Fresno writer: The world shows it cares for Ukraine, but could not care less about Armenia

As a grandson of Armenian Genocide survivors, it can be challenging to grasp a world that can be so cruel. The pain of loss of the million and a half victims of the Turkish genocide is felt daily. Although my pain is different than my paternal grandfather’s, as he languished in a Turkish prison as a teenager, the intergenerational pain is real.

Equally real and more painful is the pain of being ignored, which presumes that those you would hope to count on when in need actually know you are suffering — abandonment at its best. Such is the case with the recent war in Artsakh, juxtaposed against the current non-war on the Ukrainian border with Russia.

Since 1994, when a cease-fire ended the war with Azerbaijan in which Armenia reclaimed Artsakh, one of its historic provinces, Azerbaijan has acted with impunity in its constant attacks of Armenia. Hundreds of Armenian soldiers and civilians have been killed, both in Artsakh and Armenia proper, from sniper attacks to full border incursions.

The diplomatic response of false parity, encouraging both sides to refrain from violence, has only encouraged further violence by Azerbaijan — in frequency and ferocity. The world’s appeasement of oil-rich and bribery-prone Azerbaijan, and its dictator Ilham Aliyev, is not unlike Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of Adolf Hitler, and it came to a head on Sept. 13, 2020 when Azerbaijan, using Turkish F-16s, Israeli suicide drones and cluster bombs, and ISIS mercenaries, attacked military and civilian targets in Artsakh. This date is not random — it was the 100th anniversary of Turkey’s attack against the first Armenian Republic; Turkey’s stated mission was “to eliminate Armenia.” The message of genocide from a century ago has been resurrected.

While that message continues to fall on indifferent ears, the world has come to a standstill as Russia mobilizes its military at various points along its border with Ukraine. Pundits and politicians are chiming in, scoring their daily fix of fame. According to some, Russia has its sights on Ukraine’s capital, Kiev. Ukraine, a sovereign nation that has done nothing to antagonize its neighbor, is now under threat of attack from Russia.

Yet Armenia, a sovereign nation, is under actual attack from Azerbaijan, with NATO member Turkey’s help. Azerbaijan actually killing Armenians, on Armenian soil, gets a diplomatic “tsk tsk”, but a mere threat arises on Ukraine’s border and the world rallies with promises of severe sanctions, among other serious consequences. There has never been a time over the last quarter century that Azeri troops have not been perched along the Armenian border; and Aliyev now has troops on Armenian territory and has proclaimed Armenian’s capital, Yerevan, to be fair game for Azerbaijan. Sanctions for Azerbaijan; consequences of any kind? Not a chance. In this context, being ignored also presumes that nobody cares — abandonment at its worst.

There is no question that a war in Ukraine would be devastating. But this cannot supplant the undeniable reality that the Turks and their Azeri brethren are not threatening, but rather are actually continuing what they began over a century ago, and promised to complete two years ago (Turkish strongman Erdogan vowed in 2020 to “fulfill the mission of our grandfathers” in the Caucasus). It’s the completion of a genocide that was simply put on hold while the Soviet Union provided Armenians shelter.

It’s hard to fathom that this cruel world could not care any less about the Armenian race, but if Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s genocidal plan comes to fruition, there will no longer be a reason to care. Armenians have done nothing to deserve this; Armenia must not be abandoned.

This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 10:43 AM.