2023-09-22 08:00:00
Armenians around the world feel like they are experiencing a tragedy. They observe with anguish the situation of one of their small homelands, stuck in the Caucasus mountains. After the lightning offensive by the Azerbaijani army on Tuesday September 19, negotiations began on the fate of the inhabitants of the completely surrounded Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. The Baku regime intends to exercise its full sovereignty there, in accordance with international law. The leaders of the separatist entity, which claimed to be an autonomous republic, will have to come under the caudine forks. It’s the end of a dream that lasted thirty years. The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh had won their independence by force of arms. It was through arms that they lost it.
The anxiety today concerns the fate of the population but also of the material and intangible heritage of this part of historic Armenia. Because this conflict is part of a lasting tension with the surrounding Turkish world. The Armenian community was able to flourish in the region for a long time during the times of the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire, but it endured the tragedy of the genocide in 1915-1916, which erased its presence in Anatolia. This painful memory is awakened by the hate slogans heard in Azerbaijan.
This issue must be addressed internationally. Christians are called to show their solidarity. And European countries must put all their weight on Azerbaijan so that it renounces the spirit of revenge and commits to a logic of coexistence. The future of the Armenians also concerns the Mediterranean Meetings, which today welcome the Pope to Marseille. Their experience of persecution, exile and renewal has universal significance.
#solidarity #Armenians