Stop the Music

This past Monday, I was running a conversation club for my colleagues at the office. I had a topic in mind, but the team was adamant in requesting that we talk about the Khojaly Massacre, which took place today 22 years ago. 

I had already been aware that the tragic events in Khojaly are very much on the national mind. For example, when I visited an art gallery in Salyan a few weeks ago many of the local artworks featured Khojaly. Today, a day of mourning for the victims, I went to lunch with a local friend; she complained to one of the waiters about the fact that they were playing happy music on a day like this and he shut it down. Clearly, there is a national trauma here that needs to be confronted and dealt with. 

The conversation we had was very interesting, and I was amazed at how open everyone was in talking about their feelings and personal experiences regarding Khojaly and the Nagorno-Karabakh War in general. They shared not only their perspective on the events, but also the experience of transitioning from Soviet occupation to independence, and the impact the war had on their own lives; one person even spoke of their experience as an IDP (internally displaced person). 

At the end of the conversation I was informed that I was commissioned to speak at the commemoration ceremony, which would take place the following day. 

Initially, I was stomped. I really did not know how to approach this presentation seeing as all I could really say about Khojaly is that what happened there is horrifying and an example of some of the worst aspects of humanity. But then I thought about it some more, and had a realization- I, or rather we, the international community, can help heal this wound. And so I decided to focus my speech on breaking down the demand “justice for Khojaly”, which everyone made. 

So, what did I tell the international students I spoke to in this events? 

What happened in Khojaly was an offense against the entire Azeri nation, since the civilians who were murdered there were targeted for no other reason than their ethnic background. Therefore, justice in this case really means recognition. This recognition has two aspects. The first is internal; as Holocaust survivor, author, and activist Elie Wiesel said: “To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.” Therefore, giving people the space to talk about what happened, relay the story of what happened to their nation, is extremely important to the healing process. The second aspect is external, to have others accept that something awful happened here. 

That is where we, said international community, have a role to play. As part of my talk, I pledged to inform people back home about what happened in Khojaly. 

The history of how the massacre came to pass is actually very complicated. Of course it originated from the conflict over Karabakh (which I wrote about in a separate post) that had evolved into a full-fledged war after the fall of the USSR. In 1992, as the war raged, Khoajly was one of the towns where the majority were ethnic Azeris. In February 1992 Armenian forces, with the support of Russian troops, stormed the town. The exact reasons for this are contested by the belligerents, with the Armenian side claiming they were trying to stop the bombardment of their stronghold in the region and the Azeris arguing that the attack was staged to cleanse the region of Azeris. To be perfectly honest, I have not been able to find any primary sources to definitively prove either claim, though one statement by General Sargsyan who headed the Armenian forces at the time, indicates that there was malintent: “Before Khojaly, the Azerbaijanis thought that they were joking with us, they thought that the Armenians were people who could not raise their hand against the civilian population. We were able to break that [stereotype]. And that’s what happened.” (the quote is taken from Thomas de Waal’s book, Black Garden). 

Even if one accepts the claim that the Armenian operation was strictly defensive, this does still not absolve the military from making the maximum effort not to harm unarmed civilians. This was not at all the case here. The Armenian forces shot indiscriminately at the town’s population, including at people who were fleeing. According to renowned human rights organization, Human Rights Watch: “A large column of residents, accompanied by a few dozen retreating fighters, fled the city as it fell to Armenian forces. As they approached the border with Azerbaijan, they came across an Armenian military post and were cruelly fired upon.”

Furthermore, photographic evidence and testimonies by survivors indicate that the Armenian soldiers ruthlessly tortured the townspeople and mutilated some of the bodies. 

Official statistics put the number of victims at 613, including men, women, and children. 

Regardless of what anyone may opine about the war, what happened in Khojaly was an atrocity that must be condemned in the strongest terms. 

It is my sincere hope that readers will not take this as cause to hate Armenia; more animosity is not what this troubled region needs. Instead, those reading this should simply be aware of the fact that 22 years ago something truly heinous happened in Khojaly and remember that this is the price of hatred and lack of compassion. Tragedies such as these happen as we fail to put a human face on the “other”, the “enemy”- this is why we need to build bridges and learn to understand one another, it is the only way to build lasting, sustainable peace. 

Out on the Town//An Early New Year’s Party

Last week at work one of my colleagues offered me three free concert tickets to see a Turkish singer named Ahmet Şafak. I had no idea who he was, to be perfectly honest, but I figured it would be an interesting cultural experience so I accepted. I was not mistaken.

The concert took place at the Azerbaijan State Opera and Ballet Theater, located in the center of Baku. The theater was really beautiful and very European opera0house style, as you can see in this image:

From my experience at concert halls here I daresay the Russian influence is very strong, at least in the way of architecture (there are other cultural facets that are still influenced by Russia, but that’s another story).

Before the concert actually began, two ladies spoke on stage for a long time. From the translation I got, they were talking mostly about the longstanding partnership and strong bilateral relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan. Heydar Aliyev’s doctrine of “One nation two states” was invoked a few times. The kinship between the two countries, which is based on their shared Turkic heritage, is indeed a very strong one. Many of my Azeri friends have been to Turkey at least once; others even study and work there.

The music was good. I know very little about Turkish music myself but I was told that Ahmet Şafak’s music is in the traditional Turkish style. Since i am no musical expert I cannot say with certainty that this is true, but the sound was quite unique (or at least it appeared to my Western ears) and I could see that traditional instruments were played, in addition to some modern ones. Here is a clip, for reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWFh3c3tll8

I enjoyed the music a lot, and noticed that the concert was more than just a musical experience. Between songs Mr. Shafak would talk about brotherhood in the Turkic world, how the Karabakh conflict is Turkey’s pain because it is Azerbaijan’s pain, and similar topics. The crowd went wild; in other words, people got very emotional and started chanting loudly. It was almost like being at a concert and a political rally at the same time. I have never experienced anything like this before, and I though it was interesting.  I cannot think of any similar event that I have been to in the US; maybe I haven’t been to enough concerts in my life, but usually there is not that much discussion. Between the structure of the event and the music, the likes of which I have never heard before, I certainly got the cultural experience I was looking for and was very pleased by that.

After the concert, we walked by this other theater (the name of which escapes me at the moment) where they have these musical tiles on the building’s facade. These beautiful decorated tiles make different sounds when you knock on them:

After wandering around the city center for a bit, my two friends and I met up with a couple other friends and went to a small tea house in the old city. In the cozy cafe we ordered tea and pahlava, a regional sweet that I am absolutely obsessed with. The tea was served, per usual, in traditional Azeri, pear-shaped glasses:

The concert, company, and food were all great and then to top it off I got to meet a adorable Husky puppy named Roy, who belongs to this guy who is apparently Baku’s best tattoo artist:

Today I was a guest speaker at conversation club my friend leads. They were having a New Year’s celebration and she wanted to use the occasion to have me, a native speaker, talk to her students. The goal was to have them hear English from a native speaker, practice speaking to said native speaker, and learn about American culture. I started off with playing two truths and a lie to make the students feel more comfortable with me. After that we had a Q&A session, and then played some more English-driven games. It was nice and a good experience; I am always happy t0 reach new audiences, learn about their experiences, and tell them about the US.

Overall a successful weekend.

 

The Other Occupied Territories

Though it has recently taken a back seat to the civil war in Syria, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has often been the topic of great discussion in international media. Not only is it an issue hotly debated and extremely well researched, peace efforts have cost the government entities and NGOs billions of dollars. There are countless organizations dedicated to bridging the gap between Israelis and Palestinians, sending their kids to fancy camps where they can learn to cooperate and see the other’s point of view or paying for scholars from both sides to attend peacemaking seminars in renowned universities. While Israel-Palestine receives this immense and almost incomprehensible global attention, other dangerous and destructive conflicts go on virtually unnoticed. This article will discuss one of them: Nagorny-Karabakh.

Background

In 1988, the Armenian population of Nagorny-Karabakh (NK) took to the streets, demanding to join Armenia; shortly, they were joined by citizens of Armenia proper. At the time, the overall population of NK was approximately 192,000 with the majority (76%) being Armenian, but the territory belonged to Azerbaijan. On 10 December, 1991 the leaders of the Armenian population in NK declared independence from the Azerbaijani state and armed conflict ensued.

The conflict escalated into a full-blown war between Azerbaijan and Armenia with the collapse of the USSR. The brutal and bloody war lasted until 1994. While the war waged on, many human rights catastrophes occurred, which most of the world remains unaware of. The Khojaly Massacre is a perfect example: the village of Khojaly was an Azeri stronghold in the territorial corridor between NK and Armenia proper. In their effort to seize it, in February 1992, the Armenian troops massacred over 600 civilians and tortured many others. Of course, Armenian civilians were also killed and injured in the 3 year war. Overall, the war cost between 24,000-36,000 lives and left over 75,000 injured. Many more civilians were displaced.

In 1994, the Russian government was able to broker a ceasefire. The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic enjoys de facto autonomy, but its independence remains unrecognized by the international community. Today, the conflict is officially frozen, but could heat up again at any time.

A Lasting Impact

In Azerbaijan, where I am currently stationed, the Nagorny-Karabakh War remains a deep seated trauma and the desire for a resolution is very much alive. In fact, the conflict is almost omnipresent. Almost every person I have met here has asked me my opinion about the conflict. Furthermore, when I visited the historic palace of Shirvanshah, a 15^th century complex in Baku, I found it littered with signs about people who died there as a result of Armenian attacks in Azerbaijan proper. Relations with Armenia are so bad here that when my host got me a cell phone in his name he said “just don’t call anyone in Armenia.” Most recently, I asked my students to introduce myself and tell me where they were from; one of them said “Baku, but my family is from Karabakh. It is occupied by Armenians.”

The war is more than memory in Azerbaijan. According to Lionel Beehner, “just under 10% of Azerbaijani’s population remains displaced in the region” as a result of the war (http://www.cfr.org/armenia/nagorno-karabakh-crisis-caucasus/p9148). While they are taken care of by the government, from what I have been told, they remain without permanent homes as an everlasting reminder of the war that never truly ended. The war has also impacted Azerbaijan’s foreign relations. For example, Iran’s support for Armenia continues to embitter the already cold relationship between Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic.

Azerbaijan lost more than Nagorny-Karabakh itself in the war. The Armenian autonomy captured seven additional regions surrounding Karabakh, which were not majority-Armenian territories. these territories also remain occupied, leaving 20% of Azerbaijan under foreign occupation.

The war has also taken a toll on Armenia, as it left in its aftermath 235,000 Armenian refugees.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) established the Minsk Group in 1992 as a forum for resolving the conflict. Thus far the group, chaired by the US, France, and Russia, has been unsuccessful.

An Explosive Conflict

In addition to its lasting humanitarian impact, the conflict is far from over even though the war is not active at the moment. Shooting incidents on the border are, in fact, quite frequent according to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (http://iwpr.net/report-news/gunfire-extension-politics-azeri-armenian-border). Indeed, other than the aforementioned border incidents, the Nagorny-Karabakh conflict has been cold so far. However, escalation on the contact line could easily lead to a broader violent confrontation. The fact that Azerbaijan’s military budget has reached $3.7 billion in the last year clearly demonstrates that the possibility of conflict is on the leadership’s mind (http://en.apa.az/news/195357).

Another war between Azerbaijan and Armenia will be a costly one. In addition to losses in life and humanitarian issues on both sides, such a conflict would have serious fallout in the region and a global impact.

One of the oldest oil-producing countries in the world, Azerbaijan is a critical supplier in the European market (http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=AJ). Local violence is likely to disrupt Azerbaijan’s ability to export its oil, leading to instability and disruptions in the market. Moreover, any Azeri-Armenian conflict is likely to spill over. The major powers surrounding these two countries, Russia, Iran, and Turkey would become involved. Great power intervention would doubtlessly escalate the conflict into a wider regional confrontation. With the greater Middle East already in disarray, further violence could be catastrophic.

Furthermore, last time around Chechen radicals including the notorious Shamil Basayev fought with Azerbaijan (http://carnegieendowment.org/2012/02/24/president-interview-and-tragic-anniversary/9vpa?reloadFlag=1). Should another war break out, especially in today’s ever-more radicalized environment of the Caucuses, it is likely to happen again. Thus, in the chaos of further conflict would open a door for radicals in this country that is otherwise stable and tolerant.

What’s Next?

As it were, the conflict seems intractable. At least in Azerbaijan, there is little faith in the peace process. The popular opinion, as I heard it, is that Azerbaijan will except nothing short having Nagorny-Karabakh fully returned and that the Armenians are the exclusively hindering the peace process because they are not interested in a resolution. I am certain similar opinions are prevalent in the Armenian side. As it were, therefore, there will not be popular pressure on the Azerbaijani and Armenian governments to reach a resolution.

Thus, international intervention is called for. It is not enough for the major powers to say they are committed to a peace process in the South Caucuses, nor is it sufficient for them to declare that without progress the international community will lose faith in the leaders’ commitment to peace, as they at the G8 Summit in 2011. Words need to translate into actions, and it is especially important for the United States to be involved.

Azerbaijan has been a great ally to us. According to former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, “Azerbaijan was one of the first countries to offer support after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States […]the southwestern Asia country provided valuable access and overflight rights for coalition aircraft, and sent peacekeepers to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom” (http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=25519). This alone should promote our desire to help find a peaceful resolution to the Nagorny-Karabakh Conflict.

Furthermore, preventing the spread of violence in the region is in our interest for the reasons stated above.

Finally, Russia has been very active in this conflict. Most likely, the former leader of the USSR seeks to increase its power and influence in the South Caucuses by playing the role of peacemaker. We should strive to balance Russia’s power in this strategic region. Not to mention the recent Syria debacle, in which the Russians came up with a diplomatic solution that both alleviated the chemical weapons problem (Assad’s arsenal is being dismantled- http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/10/syria-disarmament-team-launches-mission-20131018223931432.html) while we almost got militarily involved. We need a diplomatic victory.

A just resolution to the Nagorny-Karabkh is in everyone’s best interest and it is my sincere hope to at least see some progress firsthand from here, the historic city of Baku.