April 24 marks the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, when more than 1.5 million Armenians were systematically exterminated by the Ottoman Turks, an event Turkey still denies. For more than 400,000 Armenian Americans, it is also a stark reminder that history is repeating itself, as in the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan launched an illegal war against ethnic Armenians living in their ancestral homeland of Nagorno-Karabakh, followed by a nearly 10-month blockade of the only road connecting Armenians.
With such a preface, the American periodical The Boston Globe referred to the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in its article.
“Azerbaijan’s devastating campaign culminated in September, when more than 120,000 Armenians were displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, the largest displacement of Armenians since the Armenian Genocide. Luis Moreno Ocampo, the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, called it genocide. It contributed to the largest refugee flow in the world and created one of the humanitarian crises,” the article said.
The newspaper informs that American Armenians consider the latest acts of aggression by Azerbaijan as a continuation of the Armenian Genocide and a threat to their existence. Armenians see what is happening in Nagorno-Karabakh through the lens of their painful history. That is why, according to the periodical, Azerbaijan’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh are not mutually exclusive events.
“The denial of the Armenian Genocide by countries like Turkey and Azerbaijan has contributed to establishing a level of indifference on the part of the international community that allows autocrats to act with impunity and without consequences. Shockingly, the rhetoric coming out of Baku today is reminiscent of the last days of the Ottoman Empire, when Armenians were scapegoated to incite nationalism and fear. So while the messenger may be different, the message is the same. Azerbaijan promotes inter-ethnic hatred against Armenians in violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and there seems to be an endless cycle of violence and hatred. That hatred was manifested in words and actions. The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in his recent speeches unequivocally asserted that Armenia is the historical land of Azerbaijan and called Armenia “Western Azerbaijan”. This follows a troubling pattern in other speeches where the oil dictator has made similar arguments and even said that Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, belongs to Azerbaijan. We have seen that this hatred was carried out through the treatment and torture of Armenian prisoners of war and the open execution of captured Armenian soldiers,” the publication said.
The newspaper reminds that Aliyev is the same leader who built the War Spoils Park in Baku, where hundreds of helmets taken from dead Armenian soldiers were displayed. Also in that park were wax figures of captured soldiers, depicted with exaggerated mockery. Many of these mannequins were displayed dying or chained to prison cells.
“Aliyev continues to sow seeds of hatred by implementing a state policy to teach hatred of the Armenian people to schoolchildren throughout Azerbaijan. Make no mistake. Azerbaijan is promoting a culture of hate and fear and breeding a whole new generation of anti-Armenian sentiments. It is dangerous. It is irresponsible. And it has to stop. This kind of rhetoric should be a warning sign that hatred and violence in all their ugly forms do not end at the border. Unfortunately, hatred and violence have found their way into the United States. Over the past few years, the number of hate crimes committed against the Armenian-American community has increased. In San Francisco in 2020, a local Armenian school was vandalized with hateful and racist graffiti, followed by an attack on the Armenian Apostolic Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator. And in 2023, in Los Angeles, where the largest number of Armenians outside of Armenia live, flyers were spread throughout the city calling for the destruction of Armenia and the “end” of the Armenian Genocide, the article reads.
The publication logically concludes that these hate crimes in many ways appear to be an extension of Azerbaijan’s ongoing campaign to wipe Armenia off the map, showing that it continues to pose a threat to the existence of Armenians anywhere in the world, but many of the hate crimes remain undetected or unreported.
“That’s why every April 24, Armenian Americans gather to honor and remember the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide. This year takes on a whole new meaning because holding Azerbaijan accountable is one of the ways to make sure that no new crime happens,” concludes The Boston Globe.
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