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JUSKALIAN'S 'MIXED EMOTIONS' IN TIMES' PIECE ON KARABAGH ARE BAFFLING
By Dr. Carolann Najarian
Armenian Mirror Spectator
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/pdf/100612.pdf
October 6, 2012
Russ Juskalian, in his article, "Off the Map in the Black Garden"
(New York Times Travel Section, September 21, 2012) describes having
"mixed emotions" during his visit to Nagorno-Karabagh, (the Black
Garden or Artsakh) he recently visited. He writes about dual feelings
of sadness for the Azeris forced to leave Nagorno-Karabagh and who
cannot return because of ethnic conflict, and those he feels for his
grandparents, survivors of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 who could not
return to their homes in Turkey. Perhaps I, too, the child of Armenian
Genocide survivors, would have had the same conflicting emotions had
I, as a physician, not spent years (rather than the two days he did)
bringing medical relief to the people of Nagorno-Karabagh, during
and after their war of liberation.
Referring to Armenians and Azeris, Juskalian writes, "... both ethnic
groups were subjected to pogroms" - a statement which grossly misleads
the reader. Even a superficial review of that history will clarify
important facts about how the conflict started. The pogroms were
against the Armenians living in Azerbaijan and started long before
there was any armed conflict.
Briefly, in February 1988, in the port city of Sumgait, Azeri gangs,
with government issued lists of Armenian residences, went on a
murdering rampage, house by house. The killing continued for three
days before the Azeri government took action to stop it.
Next, the Armenians of Baku were targeted (January 1990), brutally
beaten and many murdered either in their homes or as they fled. All
this was in response to peaceful demonstrations and lawfully-submitted
petitions for self-determination by the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabagh
to Moscow for either return of Nagorno-Karabagh to Armenia, or for
the right to self-determination. In other words, the Armenians of
Nagorno-Karabagh wanted to take advantage of Glastnost, promised
by Mikhail Gorbachev, and to be free of the Azeri domination which
Stalin had placed on them. (The history of that period - the human
rights violations, the pogroms against the Armenians, the brutal crack
down in Nagorno-Karabagh, the blockade of the area, and the war that
followed are well documented and easily accessed online.)
Fast forward to 2004, to a NATO-sponsored English language course in
Budapest where an Armenian military officer attending the course was
murdered by an Azeri military officer - a fellow attendee. The Azeri
admitted to the brutal murder, butchering the sleeping Armenian with
an ax with more than 16 blows nearly severing his head. The court
found no other reason for the horrendous act other than the soldier
was Armenian. Sentenced to life in prison, the murderer was recently
extradited back to Azerbaijan by the Hungarian government, assured by
Azerbaijan that he would serve his full sentence. Instead, President
Ilham Aliyev not only immediately pardoned the murderer, but he was
hailed as a national hero and promoted to a higher military rank.
(See Amnesty International's statement
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR55/015/2012/en/8e84f955-9f8f-488c
ad34-c68a744b6878/eur550152012en.html)
Mixed emotions? Yes, I too, have mixed emotions based on the fears I
have. I fear that the fragile 1994 cease-fire between Azerbaijan and
Nagorno-Karabagh will not hold and that the foreign powers charged
with monitoring and negotiating full peace will fail. The consequences
will be sad indeed for the Armenians of the regions, albeit Azeris too,
will pay a high price in blood and treasure.
Articles such as Juskalian's about Nagorno-Karabagh written in
ignorance and with self-serving flagellation do a great disservice
to these brave Armenians without advancing the cause of peace. It
would have been better if Juskalian had stayed home.
-Carolann S. Najarian, M.D.
President, Armenian Health Alliance, Inc.
By Dr. Carolann Najarian
Armenian Mirror Spectator
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/pdf/100612.pdf
October 6, 2012
Russ Juskalian, in his article, "Off the Map in the Black Garden"
(New York Times Travel Section, September 21, 2012) describes having
"mixed emotions" during his visit to Nagorno-Karabagh, (the Black
Garden or Artsakh) he recently visited. He writes about dual feelings
of sadness for the Azeris forced to leave Nagorno-Karabagh and who
cannot return because of ethnic conflict, and those he feels for his
grandparents, survivors of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 who could not
return to their homes in Turkey. Perhaps I, too, the child of Armenian
Genocide survivors, would have had the same conflicting emotions had
I, as a physician, not spent years (rather than the two days he did)
bringing medical relief to the people of Nagorno-Karabagh, during
and after their war of liberation.
Referring to Armenians and Azeris, Juskalian writes, "... both ethnic
groups were subjected to pogroms" - a statement which grossly misleads
the reader. Even a superficial review of that history will clarify
important facts about how the conflict started. The pogroms were
against the Armenians living in Azerbaijan and started long before
there was any armed conflict.
Briefly, in February 1988, in the port city of Sumgait, Azeri gangs,
with government issued lists of Armenian residences, went on a
murdering rampage, house by house. The killing continued for three
days before the Azeri government took action to stop it.
Next, the Armenians of Baku were targeted (January 1990), brutally
beaten and many murdered either in their homes or as they fled. All
this was in response to peaceful demonstrations and lawfully-submitted
petitions for self-determination by the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabagh
to Moscow for either return of Nagorno-Karabagh to Armenia, or for
the right to self-determination. In other words, the Armenians of
Nagorno-Karabagh wanted to take advantage of Glastnost, promised
by Mikhail Gorbachev, and to be free of the Azeri domination which
Stalin had placed on them. (The history of that period - the human
rights violations, the pogroms against the Armenians, the brutal crack
down in Nagorno-Karabagh, the blockade of the area, and the war that
followed are well documented and easily accessed online.)
Fast forward to 2004, to a NATO-sponsored English language course in
Budapest where an Armenian military officer attending the course was
murdered by an Azeri military officer - a fellow attendee. The Azeri
admitted to the brutal murder, butchering the sleeping Armenian with
an ax with more than 16 blows nearly severing his head. The court
found no other reason for the horrendous act other than the soldier
was Armenian. Sentenced to life in prison, the murderer was recently
extradited back to Azerbaijan by the Hungarian government, assured by
Azerbaijan that he would serve his full sentence. Instead, President
Ilham Aliyev not only immediately pardoned the murderer, but he was
hailed as a national hero and promoted to a higher military rank.
(See Amnesty International's statement
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR55/015/2012/en/8e84f955-9f8f-488c
ad34-c68a744b6878/eur550152012en.html)
Mixed emotions? Yes, I too, have mixed emotions based on the fears I
have. I fear that the fragile 1994 cease-fire between Azerbaijan and
Nagorno-Karabagh will not hold and that the foreign powers charged
with monitoring and negotiating full peace will fail. The consequences
will be sad indeed for the Armenians of the regions, albeit Azeris too,
will pay a high price in blood and treasure.
Articles such as Juskalian's about Nagorno-Karabagh written in
ignorance and with self-serving flagellation do a great disservice
to these brave Armenians without advancing the cause of peace. It
would have been better if Juskalian had stayed home.
-Carolann S. Najarian, M.D.
President, Armenian Health Alliance, Inc.