement stated that “The Lachin corridor (5 km. wide), which will provide for communication between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia and at the same time will not affect the city of Shushi, shall remain under the control of peacekeeping troops of the Russian Federation. The Parties have agreed that a plan for the construction of a new route along the Lachin corridor shall be determined within the next three years, providing communication between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, with the subsequent redeployment of Russian peacekeeping troops to protect the route. The Republic of Azerbaijan shall guarantee traffic safety for citizens, vehicles and goods in both directions along the Lachin Corridor.”

This paragraph, like many others, has created problems due to its unclear wording. Almost two years after signing this agreement, during which the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan had several face to face meetings, the Armenian government did not bother to clarify the language of Paragraph 6. Armenian officials, after approving Azerbaijan’s plans, kept repeating that the alternate route to bypass the Lachin Corridor was to be built only after three years and that Azerbaijan hastily built its segment of the alternate route. In fact, the 2020 agreement stated that the alternate road will be built within, not after, three years. Armenia is planning to complete its section of the alternate road to Lachin after 250 days from this month.

Armenian officials falsely reassured the families of the three Armenian villages within the Lachin Corridor that they have plenty of time to resolve their problems, assuring them that they may remain in their homes. When Azerbaijan insisted on the immediate removal of these villagers, the Armenian families were given less than three weeks to move without having anywhere to go.

To make matters worse, Artsakh’s Minister of Territorial Management and Infrastructure, Hayk Khanumyan, warned the residents of the three Armenian villages that should they burn their houses before leaving, they will not receive the promised 10 million dram ($24,000) compensation, which is insufficient to purchase a new house. The Minister was referring to the practice of many Artsakh Armenians who burned their homes before leaving their houses after the 2020 war. Burning one’s home is a heartbreaking decision, but it is equally upsetting to leave your own house to your sworn enemy. I watched this week the disturbing video of a father burning his family home before leaving. What did the Minister expect these villagers to do? To clean their houses, leave a cooked meal on the dining table with a bottle of champagne, and a welcome sign on the door for their Azeri enemies?

In addition to turning over to Azerbaijan large parts of territories in and around Artsakh which Azerbaijan had not occupied at the time of the ceasefire, Azerbaijan conquered additional lands in both Artsakh and inside Armenia’s borders since the end of the 2020 war. Furthermore, Azerbaijan, contrary to the 2020 agreement, is still holding Armenian prisoners of war, whereas Armenia foolishly turned over all the Azeri prisoners of war shortly after the ceasefire. Armenian authorities not only do not make any efforts for the return of the Armenian prisoners and the liberation of Armenia’s occupied territories, they do not even talk or complain about them. Before complying with any of Pres. Ilham Aliyev’s orders, Armenia should first demand that Azerbaijan keep its own obligations under the 2020 agreement. It is understandable that after losing the war Armenia is in a weakened and subservient position. However, mismanaging the situation due to Armenian leaders’ incompetence and capitulating to the enemy’s every whim and desire is unacceptable. Such spineless behavior encourages Azerbaijan to demand and obtain more concessions.

With the shutting down of the Lachin corridor which connects Armenia to Artsakh, the remaining Armenians of Artsakh will be isolated, surrounded by Azerbaijan. They will lose their access to Armenia, will be cut off from electricity, heat and internet, and will be sooner or later taken over by Azerbaijan. Sadly, Artsakh and Armenia, after losing the 2020 war, are on a downward spiral. Competent new leaders may not be capable of reversing Armenia’s calamitous situation, but at least they won’t let it get any worse.