Eating a meal of fresh fish, drinking local wine and apricot brandy, and looking across Lake Sevan after attempting and failing to climb a high staircase up a mountainside to reach an ancient church was one of the happiest moments of my first and only visit so far to Armenia in 2019.
Fascinated by the world’s first Christian nation (AD 301) since my teens, the music, culture, food, and, of course, the religion were what captivated me. It was also the peculiar and centuries-long suffering of the people, culminating in the world’s first declared genocide against the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek Orthodox populations, perpetrated by Turkey between 1915 and 1917.
With a diaspora in almost every country in the world, this little Christian nation has, somewhat like the Jews, been destined to experience the pain of exile, persecution, and being at the mercy of greater powers and global forces, almost since its conversion to Christianity.
Yet, like the plaintive sound of the Duduk, the uniquely Armenian wind instrument said to express the sadness of the Armenian soul, both the idea and the reality of the Armenian spirit and the nation have survived.
Christianity is the very lifeblood of the Armenian people, even if religious practice is often not what it should be. Attending the Divine Mysteries in the holy city of Etchmiadzin and receiving the blessing of the Catholicos gave a sense of the unbroken connection between the conversion of King Tiridates III in 301 and the life of the nation today. Strolling through the huge market in Yerevan, it is possible to buy beautifully painted reproductions of early Armenian miniatures, along with many other objects of folk art not made in China, as in so many markets in other countries.
Yet, almost from the beginning, this strong culture has been both surrounded by enemies and subject to continued attempts to wipe its existence from the earth. Last year, in what has been called by experts another attempt at genocide, more than 120,000 ethnic Armenians were driven from the enclave of Artsakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, in present-day Azerbaijan, a Turkic state with a very limited history. This ethnic cleansing, condemned in words by the forces of globalism but with no actual ramifications, appears to have strengthened the claims of the Azerbaijani dictator, Ilham Aliyev, for control of all of Armenia. Aliyev, re-elected for the fifth time in February with more than 92% of the vote, a feat only rivalled by the remarkable ‘democracy’ of North Korea, ran a snap election after the brutal expulsion of the citizens of Artsakh.
Now, following years of propaganda and bellicose grandstanding, it appears that Azerbaijan is poised to invade the nation-state of Armenia itself. In 2012, Aliyev stated that “Armenia as a country is of no value.” Indeed, it is the contention of the Turkic statelet of Azerbaijan that Armenia does not exist; it is just part of a greater Azerbaijan, or rather, a greater Turkey. Aliyev has even said that Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, is Azerbaijani territory.
It would be expected that such aggressive posturing, potential war, slaughter, and the massive refugee problem that would ensue should be at the centre of attention for the major powers, but there are several factors which mitigate against this being a priority.
Azerbaijan is rich in oil and gas, supplying much-needed European demand. Aliyev has bought the favour of many in the international community. Tragically, Azerbaijan supplies more than 40% of Israel’s oil, and Israel sells arms on a large scale to Azerbaijan, which is a scandal that must be halted.
It seems that, for all the pious talk about Russian aggression in Ukraine, the asset-poor but culturally rich Christian nation of Armenia must fend for itself. Where is the challenge to Turkey, a NATO member, for its encouragement of Azerbaijani goals, which are really Turkish goals?
Perhaps it is time to call the bluff of those who speak ponderously about international law, human rights, and religious freedom, but only when those mighty ideals meld conveniently with the strategic and economic interests of the global community.
Yet, if any government wishes to still, in some fashion, assume a vestige of moral integrity and justice, defending Armenia, and saving this nation from potential annihilation, it will not need the much derided ‘boots on the ground’ scenario. No U.S. or European troops need to die in Armenia; there is what might be called the ‘T & A’ solution. Trade and aid, not the colloquial use of the term, is the way to deter Aliyev and Turkey. Denmark recently decided to send all its artillery to Ukraine. That is admirable, some might say, highly dangerous and idealistic would be the view of others. Is it possible that one country that trades heavily with Azerbaijan, or Turkey, will decide to cut all economic cooperation until Armenia’s safety and territorial integrity are assured?
According to myth—remembering Tolkien’s view that myths express truth—the father of Armenian Christianity, St. Gregory the Illuminator, was thrown into a deep pit for nearly fifteen years by King Tiridates III for the crime of being the son of the murderer of Tiridates’ father. Tiridates appeared to go mad, being turned into a wild boar and being possessed by the devil. In a vision, the sisters of Tiridates were told by an angel that only the prayers of Gregory could save their brother. Long-thought dead, Gregory was miraculously drawn from the pit, healed Tiridates, baptised him, and Armenia began its beautiful journey as the world’s first officially Christian nation.
All those who care about national culture, Christian fellowship, and the preservation of the nation-state must raise their voices to save Armenia from the deep pit it faces and, with St. Gregory the Illuminator, confront the wild boar and tame him.
