According to Armenian sources, the abrupt removal of Evans from his position was allegedly due to his vocal support for recognizing the Armenian genocide.

Evans himself revealed during an oral history interview that he had clashed with Daniel Fried, the State Department Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, who accused him of obstructing the President’s stance on the Armenian Genocide, ultimately leading to his dismissal. Some have suggested that Turkey, a significant US ally in the Middle East, may have exerted pressure on the Department of State to remove Evans based on his personal beliefs and statements.

In our opinion, the current US Ambassador to Armenia appears to lean more favorably towards Azerbaijan. The ambassador has issued a clear and unequivocal statement that reflects the official American position on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and the ongoing negotiation process. The US State Department’s stance seems firmly aligned with one side of the issue, making any discussion of potential diplomatic and political pressure the US government could exert on Azerbaijan, such as imposing sanctions, seemingly irrelevant. The Biden administration’s primary focus is to expedite an agreement, which some perceive as rushed, incomprehensible, and unsustainable, in order to present it as a global achievement in peacemaking. However, critics argue that by doing so, the administration may unintentionally enable ethnic cleansing and/or cultural destruction of the indigenous Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Some believe that President Biden has room for improvement in handling this complex situation.

By Harut Sassounian

There is a good reason why many Armenians around the world reacted negatively to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s unwise decision to attend Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s inauguration in Ankara on June 3, 2023.
First of all, it was inappropriate for Pashinyan to attend Erdogan’s inauguration, particularly since as recently as in 2020, Turkish drones killed thousands of young Armenian soldiers during the Artsakh War, and Turkey recruited thousands of Islamist terrorists from Syria to fight against Artsakh. Furthermore, the Ottoman Empire committed the Genocide of 1.5 million Armenians which the Turkish government still denies a century later.
Secondly, since the 2020 War, Turkey has been a staunch military, economic and political ally of Azerbaijan. Several times, Erdogan traveled Azerbaijan and Artsakh, including Shushi, making anti-Armenian statements. As recently as June 13, during his visit to Artsakh, Erdogan announced that Turkey will open a consulate in Shushi, which “would be a message to the world and especially to Armenia.” Erdogan made a similar visit on June 15, 2021, during which he and Pres. Aliyev signed a joint Ankara-Baku “Shushi Declaration.” Erdogan declared that Turkey will cooperate with Azerbaijan in “the restoration of Nagorno Karabakh.” Armenia’s Foreign Ministry condemned Erdogan’s and Aliyev’s visit to Shushi, stating that “these provocative actions clearly reveal that Ankara’s and Baku’s statements on normalization of relations with Armenia and the Armenian people are false and misleading,”
Thirdly, Armenia and Turkey have met several times during the past year and a half to open their mutual border “without any preconditions.” The border is still closed which shows Turkey’s unwillingness to open the border, unless Armenia meets certain preconditions like signing “a peace treaty” with Azerbaijan, allowing a “Corridor” to cross Armenia into Nakhichevan, and dismantling the monument in Yerevan in honor of the avengers of the Turkish masterminds of the Armenian Genocide. Turkey immediately banned from its skies Armenian overflights and threatened further action if the monument is not dismantled.
Fourthly, if Pashinyan had knowledgeable advisors, and if he listened to them, they would have suggested to him that it would have been wiser if he had designated another official to represent him at the inauguration in Ankara. Begging for normalized relations with Turkey is not in Armenia’s interest.
Nevertheless, the damage is done and Turkish officials are shrewd enough to take advantage of Pashinyan’s faux pas.
Sinan Kuzum, Turkey’s Consul General in Los Angeles, sent a very clever letter to members of the California State Assembly and Senate on June 6, taking quick advantage of Pashinyan’s June 3 visit to Ankara, to discredit the lobbying efforts of Armenian-American organizations in California.
Here are excerpts from the Turkish letter: “I am writing to you to inform you about positive developments in Turkish-Armenian relations, as I am aware that you are interested in this issue, considering your statements in the past. Last weekend marked a historical moment in modern Turkish-Armenian relations. On June 3rd, the Armenian Prime Minister, Mr. Nikol Pashinyan, attended the inauguration ceremony of the Turkish President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following his re-election. On the occasion of the Prime Minister’s visit to Ankara, President Erdogan came together with prominent members of the Armenian-Turkish community, including the Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul Sahag II Mashalian. (I enclose herewith a picture taken during this visit where Mr. President is seen with his Armenian counterpart, the Patriarch and other members of the Armenian-Turkish community).”
The Turkish letter continued: “I am bringing this to your attention because I realize that this kind of positive developments are often ignored. Instead, a rhetoric of hatred of my country is prevailing here in Los Angeles and California. Having said that I invite you to consider whether what you are being told by certain groups here in Los Angeles is in line with the reality of the current state of relations between the two countries or not. The Turkish and Armenian governments are making a historic effort to normalize their relations. Please do not turn a blind eye to this effort.”
The Turkish Consul General concluded his letter: “I, therefore, kindly ask you to put these facts into consideration in the future while you are making any statement or taking any decision on Turkish-Armenian issues. This approach would be much more conducive to peace between the Armenian and Turkish people.”
When asked for a reaction, an anonymous high-ranking official in Armenia stated: “Pure opportunism. There is no positive development at all. The negotiations have not yielded any positive results.”
Fortunately, the Turkish Consul General’s letter will have very little effect on California’s legislators. He is just writing this letter to show to his bosses in Ankara that he is doing some work. California legislators are not going to take the snake-tongued words of a foreign diplomat over the wishes of their citizens in California.
We assume that the Turkish Ambassador in Washington has sent a similar letter to members of Congress. Turkish diplomats around the world probably did the same thing in their respective countries.
Armenians cannot blame Turkish diplomats for doing what’s in the best interest of their country, since the Prime Minister of Armenia, Pashinyan, has handed to Turkey this opportunity on a silver platter!

Daniel Ioannisyan, who is in charge of the constitutional reform process of Pashinyan’s government, referring to the statement of the Artsakh Foreign Ministry of June 16, says:

“Of course, it is very easy to say: ‘Azerbaijan is bad, we will not negotiate with it.’ What about later? It’s obvious, isn’t it, that if Stepanakert refuses to talk to Baku, it legitimizes the use of force by Azerbaijan.”

What Pashinyan’s government wants is for the people of Artsakh to agree to Aliyev’s demand to “dialogue”, renounce their national identity, renounce the citizenship of the Republic of Armenia and accept the citizenship of Azerbaijan, freeing Pashinyan from that headache, and allowing those who feed from the government’s feeding trough to calmly and undisturbedly digest their food. “It is clear that the Baku-Stepanakert dialogue is openly opposed in Moscow (they don’t even hide it). But will the Russian peacekeeping forces intervene if Azerbaijan uses force?” asks Daniel Ioannisyan. And why doesn’t he or anyone ask Pashinyan whether Armenia will intervene if Azerbaijan decides to commit genocide in Artsakh?

Pashinyan’s speech at the session of the NA investigative committee and the statements of his entourage are aimed at one thing. Let the people of Artsakh have no expectations from Armenia and the Armenian authorities. In his speech, Pashinyan said that during the war, he appealed to the Russian president that Russia put flags on the borders of Armenia and stop Russian troops so that Azerbaijan does not cross the border of Armenia. What Pashinyan said has nothing to do with the events of 2020, he is talking about it now to make it clear that if Armenia is not able to ensure its security, is not able to protect its borders, how will it protect Artsakh?

Developing this topic and presenting the interests of his “trustee”, the same Ioannisyan writes: “It is clear that Armenia should provide maximum support to protect the rights of the Armenians of Artsakh. But what is Stepanakert’s idea of ​​doing this? Apart from unrealistic and science fiction approaches, what solution do they see in official Stepanakert?” The expectation of military intervention by Armenia is unrealistic and science fiction. And maybe Ioannisyan will explain what he means by “maximum support”, is writing a letter to several countries and talking to him/her on the phone considered maximum support?

In 1988, when demonstrations demanding reunification began in Stepanakert, parallel rallies took place in Armenia as well. The Armenian people, the Armenian national movement, as the leading force of the national movement, announced that Armenia will not leave the people of Artsakh alone. Armenia and Armenians mobilized their human, financial and military resources to protect Artsakh Armenians, which was crowned with success and victory. After 35 years, Ioannisyan and Pashinyan tell the people of Artsakh that you rebelled against the Azerbaijani tyranny in vain and you hoped in vain for the support of Armenia, in Armenia there is now a government that is not interested in anything else, except for the security of the government and its lawyers, go and accept again Azerbaijani subjugation or do whatever you want, but don’t bother us.

In fact, Pashinyan understands that it is not so easy to get rid of the responsibility for the fate of Artsakh Armenians. It will not be possible to tell him, you have two ways out. either let the Russians protect you, but that protection is not reliable either, or you have to put up with the idea of ​​accepting Azeri subjection and consider that we have washed our hands of Artsakh. Azerbaijan is now working to capture impregnable fortresses with the option tried for centuries. first to starve the inhabitants of the castle to death, then to attack the castle, in the hope that either there will be traitors in the castle and they will open the gates of the castle, or they will succeed in slaughtering and destroying all the defenders of the castle.

When Azerbaijan starts an attack on Artsakh, there is hope that the Armenian society can really get out of the current state of indifference and complacency and once again realize its responsibility towards the fate of Artsakh and the people of Artsakh. Because if Azerbaijan succeeds in carrying out another genocide, and the Armenian society submits to the Pashinian logic of what can we do, Azerbaijan is stronger, then the responsibility for the genocide will not be only Pashinyan and his entourage, the entire Armenian people will be responsible for it. regardless of his place of residence and position.

Avetis Babajanyan

“This is our sacred land, our Motherland, there is no “enclave” logic here, there is no thought or desire to surrender to hostile encroachment.” A prayer was sung in the Church of the Virgin Mary in Voskepar

The priests and monks who arrived in Tavush from 4 corners of the world completed their mission in the Church of the Holy Virgin of Voskepar, which silently guards the border.

Rabbis and abeghas gathered in Tavush, not only from the Mother See and the dioceses of Armenia, but also from the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, the Armenian Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Constantinople. Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan, leader of the Diocese of Tavush, sent a word of greeting and soul on the occasion of this mission, saying: “It is extremely important for us to be at Voskepar today. I want us to declare again that this is our sacred country, this is the sacred land, this is our Motherland, there is no “enclave” logic here,

there is no thought or desire to surrender to any hostile encroachment. You came to Armenia from all over the world in the most difficult and complicated times of our lives. All that wrapped in your hearts, frozen, you have made this great spiritual journey, together, heart to heart, head to head, eye to eye, hands firmly held, to ponder, to think, to pray, to share a meal of love together, to reaffirm the commitment to the covenant of our Lord. towards the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and towards our national vision. I am particularly grateful that you have chosen to cross this long border-guarding road of the Tavush world, starting from Ijevan to the depths of Noyemberyan. And for you to see with your eyes and feel with your heart the persistence and will of this people over the years,

that regardless of all kinds of conditions, our people have shown and are showing, made a vow not to leave the Motherland, made a vow not to leave its sanctuaries, its graves and its heritage, and with blood bought this sacred land, where more blood has been shed than water. Today we are in one of the most mysterious places in the life of our region and the Armenian people. It is extremely important for us to be here today. I want us to declare, re-declare and declare 1000 times that this is our sacred country, the sacred soil, our Motherland, there is no “enclave” logic here, there is no thought or desire to surrender to any hostile encroachment. This is one of the touchstones of our time. This temple is a 7th century temple. It was brought back in the late 1980s with a great feat. This is the proof of our existence. Police officers were kidnapped and killed here.

Thousands of our compatriots were sacrificed here. This Holy Temple has become the vigilant watchman of our border zone. Our enemies are a little above, only a few meters away. Wishing you all welcome from our Jerusalem See, Cilicia See, and Patriarchate of Constantinople, I especially want to say a warm welcome to our beloved Father Sahak, who arrived today from captured Artsakh. The core of all of our thoughts today is Artsakh. The Holy Father, in a way, brought our people with him. The people who are saving our common honor today. A special greeting to Father Sahak, through him, on behalf of all of us, to our dear patriotic brothers and sisters living in Artsakh and fighting in Artsakh. From this 7th-century temple of the Holy Virgin of Voskepar, may our greetings and love go to Gandzasar, from Gandzasar to Amaras, Ghazanchetsots, and to all our captive heritage.”

Karekin II during a statement to reporters on Tuesday.

“This means a new Genocide against the Armenian people. This means depriving Artsakh of Armenians,” Catholicos of All Armenians stated. The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church stressed the urgent need to take all necessary measures to prevent such a tragedy. “We must exert our utmost efforts to secure the people of Artsakh their rightful sovereignty and independence in accordance with international norms and laws,” emphasized Garegin II. Previously, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had announced his readiness to recognize Artsakh as a part of Azerbaijan, provided that guarantees were given regarding the security and rights of the Artsakh population.

by Michael Rubin

The warning signs about atrocity are flash red, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken persists in forcing through a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a traditionally Armenian-populated enclave in what is now Azerbaijan.

Blinken may see a peace deal as a success he can trumpet against the backdrop of a tenure devoid of other accomplishments, but the consequence of Blinken’s actions will be huge.

THE US MUST TURN UP THE HEAT ON TURKEY’S ERDOGAN

He may want a Nobel Peace Prize, as might Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan or even Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. It is unlikely, but should the Norwegian Nobel Committee oblige, the Blinken prize would herald a humanitarian disaster, as did the Nobel Committee’s award to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in 2019.

The problems with Blinken’s peace plan are huge.

Democracies should not bully fellow democrats into conceding to terror in the face of aggression. Nor should the State Department dismantle democracies and force their submission to dictatorship. Most alarming, Blinken actively ignores Aliyev’s abuses, even as Aliyev incites genocide and denies the legitimacy of an entire population.

As Armenian lands have fallen under Azerbaijan’s control, Azerbaijanis have demolished churches and destroyed a millennium-old cemetery. They, like Palestinian extremists do toward Jews in the Holy Land, denied any historical connection between Armenian communities and the lands on which they have lived for thousands of years since founding the world’s first Christian state 1,722 years ago. This is why Azerbaijani restorers sandblast Armenian inscriptions from churches and insist they belong to ancient Albanians rather than Armenian interlopers.

That Blinken is silent as Azerbaijan demands Armenian priests abandon the Dadivank monastery suggests indifference to cultural eradication.

Aliyev, meanwhile, finds solace in sycophants who deny any legitimacy to Armenia’s population, dismissing their community in Nagorno-Karabakh as no more real than “Narnia.” That said, Blinken’s silence is the rule rather than the exception. Be it in Nigeria, with regard to the Uyghurs, or in the South Caucasus, Blinken has been the worst secretary of state for religious freedom, at least since Cordell Hull insisted on sending Jews back to Nazi Germany as the Holocaust loomed.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Armenian community in Nagorno-Karabakh has organized itself democratically. Freedom House has ranked them more democratic than Azerbaijan, a country Freedom House lists among the world’s worst dictatorships.

Things have heated up this week.

On May 28, Aliyev demanded the surrender of Nagorno-Karabakh’s elected president, but suggested he would offer amnesty for other ethnic Armenian administrators and elected officials should they accept Azerbaijani rule. Bizarrely, the State Department praised Aliyev’s offer.

This sets up a humanitarian disaster.

As soon as ethnic Armenians put themselves under Aliyev’s rule, they become Azerbaijani subjects with no civil or human rights of which to speak. Aliyev has already shown disdain for Armenians by subjecting them to a five-month blockade of food, medicine, and fuel. He has separated elementary school-age children from their parents and senior citizens from their caregivers by allowing some to visit Armenia, only to deny them the right to return.

During the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War and after, Azerbaijani forces embraced terror as a tactic. They circulated videos of prisoner beheadings and mutilations and destruction of graveyards to both desensitize their own population and force the flight of Armenians.

Should Blinken impose peace, expect that Azerbaijani tactic to accelerate.

Azerbaijan may want Nagorno-Karabakh, but it does not want its residents. It will treat regional capital Stepanakert like Serb nationalists treated Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica. The logic remains the same: Murder 8,000 but force 10 times that number to flee by exposing the impotence of peacekeepers and diplomats.

It is time to end the moral equivalence. Democracy should be a precursor to peace. So too, is an end to the incitement of ethnic hatred in Azerbaijan’s textbooks and media. Delaying the demarcation of borders until after peace only gives Azerbaijan the green light to renege on its commitments.

During the Obama administration, Jake Sullivan’s ego, naivete, and ambition played into Iranian hands and brought the Islamic Republic to the brink of nuclear breakout. The cost for Blinken’s ego, naivete, and ambition will be paid in tens of thousands of Armenian lives.

Michael Rubin (@mrubin1971) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.