Local Armenian Americans Concerned About Homeland After Fighting Flares, Martial Law Declared

Local Armenian American residents told Pasadena Now they are monitoring the situation in Armenia after the country mobilized its military following clashes with Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Nagorno-Karabakh serves as an important corridor for European energy supplies via a pipeline that runs through Turkey, according to Reuters.

“The current situation is developing,” said Former Mayor Bill Paparian. “One thing is clear beyond any shadow of a doubt; Azerbaijan has attacked Artsakh and its civilian population. This was coordinated weeks in advance with military assistance from Turkey. Any reporting that these are “clashes” is false. The White House and Congress must condemn these attacks and immediately cease all U.S. military aid to oil-rich Azerbaijan.”

Pasadena has a growing Armenian American community and nearby Glendale has the world’s largest such community outside of Armenia.

“At the decision of the government, martial law and general mobilization is being declared in the Republic of #Armenia. I call on the personnel attached to the troops to present themselves to their district commissariats. For the fatherland, for victory,” Nikol Pashinyan, Armenia’s prime minister, wrote on Twitter Sunday.

According to news reports, Azerbaijan has carried out air and artillery attacks targeting civilian populations in Nagorno-Karabakh and shelling the city of Stepanakert and surrounding areas.

The two sides have long clashed over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian territory that is part of Azerbaijan. The two countries fought a six-year war over the region until a ceasefire was declared in 1994.

The war began when ethnic Armenian Christians in Nagorno-Karabakh fought against control by mostly Muslim Azerbaijanis. The conflict led to thousands of deaths.

Despite mediation from Western powers and Russia, the two countries have never reached a full peace settlement.

“The United States should be pushing for more observers along the ceasefire line and calling for Russia to stop cynically providing arms to both sides while reviewing our own security assistance programs to ensure no military capabilities are being repurposed for offensive means,” said Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on social media that Turkey “stands by its Azerbaijani brothers with all its means” and called Armenia “the biggest threat to peace and tranquillity in the region.”

“Mind you, Turkey is we all know is one enemy of Armenia,” said Father Sarkis Petoyan of St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church of Pasadena. “They tried to erase us from the map 105 years ago. This is their whole idea of the genocide — to erase every single Armenian on the face of the planet. So should we be really surprised? They’ve never admitted it. They’ve never paid reparations. They’re going around the world trying to erase any proof of it. All the while, nations across the world, one by one, have acknowledged [the] genocide, including the Pope, [who] has acknowledged what happened in 1915 was a genocide. So, we shouldn’t be surprised by what he had to say yesterday. At the same time, it’s a very delicate situation,”

During the genocide, also called the Great Crime, 1.5 million Armenians died at the hands of the Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1923. Turkey has denied the event ever happened and when Pasadena began talking about a memorial to those who lost their lives in the tragedy, officials from Turkey came to Pasadena to oppose the memorial.

“Local Armenians, we’re all connected to mainland Armenia,” said former City Council candidate Chris Chahanian. “It’s alarming to see large scale war along the border of Nagorno-Karabakh. They are shelling the villages and civilian populated areas. There are many children and women among the dead. This is a horrible time for Armenia in the diaspora. We’re all devastated. This is not an easy day for us.”