Read on Twitter
Ok, this is my manifesto on #Turkey, #Armenia, #Azerbaijan and #nkpeace . It’s long because it’s a thorough run of my thoughts. Maybe it should’ve been an article, but here goes:
I moved to Armenia in January to remote work during Covid, enjoy the culture, work on impact investment, and try to advance environmental infrastructure. Support sustainable development and the #GlobalGoals on this local landscape.
With the start of the #KarabakhWar in September I clicked back into my previous job as a foreign correspondent, much of it dedicated to covering the war in #Syria. It had some very sad parallels to what was happening here.
The #KarabakhWar was short, but brutal. Azerbaijan, with direct military support of Turkey, used all military means available to change the status on the ground. It was brute force resolution of an issue many had hoped (and promised) would be settled in diplomatic negotiations.
#Armenia did many things wrong, no doubt -- not only in this war but in the decades before. As someone who is committed to peace, I'm also committed to talking honestly and without hyperbole about the things that were done on both sides.
That is not the same thing as bothsides-ism, also known as false balance. It is a commitment to long-term truth and reconciliation. #nkpeace
I'm a journalist, I'm also a full-faceted person. I happen to be an Armenian-American person. Through that lens or any other, I have no ill will toward those in #Turkey or #Azerbaijan. I try to see everyone with compassion. There are people in Turkey I count as my closest friends
However, I also see that what is happening now on the ground is wrong and hyper-aggressive on the part of #Turkey and #Azerbaijan. In addition to ethically questionable use of force, there are continual cyber attacks and physical attacks on Armenians around the world.
There are graphic threats to rape & kill Armenians posted to a variety of social media platforms (Instagram seems the worst). They include threats and incitements to Genocide. It's a heinous form of personal and geopolitical cyber-bullying that has continued beyond the ceasefire.
A string of videos appear to glorify the beheading & torture of Armenians by Azeri forces. There have been pledges by Azeri authorities to prosecute those cases. We'll see if they’ll be followed up. They haven't been forceful enough to stop the abuse. #nkpeace
On December 10, at the Victory Parade in Baku, President Aliyev of #Azerbaijan laid claim to nearly all of the country of Armenia and pledged to take it over, somehow or another. If the translation that I read was wrong - and I hope it was - please correct me with an @ message.
President Erdogan of #Turkey used the end of the Karabakh war to directly praise Enver Pasha, one of the architects of the Armenian Genocide, who nearly succeeded in exterminating the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire. #nkpeace
That really is like praising Hitler in public. It’s a pretty solid comparison, given that Hitler directly referenced Enver Pasha and his comrades as justification for the Holocaust’s intended strategy of killing all Jews. #nkpeace
Many Turks, many Azeris & many Armenians — all of them, I personally believe — will be better off when the hate speech ends, the conquest ends. Right now, Erdogan and Aliyev seem hell-bent on pushing them both on, using Armenia and Armenians as their go-to punching bag. #nkpeace
The Karabakh, aka Artsakh issue was a flawed movement for self-determination. The people of that region, an autonomous region of the Soviet Union, voted for independence before the USSR collapsed. #nkpeace
But at this time military might has prevailed in Azeri favor. #Azerbaijan is the victor & gets the spoils. That also means Aliyev has an opportunity to step up as a statesman to make peace, real peace. At the moment he just seems oriented toward diminishing and harassing #Armenia
I know many Armenians get frustrated when people like me (or when I myself) don't sound as fervent as they do about Armenian issues, or don’t agree with the phrasing or framing they use. I understand their pain. But this is my voice and this is the truth as I can best convey it.
This is the first time in my life I've been tasked with reporting or analysis of an issue that hits close to home. I will do my best with it, reporting with clarity and honesty, or conveying opinion when asked to editorialize. Twitter always seems to be a mix of both.
I welcome constructive thoughts and @ messages from anyone of any culture. But I will ignore hate and block trolls. And I’ll do my best to engage in calm conversations; I haven’t had time to do that lately on this platform.
I will always, always be committed to the good of this region the people in it. Journalists, or at least the ones I admire, are also humanitarians. A life of journalism + social impact projects on the ground here in Armenia is a worthwhile one to me.
