Society for Armenian Studies Letter and Resources on the Humanitarian Crisis in Artsakh
The executive committee of the Society for Armenian Studies has been following with growing alarm the humanitarian crisis in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Our previous statement condemned the Azerbaijani government’s policies of blockade and starvation of the Armenians in the region, and called for action by individuals, governments, and human rights organizations.
Eight months later, the only road that connects the 120,000 ethnic Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to the Republic of Armenia (and, thus, to the outside world) remains under blockade, strictly enforced by the Aliyev regime. This week, the first cases of death due to starvation were registered there.
We call on academic organizations as well as institutions of higher education in the United States of America to raise their voices in condemning this massive human rights violation. We urge academic organizations and institutions of higher education to provide information and resources on the current situation in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to their constituencies.
We offer both this short letter and the below resources to the membership of the Society for Armenian Studies such that our members might make use of them within those academic organizations of which they are members and those institutions of higher education where they are currently employed or enrolled and/or those from whence they have graduated and/or where they formerly held a position. The informational resources will be updated regularly via the input of SAS members. (Please feel free to contact our Executive Secretary, Flora Ghazaryan, if you want to include another resource.)
Resources on the Current Situation in Nagorno-Karabakh (as of August 2023)
Recent News
Felix Light, “ Nagorno-Karabakh residents say ‘disastrous’ blockade choking supplies,” Reuters, August 16, 2023. (https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nagorno-karabakh-residents-say-disastrous-blockade-choking-supplies-2023-08-16/)
Jesse Williams, “‘It is like a concentration camp’: the forgotten crisis on Europe’s doorstep,” The Telegraph, August 16, 2023. (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/terror-and-security/armenia-azerbaijan-nagorno-karabakh-blockade/)
Statements
Former ICC criminal prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo
https://www.cftjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Moreno-Ocampo-Expert-Opinion.pdf
From the UN
From Amnesty International
From the New Humanitarian
https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2020/11/5/nagorno-karabakh-armenia-azerbaijan-conflict-humanitarian-impact
From the Center for Truth and Justice
From the International Association of Genocide Scholars
Statement of 52 prominent genocide scholars – http://genocide-museum.am/eng/
Statements from Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Turkish NGOs and organizations
https://postsovietpeace.mailchimpsites.com/lachinblockade
Articles, Essays, and Journal Volumes for Context
“Azerbaijan should reopen the Lachin corridor— and avert another war,” Editorial Opinion, The Washington Post, August 16, 2023. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/16/azerbaijan-nagorno-karabakh-blockade-armenia/)
“Explainer: What is Nagorno-Karabakh and Why are Tensions Rising?,”Al-Jazeera, April 24, 2023. (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/24/explainer-what-is-nagorno-karabakh-why-are-tensions-rising)
Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin Corridor Crisis, Genocide Studies International, Vol. 15, No. 1. (Toronto: University of Toronto, 2023). (https://utpjournals.press/toc/gsi/15/1)
Susan Barba, “The Road to Arsakh,” New York Review of Books, February 22, 2023. (https://www.nybooks.com/online/2023/02/22/the-road-to-artsakh/)
Mira Nalbandian, “Azerbaijan Won’t Stop at Artsakh,” Harvard Political Review, January 22, 2023. (https://harvardpolitics.com/azerbaijan-wont-stop/)
Arman Grigoryan, “The Causes of Defeat in the 44-Day War: a Review Essay,” Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies, 29, 2023. (https://brill.com/view/journals/jsas/aop/article-10.1163-26670038-12342794/article-10.1163-26670038-12342794.xml)
Neil Hauer, “Azerbaijan’s ‘Ethnic Hatred’ Theme Park Draws Ire, Imperils Reconciliation,” RFERL, April 22, 2021. (https://www.rferl.org/a/azerbaijan-karabakh-theme-park-armenia-ethnic-hatred-aliyev/31217971.html).
Hrag Vartanian, “Artsakh: Cultural Heritage Under Threat,” Hyperallergic, February 28, 2021. (https://hyperallergic.com/625101/artsakh-cultural-heritage-under-threat/)
Djene Rhys Bajalan, Sara Nur Yildiz, Vazken Khatchig Tavitian, “What’s Really Driving the Azerbaijan-Armenia Conflict?,” Jacobin, October 8, 2020. (https://jacobin.com/2020/10/azerbaijan-armenia-conflict-nationalism-colonialism)
International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies, Vol. 7 No. 2 (2022): Special Issue on Artsakh (http://agmipublications.am/index.php/ijags?fbclid=IwAR2nfo1jpSWAKz7WbdTutuXbiiK8zbt6-imSKf-Kd5Z2i_ALrWBdki6lEOo)
Naira Sahakyan, “The rhetorical face of enmity: the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the dehumanization of Armenians in the speeches by Ilham Aliyev,” in Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, November 2022 (https://doi.org/10.1080/14683857.2022.2153402)
Caucasus Heritage Watch
https://caucasusheritage.cornell.edu/
Caucasus Edition: Journal of Conflict Transformation
https://caucasusedition.net/from-liberal-to-agonistic-peace-in-the-south-caucasus/
https://caucasusedition.net/making-sense-of-armenia-azerbaijan-conflict/
https://caucasusedition.net/armenia-and-azerbaijan-on-the-way-to-peace-the-process-of-demarcation/
Caucasus Survey
