About "To Artsakh"
The Story of a Humanitarian Crisis Told Through Art.
Pashinyan’s Surrender of Artsakh to Azerbaijan, Harut Sassounian, Horison Weekly, copyrighted
The Story
Armenians around the world are mourning the recent loss of their sacred land, Artsakh (also known as Nagorno-Karabakh). This loss is nostalgic due to their genocidal history that has repeated itself over the course of a century, beginning in 1915 with the loss of two-thirds of their land and people. Ever since, they have been fighting for their lives to hold onto the land they have left.
Artsakh proves to have been native to Armenia dating back to the 1st century, holding an ethnic Armenian population of over 95%. For the first time ever, there are only about 50 Armenians left in Artsakh today due to ethnic cleansing.
"For those who question why Artsakh is so important to Armenia, there are many answers that, individually and combined, support the case for the inseparability of the two republics—connected by time, territory, culture, and history. These are the ties that bind the two as one people, one nation and one truth—the right to exist free and at peace on their ancestral lands."
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The Armenian-Artsakh Connection
The building blocks of an unbreakable bond
Researched and compiled by AGBU Armenia
Yellow represents Greater Armenia pre-genocide (or Historical Armenia). Orange represents present-day Armenia. The yellow portion farthest right is the Republic of Artsakh (Armenian name), also known as Nogorno Karabakh.
1921: The Caucasian Bureau of the Russian Communist Party Central Committee decided during a plenary session that Artsakh would be integrated to Armenia. A day later, without any deliberation or vote, Stalin decided that Artsakh would be included in Soviet Azerbaijan.
1987: Artsakh Armenian population began a campaign to separate from Azerbaijan and unify with Armenia.
1991: With the break-up of the Soviet Union, Artsakh declares itself an independent republic. As Soviet control loosens, frictions escalate into a full-scale war.
1992-94: First Artsakh war. More than 25,000 people lost their lives, and more than a million forcibly displaced from their homes, creating hundreds of thousands of refugees.
1994-2020: A simmering stalemate prevails punctuated by armed clashes.
2020: Second Artsakh war. Azerbaijan launches offensive recapturiny territory around Artsakh.
Russian peacekeepers are deployed to monitor a new Moscow-brokered ceasefire, and ensure safe passage through the Lachin corridor that separates Artsakh from Armenia.
More than seven thousand soldiers and civilians were killed, with hundreds more soldiers wounded.
2022: Fighting breaks out between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops
2023: Azerbaijan further tightened access to Artsakh, banning Red Cross convoys from passing through the Lachin Corridor (only passageway connecting Artsakh and Armenia). Azerbaijani security forces also detained an individual passing through a checkpoint for medical care in Armenia, leading to a suspension of medical evacuations for critically-ill patients. With no food and medical supplies allowed to pass through the corridor, shelves sat empty as the humanitarian crisis turned critical.
Following a months-long Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin corridor, Azerbaijani forces rapidly overwhelm defending troops and seize the region after 24 hours of fighting.
Around 120,000 Armenians flee, fearing persecution if they stayed
2024: Nagorno-Karabakh is formally dissolved.
Sources:
BBC News, Nogorno Karabakh Profile
Conciliation Resources, The Armenian-Azerbaijani Conflict in Focus
Global Conflict Tracker, Nogorno Karabakh Conflict by The Center for Preventative Action
AGBU.org, The Armenian-Artsakh Connection Researched and Compiled by AGBU Armenia
The Artist and His Mother, Arshile Gorky, Whitney.org, copyrighted 2023 Whitney Museum of American Art
The Art
Click to Read About Each Painting
