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INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY’S DISPROPORTIONATE REACTION – 2024-3

To Azerbaijan’s Policy of destroying Artsakh’s cultural heritage

Armine H. Tigranyan

Keywords – Artsakh, international organizations, destruction of cultural heritage, state policy of Azerbaijan, Council of Europe, UNESCO, The Hague International Court of Justice.

Summary

This article examines explores the international community’s response to Azerbaijan’s state policy of destroying Artsakh’s cultural heritage, spanning focusing on the period from the 2020 war to the present. It provides a comprehensive analysis of international resolutions, declarations, parliamentary and judicial decisions that address Azerbaijan’s aggressive actions, condemning them while protecting Armenian heritage. The article evaluates the impact and significance of these measures in preserving Artsakh’s historical and cultural values and preventing further destruction.

By analyzing reviewing statements and decisions made by international institutions over the past four years, the article highlights the pronounced silence and neutrality of global actors during and after the 2020 war, especially following the November 9 tripartite agreement. The study underscores the importance of the favorable shift in global discourse following the 2021 judgment by the International Court of Justice in The Hague against Azerbaijan. It presents the subsequent calls, statements, and decisions that emerged in response to the complete depopulation of Artsakh and the ensuing destruction of its heritage.

The research findings reveal that during the war’s active military operations, international structures maintained a stance detached from the realities on the ground. This created an atmosphere of impunity, indirectly encouraging further destructive actions due to neutrality and concealment of the facts. A year after the ceasefire, despite some international bodies withdrawing from unilateral statements and condemning Azerbaijan’s cultural genocide, responsible organizations failed to prevent the relentless destruction of Artsakh’s rich heritage.

In this period of global instability, a new perspective emerged with several European Parliament resolutions and decisions from the International Court of Justice. These documents began to condemn Azerbaijan’s actions and provided a more accurate assessment of the situation. Almost a year after the war, international courts formally condemned Azerbaijan’s policy of Armenian hatred. While this response may still lack the power to create effective protection mechanisms for Artsakh’s unique heritage, it represents one of the first attempts to connect the destruction of Armenian cultural values during the 44-day war with Azerbaijan’s long-standing policy, dating back to the early 20th century. For the first time, Armenian hatred was considered an international policy with a century- long history, tied to genocide, the disruption of peace agendas, and a severe blow to universal values.

Following the forced deportation of Artsakh’s population in 2023, when 120,000 Armenians were deprived of their homeland and access to cultural values, international organizations again issued only neutral statements and appeals related to the legal protection of forcibly displaced persons. During the same period, Azerbaijan, despite its numerous violations of UNESCO conventions and heritage protection principles, was elected to the vice-presidency of UNESCO. The international community remained largely silent regarding the destruction of churches and cemeteries. Apart from a few general statements, the protection of Artsakh’s cultural heritage was addressed in vague terms, and the absence of concrete actions has led to the continued loss of unique values.

Despite these challenges, the ongoing destruction of monasteries and khachkars of universal importance in Artsakh persists, with Azerbaijan still uncondemned. UNESCO’s visit to the region remains disrupted, undermining real peace efforts and allowing Azerbaijan to continue its destructive policies unchecked.

RESIDENTIAL VULNERABILITY IN THE CONTEXT OF TERRITORIAL MANAGEMENT – 2024-3

An example of RA regions and enlarged communities

Vahan V. Yengidunyan

Keywords – Enlarged community, region, territorial governance, vulnerability, spatial organization, socio-spatial planning, spatial control, cluster analysis, adaptive capacity, sense of place, spatial engagement, local leadership.

Summary

From the point of view of the territorial management of settlements, primary importance is given to the creation of a comfortable and functional environment for the residents. Territorial management of settlements is quite a sensitive process, because each unjustified change can significantly harm the daily operations of the residents, increasing the vulnerability of the settlement in the context of possible changes. From the point of view of the above-mentioned risks management, it is more important than ever to harmonize the professional approaches of territorial management strategy development with the endogenous and exogenous factors of settlement reproduction. Since territorial management is manifested in the dimensions of spatial organization, socio-spatial planning and spatial control, then the process of harmonization is logically derived from the realities in these dimensions. The process of community enlargement has been completed in RA and the methodological and procedural features of its implementation allow us to assume that there is an unequal distribution based on vulnerability, both in RA regions and in enlarged communities. Taking into account the possible negative impact of the above-mentioned assumption on the stable operation of settlements, as well as the lack of research knowledge aimed at this issue, the research was conducted to identify the most vulnerable regions of the Republic of Armenia and enlarged communities in the context of territorial governance, as well as to identify the characteristics of the manifestation of vulnerability in these settlements.

As a result of the research, it became clear that inequality according to vulnerability in RA regions and enlarged communities is observable in the context of spatial organization, socio-spatial planning and spatial control. In particular, the analysis of demographic and socio-economic indicators at the level of spatial organization makes it clear that on average Syunik and Vayots Dzor regions have the smallest number of inhabitants per settlement. Parallelly, the highest score of population dispersion in the enlarged communities was recorded in the Tatev enlarged community of Syunik. The picture is the same, also in the context of the comparative analysis of employment and education indicators in settlements. In particular, if in the case of employment there are labor and labor resources, then in the case of education, there is student attendance per public educational institution, which also records the lowest scores in the Vayots Dzor region. The highly unequal population distribution between the southwestern and southern regions of RA is a significant risk for managing the resources and opportunities of the territories. The uncontrollable processes of urbanization, in the context of which the population is concentrated in specific settlements, violates the principle of ensuring equal opportunities for the development of settlements, because in the perspective of short-term strategy, it is not advisable to implement large-scale projects in settlements with a decreasing population. It is interesting that, if the vulnerability of Vayots Dzor and Syunik regions is more emphasized in the dimension of spatial organization compared to other regions, then in the context of socio-spatial planning, Gegharkunik region stands out with multidimensional vulnerability. The vulnerability of Gegharkunik region is manifested, in particular, in terms of health conditions and average monthly income of households. Finally, the most vulnerable enlarged communities and settlements with the spatial control component belong to Syunik and VayotsDzor. The vulnerability of these regions in terms of spatial control is especially evident in the state-local government-residents relationship, where local residents meet and interact with the local government rarely and the state’s subsidies to the settlements of these regions are the smallest. At the same time, in these regions, there is the lowest quality of public services.

The vulnerability of RA regions and enlarged communities was investigated, also by clustering indicators of sense of place, spatial engagement and local leadership, which are considered components of socio-spatial planning and spatial control. The obtained results prove that only Gegharkunik region belongs to the cluster with relatively low indicators and Gavar is the only enlarged community belonging to this cluster. The obtained results prove that there is multidimensional vulnerability in Gegharkunik, Syunik and Vayots Dzor regions, which makes the enlarged communities of these regions and the settlements that make up these communities less flexible to possible changes. In these conditions, more than ever, the development of separate territorial development procedures is important, which, in connection with the general principles of the development of the RA regions, will monitor and promptly respond to every change taking place in the settlements of the mentioned marzes.

THE FOUNDER OF DIASPORA STUDIES – 2024-3

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Khachig Tololyan

Hratsin V. Vardanyan
Ph.D. in History

Summary

Keywords – Khachig Tololyan, “Diaspora. Journal of Transnational Studies”, diaspora studies, identity, Armenian diaspora.

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Khachig Tololyan, the article discusses his role in establishing diaspora studies as a new discipline. In this sense, he has a great role as a scholar and as the founder and editor of the “Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies”. Founded in 1991, the journal is the main platform where interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary diaspora studies began to be formed.

The article provides a brief overview Kh․ Tololyan’s biography as a scholar and his comments on diasporic issues, including the concept of diaspora and its key features.

Notably, according to Tololyan, the key feature of a typical diaspora is the high level of mobilization in the social, cultural, and political spheres. In this context, the role of the dedicated and active elite is particularly significant.

Other prominent scholars in this field had a high regard for Tololyan’s contribution to diaspora studies. In particular, G. Sheffer notes ‘Of great importance in furthering the development of this academic field has been Professor Khachig Tololyan’s initiative and unwavering dedication to publishing the field’s journal, Diaspora’. R. Cohen writes ‘Khachig Tololyan remains the supreme interpreter of diasporic phenomena and the most diligent of journal editors. Many scholars have benefited from his lengthy and learned comments’.

BOOK BY DAVID MOSINYAN “NIKOGHOS SARAFYAN: IN SEARCH OF A LOST ENVIRONMENT” – 2024-3

Knarik A. Abrahamyan
Ph.D in Philology

Summary

Keywords – Davit Mosinyan, Nikoghos Sarafian, philosophy, literary relations, theoretical observations, critical mind.

The book by Davit Mosinyan is dedicated to the examination of the creative layers of Nikoghos Sarafian, one of the outstanding representatives of French- Armenian literature, taking into account and discussing the literary and theoretical material about the author (Harutyun Kurkjian, Marc Nichanian, Krikor Beledian, Seta Kilejian, Suren Danielyan, Arthur Andranikyan, Lilit Seyranyan and others).

In the review, the author’s goals and principles are addressed, structural features of the book were particularly emphasized, the creative relations with N. Sarafian and the authors of the preceding period, his literary teachers (Eghia Temichipashian, Intra, Vahan Tekeyan, Hagop Oshagan and others), as well as the relations between the author and the environment (“We”, “Boys of Paris”, French- Armenian literary figures). Nikoghos Sarafian is a philosopher-writer, and Davit Mosinyan observed him primarily in the context of his profession philosophy (Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Spinoza, Martin Heidegger, Arthur Schopenhauer and others) emphasizing the peculiarities of the approaches of the French-Armenian writer. The conclusion is that extensive scientific research work has been carried out, which conributes to the discovery of the cognitive values of N. Sarafian’s work.

THE HISTORY OF THE HEROIC SETTLEMENT OF ARTSAKH – 2024-3

Mkrtchyan E. S., Khtsaberd and the Offspring of My Life (Memoirs), Yerevan, Real Print Publishing, 2023, 280 pp. + 58 pp., illustrations.

Mher A. Harutyunyan
Ph.D. in History

Summary

Keywords – Khtsaberd, Hadrut, Artsakh, Nagorno-Karabakh, memoirs, professor, settlement, etymology, research, genealogy, historical memory, resident, word formation, grammar, school, indigenous people, forced displacement.

In the context of the Azerbaijan-Turkey aggression from 2020 to 2023, which led to the occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and the threat of genocide against the indigenous Armenian population with subsequent forced displacement, rethinking and popularizing the history of the once-existing “eastern regions” of Armenia has gained significant importance. This is due to the need to convey to international specialized and authorized organizations the demand for urgent measures to preserve the Armenian historical and cultural heritage, which is being destroyed, appropriated, and distorted in the occupied territories of historical Armenia, to maintain the historical memory of our compatriots and unite them around the idea of returning to their homeland, as well as to strengthen our counterarguments in the information war imposed on Armenia and the entire Armenian nation.

From this perspective, it is worth noting that the initiative of Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor Eduard Samsonovich Mkrtchyan to present the history of his native village of Khctaberд in his memoirs can serve as a positive example for publishing books dedicated to other settlements of Artsakh.

Professor E. Mkrtchyan’s memoirs were published by decision of the Scientific Council of the Armenian State Pedagogical University named after Kh. Abovyan. The book was prepared for publication by the Syunik Center for Armenian Studies. The editor of the book is Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor Mher Kumunts.

The author of the memoirs has presented the history of his native village of Khctaberд, its language, genealogies, the origins of toponyms, and other interesting information. All of this is presented in the context of significant events in the life and work of Professor E. Mkrtchyan.

In conclusion, it can be noted that E. Mkrtchyan’s valuable publication aims to become a reference book for the reading audience. The usefulness of the book is evident both for specialists in Armenian studies and for the broader reading public interested in the history of Artsakh. The publication of the book is relevant in terms of restoring the territorial integrity of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, recognizing the international right to return to the homeland, and substantiating the historical, political, and legal aspects of its status.

THE CIVIL EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF ARMENOLOGY – 2024-3

Key words – armenology, Armenian view, unity of indivisibles, integration, unification, clinical death, principle of nationality.

HISTORIOGRAPHY VERSUS MEMORY – 2024-3

The relevance of reinterpreting the “Old days”

Sergey A. Aghajanyan
Doctor of Philological Sciences

Summary

Keywords – being, history, repetition of history, inevitability of reinterpretation, qualities of identity, history of identity, the Great Patriotic War, historiography of Soviet Armenians, barrack socialism, tragedy, symbolic scenes.

The already densely populated world is a multicolored and diverse complex of human cultural activities, which is shaped by the well-established identity of each nation that still exists. Apart from the qualities of their identity, neither these cultures nor the peoples who embody them can guarantee of existence and prospects for life. As the most important factors in the historical process, these qualities shape relevant behavior towards existing challenges, making their bearers viable or doomed. This is why the historical process, shaped by peoples and their value system, becomes either a controlled stream or a stream that irreversibly destroys everything.

The historical process is not as easy to analyze as material for a sober analysis. No coexistence can be guaranteed survival and development without a retrospective review and rethinking of the path traveled. At the same time, it is extremely important that this necessary scientific activity be conducted, especially in the search for the cause of failures, first of all, internally, in the qualities of one’s own identity and the national behavior that they engender.

The process of retrospective reassessment and rethinking, especially in modern times, can only be effective if it becomes a mandatory methodological practice for sociological thought. After all, for active culture-forming communities, the days have long passed when the people’s spontaneous worldview shaped the value system and behavioral norms of society.

Retrospective assessment, or rather, reassessment-reinterpretation, is one of the priorities of updating our historical consciousness. This is also imposed upon us by the 30-year stage of our modern history, which began with a heroic impulse rooted in national interests, which, unfortunately, ends with irreversible human, material, moral and psychological losses.