Young Armenians Protest Against the Surrender of Their Homeland
By: Sophie Kamkar
Tags: Azerbaijan, Armenia, New York City, Turkey, Protest

The protesters call on U.S. leaders and policymakers to put sanctions on Turkey and Azerbaijan following the recent ceasefire.

Mariam Khorenyan, 24, was born in Yerevan, Armenia and now lives in New York City. (Photo: Sophie Kamkar)

The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020 has felt like a confirmation of everything Mariam Khorenyan, 24, and her family dreaded would happen.

During the 1915 Armenian genocide, 1.5 million Armenian lives were lost at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. It was during this time that Khorenyan’s grandfather became the sole survivor of his family after losing all eight of his siblings.

“He would always kind of have this warning that it might happen again. That we should never let our guard down,” Khorenyan said her grandfather would warn her.

On Nov. 9, a Russia-brokered ceasefire was issued, ending six weeks of war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The two countries have been fighting for Nagorno-Karabakh, the mountainous region dividing the two countries. The recent ceasefire was made on the condition of Armenia’s surrender of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh, although internationally recognized as Azerbaijan territory, has been populated and governed by Armenians since the 1990s, when it became The Republic of Artsakh, a de facto independent state outside of Azeri rule. Although the ceasefire means the war has ended, Armenians continue to mourn the loss of Artsakh and the thousands of lives lost during the war. A new generation of young Armenians in New York and all around the world have stepped up to protest against the recent ceasefire and surrender of Artsakh. They are doing everything they can to support their homeland from the United States, such as encouraging Armenian Americans to call their senators each day, demanding for sanctions to be put on Azerbaijan and Turkey, and petitioning for two house and two senate resolutions to achieve this.

More than 150,000 Armenians have been forced to leave their homes in Artsakh following the ceasefire. There are more than 4,000 cultural historical monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh, which Armenians such as Khorenyan fear will be destroyed and many of which have already been damaged during the war. After suffering a genocide, this year’s war, and the loss of their historic land, Armenians fear how much more of their people, land, and culture they will continue to lose.

“That is my biggest fear, to be forgotten,” said Khorenyan.

Khorenyan is a member of the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF), a global non-profit organization that helps Armenian youth to protest for an independent and united Armenia. Since the war began at the end of September this year, Khorenyan has been attending all of AYF’s protests. The most recent protest was a silent protest on Nov. 21 at Washington Square Park.

Armenians gather in a silent protest at Washington Square Park on November 21st, 2020. (Photo: Justin Kaladjian)

Khorenyan said that the Armenian people live in a state of constantly fighting for their survival.

“We don’t understand why we have to always feel like someone is going to try and attack us or try and annihilate us,” she said.

The ceasefire has instilled a feeling of helplessness for Armenians, she says. They have lost Artsakh and they have no power themselves to help protect what centuries-old landmarks are left.

“A huge issue right now is that the Azeri and Turkish forces that are going to be there are going to try and destroy all of those incredible pieces of history that we and I hold so dear,” said Khorenyan.

Even those who are not Armenian, Khorenyan said, should at the very least feel the desire to protect sacred landmarks that represent ancient world history.

“Even if you’re not understanding what the conflict is, just try and realize how big of an impact this will have on a nation, on people, and on a culture that has been around for over 3,000 years,” she said.

On Oct. 23rd, President Trump publicly announced that he wanted to help Armenia.

“We’re working with Armenia,” said the President in the Oval Office. “We have a very good relationship with Armenia. They’re very good people, they’re so dedicated, they’re incredible people, and we’ll see what happens.”

President Trump did not mention whether or not he had spoken with leaders from Armenia or Azerbaijan.

“We have a lot of people living in this country from Armenia, originally from Armenia,” he said. “And they’re great people, and we’re going to help them.”

There has not been further word from President Trump. However, Armenian Americans continue to protest for four resolutions to be passed. According to the United States Congress, H.Res.1165 condemns Azerbaijan’s military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh, and H.Res.1203 condemns the military offensive launched by Azerbaijani and Turkish-backed forces on Artsakh and calls to honor cease-fire negotiations. S.Res.754 and S.Res.755 call for sanctions on Turkey and Azerbaijan. The hope for Armenians, as they continue to protest for these resolutions to be passed, is that in doing so they will eventually be able to not only sanction Turkey and Azerbaijan, but also reclaim Artsakh as its own independent nation, rather than occupied territory.

“Our ultimate goal is to have a palace that is defendable and a place that we can call home that is only a fraction of what our homeland used to be,” said Zareh Kaloustian.

Zareh Kaloustian, 23, Treasurer of the Armenian Youth Federation Manhattan Moush Chapter. (Photo: Sophie Kamkar)

Kaloustian, 23, who is originally from Los Angeles, California, joined the AYF when he was 16-years-old. He now lives in New York City and is the Treasurer of the AYF Manhattan Moush Chapter.

Kaloustian said his hope is that young Armenians continue to attend these protests and demand that the resolutions be passed. He hopes for a future generation of Armenians who care about their heritage and want to see the Armenian nation that will flourish.

“I do think that it can flourish,” he said. “It is a young nation now with an ancient history and a ton of heritage. And it gives a lot of potential.”

Everything that has happened in the past couple of months, Kaloustian said, has been a huge detriment to this.

“I think the youth is largely leading that charge in the protests,” he said. “It has almost always been set up that way in the Armenian community. The older generations of Armenians teach their kids everything that they can and help drive the policy for it and give direction to the youth so that the youth can then take it from there.”

Talene Sagherian, 24, Secretary of the Armenian Youth Federation Manhattan Chapter. (Photo: Sophie Kamkar)

Talene Sagherian, 24, joined the Armenian Youth Federation when she was 10-years-old, the age at which you’re allowed to join. She is now the Secretary of the AYF Manhattan Chapter. For herself and others at AYF, Sagherian has understood since a young age that it is one of her duties as an Armenian to go to protests and advocate for a united, free, and independent Armenia. Sagherian, like Khorenyan and Kaloustian, has been an active participant in the protests and calling U.S. senators regarding the house and senate resolutions. As the Secretary of the AYF Manhattan Chapter, Sagherian helps organize these protests.

This year’s war, she said, was considered to be inevitable by a lot of Armenians.

“We knew that something like this would happen,” she said.

“It wasn’t the fight that we’ve been used to, which is protests, signing petitions, or calling our senators and things like that,” Sagherian said. “So, I think it’s something that many of us haven’t seen in our lifetime because we weren’t around for the last war that happened in the 90s.”

Following the ceasefire, Sagherian has been seeing many Armenians lose hope. But for herself, and the Armenian youth she protests with, she said now is not the time to give up.

“We have to keep pushing for our president to sanction Turkey,” Sagherian said. “We are calling on all countries to place some type of sanction on a country that has no check on their power right now and is doing terrible things to Armenians, Assyrians, and Kurds.”

“This is when the real fight really starts,” she said. “Just because the physical war is not happening right now and soldiers are slowly going home, doesn’t mean that the fight is over. I think it begins now for Armenians.”