Artsakh’s Plight by Accident of Geography
Posted on January. 27. 2021
Know thy self, know thy enemy.
A thousand battles, a thousand victories.
Sun Tzu
Z. S. Andrew Demirdjian
While the traumatic effects of the Armenian Genocide were directly experienced by the survivors, the tragedy of the events was transmitted down to their descendants over the years. Now, with the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) War of 2020, the descendants of the Genocide survivors have felt the agony of defeat at the hand of a gang of countries united by a strong ideology based on religion.
While many nations rallied to the support of Azerbaijan, the Christian countries acted as sympathetic spectators without taking any action to stop the carnage of over 3,000 Armenian soldiers and more than 60 unarmed civilians within 44 days of an unfair, unjust war with the Azerbaijani combined forces.
As we all know, had Artsakh Defense Forces to fight the Azerbaijani army alone, the Armenians would have emerged victorious. Unfortunately, they had to face the military might of over five nations including the Israeli war experts (i.e., remote pilots) directing the flights of their suicide drones on intelligence data gathered by them, –which killed the Armenians indiscriminately.
In this article, I would like to explore the source from which Muslims derive their unity against the enemy of one of them while Christians standby when their co-religionists are cruelly and brutally slaughtered.
Artsakh’s (Nagorno-Karabakh) precarious position as an island in a sea of belligerent Islam without the seven regions (as dotted area) as buffer zone, which makes it hard to defend its borders against future wars with Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the rest of Islamic brotherhood-oriented Muslim countries.
Two examples, one medieval and another one modern, will be briefly cited to show how Islam easily won victory in war with their so-called enemies, the infidels of Artsakh, whom they thought, deserved a genocidal treatment.
The first example narrates how Islam managed to win a decisive war after waging it against the European army. But, first let us talk about the Prophet Muhammad who was an inspirational religious and military leader who lived in Arabia from AD 570 to 632.
After Prophet Muhammad’s death, brave Muslim soldiers took control of all Arabia, spreading their faith wherever they went with their “Sarasen” swords. By AD 750, they had conquered a vast empire, stretching from southern Spain to the borders of China, including the Greater Armenia.
How did these simple, uneducated Bedouins (nomads) of Arabia do it? Let’s briefly explain the factors behind their success at least for our new generation to understand and appreciate their position.
As you know, the crusades were wars fought between Christians and Muslim armies over who had the right to rule the city of Jerusalem for the Ottoman Turks had made it difficult and expensive for the Christians to pay pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This area was holy to Muslims, Christians, and Jews.
The Crusades began in 1096, when a Christian army set out from Europe for the liberation of Jerusalem. The wars ended in 1291, when Muslim soldiers from Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East drove the last Christian army out of the Holy Land under the leadership of Saladin the Great, a Kurd by origin. Why did the Crusaders lose the war?
You see, the Crusader army came from Europe from mainly three countries, France, Germany, and Italy. That means, they came from one continent of Europe. By invoking “Jihad” (struggle against the infidels) and “Muslim brotherhood,” (unity of Muslims regardless of geographic location) soldiers from numerous Muslim countries of three continents swelled the ranks and files of the Muslim army to fight to the end.
Legend has it, if a Muslim solider dies in battle fighting against the infidels (unbelievers of Islam), he would go to heaven where 27 beautiful virgin girls would be waiting for him. King Richard I (the Lionheart) of England as a Crusader fought, but lost against the invincible coalition of Muslim forces teaming with volunteer soldiers from all over the many vast
Islamic countries from three continents. The term Islam and Muslim both imply “submission or surrender.”
The Muslim army was formed based on two major factors: Jihad and the “Bond of Brotherhood” among individuals and nations of Islam. We are not discussing the “Brotherhood” of Egypt, formed in 1928, the belligerent Muslim sect persecuting the Coptic Christians. We are talking here in general about the concept, the ideology of brotherhood in the religion of Islam as provided by the Qur’an (“reciting”).
The Bond of Brotherhood is a special ethos of unity, which glues all Muslims together throughout the world. In modern times, with the end of the Cold War, a new international enemy came into existence in the form of Radical Islamic Fundamentalism, which make up of Islamic extremists, terrorists, and the states that support them like Turkey. For self protection, Artsakh must understand them as they perceive themselves.
These radical groups see themselves first as Muslims and that they are not loyal to any geographic entity. According to them, the world is divided into two groups: the “Abode of Islam” (Dar al-Islam), and the “Abode of War” (Dar al-Harb) — or the world which is not yet Muslim but eventually will become one through Jihad. If they feel any territorial loyalty, it is to the Abode of Islam, the places where Muslims live, which they call “The Nation of Islam” (Ummah). In these two worlds, which do not have any geographic borders, Islam is not only a religion, but the common political (almost familial) bond that unites all Muslims. When Muslims unite under Jihad, they become a force to be reckoned with as the Azerbaijani forces proved in the Artsakh War.
The second example is the Artsakh War of 2020. The coalition of Azerbaijan, Turkey, ISIS Jihadists, Syrian and Libyan volunteer Muslim mercenaries, Pakistani volunteers, and others have fought against the tiny Republic of Artsakh only assisted by Armenia.
Armenians have never had any problems with Pakistan. Despite that, Pakistan sent volunteer soldiers to support Azerbaijan’s war against Artsakh. Turkey sent its specially trained mountain forces and Syrian and Libyan Muslim soldiers. The Islamic Republic of Iran is another country, supposedly known to be Armenia’s longtime friend, based on Islamic brotherhood offered
Azerbaijan to financially help them rebuild those villages and towns damaged as a result of the war, but no offers of help were extended to the infidel Armenians, though. A few years ago, Iran’s ambassador said in Baku to President Ilham Aliyev: “We are brothers and we do not recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.”
What is more, Iran warned the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis that during the war if anyone’s bomb falls behind its border, they would retaliate in kind. This did not apply to the Azerbaijani forces since they were shelling north toward the southern part of Artsakh while, on the other hand, Armenia could not counter the barrage of artillery since they had to shoot south lest their stray bombs would cross Iran’s border. Knowing the precarious position of the Artsakh forces, Iran prevented them from defending themselves from the encroaching army of Azerbaijan making inroads to Shushi, the crown jewel city of Artsakh.
The only reason Pakistan and Iran was to show solidarity of Muslim brotherhood to a fellow country as decreed by the Holy Qur’an. On January 14, 2021, President Arif Alvi of Pakistan congratulated Azerbaijan over the “liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh” and reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for the country’s territorial integrity
While Azerbaijan was fighting to regain its territories, the other Muslim soldiers and Islamic countries were motivated by religious factors such as Jihad and the Bond of Brotherhood taught by the Qur’an, such as “Islam as the source of unity. Muslims are related to one another as brothers and sisters. The strong bond between brothers is supposed to be an urgent alert {warning] to the enemy,” etc.
Artsakh is a tiny Christian island in a sea of Islam; it is surrounded by the Azeri military forces all around, open to attack from all sides without a buffer zone anymore. So, Artsakh’s plight is aggravated by accident of geography. It behooves them to know how to swim sometimes by avoiding treacherous waters. Here is the clarion call for action through some crucial paths to survival:
I. the coalition of Armenia, Artsakh, and the Diaspora should relentlessly strive to persuade countries that had recognized the Armenian
Genocide to also accept Artsakh as a free, independent, and a sovereign state. This step is of paramount importance.
II. Find a country to accept a mandate over Artsakh (this may be Russia, USA, or France).
III. Find a country to accept a protectorate over Artsakh (same countries listed above).
IV. Accept Islam as the state religion just like the Donome Jews of the Ottoman Empire have done for survival, acting like Muslims during the day, and practicing Judaism after dark. Now, most of Donome Jews have moved from Turkey to live in Israel. This would be unacceptable to most Armenians, though, but still it is a temporary avenue toward survival.
V. Become Israel of the South Caucuses in military power. Establish an Artsakh Defense Fund or find a Diaspora sugar daddy to finance the buildup of arms and industry to stockpile modern weapons for readiness against any foreign attack.
VI. Treat the Diaspora Armenians as Artsakh’s next to kin with respect, transparency, and honesty –realizing that they are the only ones to come to Artsakh’s rescue.
VII. Offer dual citizenship to the Armenian Diaspora members with a minimum of red tape with the stipulation of Artsakh’s right for mandatory military conscription in the event of war against an aggressor.
VIII. Accept the Armenian Diasopora to share with Artsakh their know-how in running of the republic’s internal and external affairs by even appointing some of them in key national positions.
IX. Artsakh should embark on a serious, incentive-based project to encourage increased fertility rate to beef up the dwindling population.
X. Artsakh still has large uninhabited areas for farming, orcharding, or vacation housing including real estate development to be distributed to all Armenians free or at a little price to boost the population and the economy of this island on land.
XI. Engage in serious production of a specific modern weapons such as UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) for domestic use and for international export. Nuclear weapons should not be ruled out for protection in an existential warfare against a genocidal enemy. Submit a proposal and a feasibility study for possible funding by the Diaspora.
XII. I am sure you have more ideas for the survival of our ancestral province of Artsakh. No matter what they are, we should not dilly dally, but must not shift gears into complacency again and in the process lose more of our ancestral lands. We should encourage both Armenia and Artsakh to embrace the Protestant work ethic of early to bed, early to rise…
If Jules Verne, the father of science fiction, were to advise Armenians on how to get out of this predicament, he would suggest installing four wheels with Michelin tires under Artsakh, moving the country to Western Europe. But, he would add: “Unfortunately, within 100 years, Germany, France, England and Belgium will become Muslim countries.” Therefore, the move would be futile and so try to find other ways to survive.
Tacitly, Azerbaijan made it a religious war by getting Turkey, ISIS Jihadists, Syrian and Libyan mercenaries, Pakistani volunteer soldiers, etc. attack the people of Artsakh.
If Artsakh is in the middle of a deadly “virus” pandemic, just by hating the virus as evil they cannot eradicate it. However, by understanding it would arm the country with strategies to overcome the sworn enemy. Artsakh’s predicaments and plight are compounded by the accident of geography for being an enclave, an island in a sea of enemy territories.
Two experiences of the past have proven to the Armenians that the concept of brotherhood is weak or not practiced in Christianity. Armenians learned that the hard way during the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 and now in the Artsakh War of 2020. On the other hand, compared to Christians, Muslims unite against the enemy of one of their Muslim countries out of a religious duty and personal incentives such as of going to heaven should they die in combat against the infidels or for war booty.
A friend in Yerevan characterized the plight of Artsakh as a “wrecked ship surrounded by hungry sharks.” Those sharks have tasted the blood of the Armenians, a triumph which has brought honor and glory to the victor who, most likely, would want a repeat of the ecstasy within five or ten years. Artsakh cannot afford to sink its head in the sand and pretend the Christian world will come to its rescue. Compared to Islam, Christianity is a weak religion when it comes to protecting its members against unjust, cruel, and brutal treatment.
For survival, Artsakh must learn its sober lessons from the recent devastating war and be prepaid to defend itself against another aggression by working diligently with Armenia and the Diaspora to get ready for war, which is, unfortunately, inevitable when they are dealing with a wayward, unpredictable, next door shrewd enemies. As a result, the slogan for Artsakh should be the following motto: The best protection for survival is self reliance