Evicted from their homes in the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, Armenians fled from their homes under a ceasefire agreement brokered by 68-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation. Since declaring independence Sept. 23, 1991 after the Dec. 26, 1991 end of the Soviet Union, Armenia struggled landlocked without a lucrative oil industry like Azerbaijan. But in the ancestral lands of the Mrav Mountains, Armenian Orthodox Christians occupied the area for centuries, building age-old churches and monasteries, including the 13th century Gandzasar Monastery built in 1240 AD. If that’s not Medieval Christian history than what is? Shelled by Azerbaijan troops and Turkish mercenaries in October, the ancient early Christian church was hit in 1992 during the 12-year-long war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Putin brokered a peace deal Nov. 10 that essentially required Armenians to leave their ancestral homes or face relentless shelling from Azerbaijan forces and Turkish mercenaries. Watching Armenians forced out of their homes and villages was a sickening reminder of religious wars between Muslims and Christians, reaching the breaking point in the Nagorno-Karabakh region where ancient Armenian Apostolic churches and monasteries survived for centuries. Under Putin brokered ceasefire, Armenians were forced from their homes in towns of Kelbajar and and Shusha where the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral was vandalized by Azerbaijani troops and Turkish mercenaries, both Sunni Muslims. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, 45, accepted full responsibility for the tragedy but said he would work with the Minsk group for an equitable settlement.
Pashinyan’s back was too the wall trying to save the lives of Armenians dealing with superior Azerbainjani forces and backed by Turkish mercenaries. You’d think the U.N., United States, European Union [EU] and NATO would have something to say about watching Armenians attacked again by the Turks, when Ankara hasn’t begun to deal with the historic, undeniable Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Turks in 1915-1917, the so called “death marches” where as many as 1.5 million Armenians perished. Azerbaijan’s 58-year-old President Illham Aliyev said Armenians were destroying the environment, desecrating Muslim artifacts and mosques. Moscow co-chairs the Minsk group where the Nagorno-Karabakh issue will be settled, taking into account Aremenian interests. Armenia, a former Soviet satellite, has a mutual defense treaty with Moscow, puzzled by Putin siding with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Washington and Brussels were not consulted in Putin’s negotiated ceasefire, promising equitable negotiations when the Minsk group resumes dealing with the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis. ”The end of fighting should now allow the resumption of good faith negotiations in order to protect the population of Nagorno-Karabakh and ensure the return of tens-of-thousands of people who have fled their homes in recent weeks in good security conditions,” said French President Emmanuel Macron’s office. France has about 400,000 to 500,000 Armenians, concerned about their community in Azerbaijan and Armenia. Russian peacekeepers and some Turkish mercenaries stay in Nagorno-Karabakh to assure the ceasefire sticks. Macron thinks Brussels needs to play a more active role in guaranteeing the rights of Armenians recently displaced from their ancestral homes, villages and towns.
Nagorno-Karabakh region technically sits within the 1918 Azerbaijan border, given the territory by Czar Nickolas II at the end of WW I. It ddin’t take long after WW I that the Soviet Union formed in 1922 and incorporated Azerbaijan into the fold. While religion was certainly deemphasized under Soviet Premier Vladimir Lenin, the Soviet Union never really took religion away from the people completely, especially in satellite territories. Armenia’s Apostolic Church and Russia’s Orthodox Church have much in common, all stemming originally for the July 15, 1064 split with the Roman Catholic Church when Constantinople Patriarch Michael Cerularius was excommunicated from the Vatican. Russian, Armenian, Greek and Eastern Orthodox Churches have much in common, far more than with Muslims. Russia’s Orthodox and Armenian churches are natural Christian cousins.
When the peace talks resume in Misnk in June 2021, the U.S. and EU must take a active stance for Armenia. Turkey has shown it’s no friend of Armenia, sending its mercenary fighters to Nagorno-Karabakh to wreak havoc on Armenians. Lurking in the background is the Ottoman Armenian genocide, something Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has refused to acknowledge. Sending in Turkish mercenaries to fight along side Azerbaijan could not be more insulting to Armenia. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hopes when he gets to Minsk he can get Putin to pressure Azerbaijan President Illhan Aliyev to let ethnic Armenians to return to their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh. To work toward an equitable settlement, Putin should keep Erdogan away from any negotiations, knowing Turkey’s history with Armenians. Armenians want the U.S. and EU to play a constructive role in returning Armenians to their ancestral homes in Nagorno-Karabakh.
