In the process of writing an article for the Armenian Weekly’s 90th anniversary magazine, I seriously dove into the archives. I knew I would be amazed by the articles I was looking for in order to write that article, and indeed I was. What really surprised me, though, were all the other gold nuggets I stumbled upon in the process. There is a wealth of history about our community and our people in these archives. It was good to be reminded of articles I had read but long forgotten. It was even better to see and read articles published before I was a reader of the Weekly and, more so, before I was born.
It seems to me that we should honor this 90th anniversary by reviewing some of the gems in the archives and maybe even reprinting some of them. I will start by launching this column, and hopefully, it becomes regular. But it should not be my column only. If that was the case, you would only see articles that spark memories or resonate with me. It would be a richer experience to see what articles prompt a response from others.
I will begin with an article that reflects on the current conflict with Azerbaijan, which resulted in the loss of Artsakh and has us all worried about the intentions of Azerbaijan and Turkey with regard to the Republic of Armenia. As many have noted, it is an existential moment for our nation.
As we know, this conflict stems back to the early days of the Soviet Union. Nakhichevan and Nagorno-Karabakh were given to the Azerbaijan SSR when they should have been part of the Armenian SSR. We all know what happened after the Soviet Union fell and the Azeris began a pogrom against the Armenians in Sumgait. They turned their aims toward doing the same in Nagorno-Karabakh, but the Armenians there fought back, gained independence (that no one recognized). They lived freely in their own ancestral lands until late 2023.
There was an article entitled, “Karabagh Acts: Armenian Protest to Moscow,” in the October 1, 1964, issue of the Armenian Weekly. The article was on the front page and was a reprint of an article that was first published in the September 25, 1964, Christian Science Monitor. The opening paragraph read:
In a petition to Soviet Premier Khrushchev, signed by 2,500 representatives of the community, some 200,000 Armenians from the Autonomous Region of Karabagh and four adjacent provinces in Soviet Transcaucasus, have bitterly complained about “unbearable conditions of life.” Foremost amongst these complaints is the charge that the local rulers who are Azerbaijanis — a Turkic people with kinship and religious ties with the Turks in Turkey — are usurping their power vis-à-vis the Armenians.
Back in 1964, when I was just 11 years old, I would have not known anything about Nagorno-Karabakh. I also did not know about Nakhichevan or Azerbaijan. I did have a burgeoning interest in geography and was beginning to question what communism was versus the way the United States was governed. I wanted to know and understand the differences. I distinctly recall looking at a map of the region and being proud to see Armenia. I also recall noticing that Nakhichevan was disconnected from the Azerbaijan SSR by Armenia SSR. I did wonder how and why that happened. Little did I know.
Back in those days, the Armenian SSR was a mysterious place to many of us. Yes, they were Armenian, and that was to be appreciated. But they were also communists, and that was bad.
The article is worth reading to put the current situation in a historical perspective. I like that it was first published in a non-Armenian newspaper. I believe the Christian Science Monitor was a respected newspaper back in that time.
So what did the Karabakhtsis want?
The petition culminates in a virtual demand to render “a prompt decision” and reincorporate Karabagh and all adjacent Armenian regions into the Republic of Soviet Armenia, so as to thereby be “attuned to Lenin’s policies of nationalities.”
Wow! I wish Khrushchev had granted their request. The article states, “the Kremlin is known to have dispatched to the scene the Armenian military star Marshal Bagramian, along with a Russian military observer, to investigate.”
What was the result? According to the article, “…no corrective steps have apparently been initiated thus far.” Clearly, no corrective steps were ever initiated.
What is the lesson? The same one Khrimian Hayrig told the nation in 1878.
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Originally published in The Armenian Weekly, June 25, 2024: From the October 1, 1964 Weekly
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