Search for causes of USSR disintegration in Karabakh - 6

Peter Lyukimson, Kuryer, Israel, No 28-32, June 1992

An author of Vestnik Kavkaza, Peter Lyukimson, lived in Baku before 1991, where in the late 1980s and the early 1990s he worked as a journalist and witnessed the events that preceded the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, the events in Sumgait, Khojaly…

The feature story “Nagorno-Karabakh: chronicles of a conflict. Notes of a Jew from Baku” was written in 1992, soon after the author moved to Israel. It was published in a Russian-language newspaper in Israel called Kuryer. Those were the times when the tone in the cultural and the public life of the Russian-speaking community of Israel was set by the Moscow and Saint Petersburg clerisy. It had a big impact on the attitude of Israeli society towards the events on the territory of the former USSR. They sympathized with Armenia in its conflict with Azerbaijan. As it turned out, most Israelis knew nothing about the origin of the conflict or the truth about its development. The position of the Jewish clerisy in the issue was formed based only on publications in the central Soviet and partly in the Western press, which were not always impartial.

… Almost all countries considered launching troops to Baku as a necessary measure, and the Baku tragedy didn’t influence Gorbachev’s image. Only Turkey, Iran and Israel were exceptions. They stated that using the army in Baku was a barbaric and illegal act. They sent aircraft with medicines to the city at once. So, despite anti-Zionist banners near the Iranian consulate, the Azerbaijanis treated the Jews even more warmly than usual.

The funerals of the deceased began on January 22nd. People carried dozens of coffins slowly through the center of Baku to the highest point of the city – Nagorny Park. The Walk of Victims was founded there; the Azerbaijanis, the Jews, the Russians, the Lezgins, children and adults, just married and the old were buried there. The approximate number of victims was voiced there – 170 killed and 400 injured… It took a lot of time for Baku to return to normal life – TV began its work, newspapers were published regularly, but under strict military censorship. There were soldiers on the streets, they washed off notes on almost every house: “The CPSU is a party of fascists,” “Gorbachev is Hitler’s successor,” “Occupiers, leave the city!”… It was easier than to forget the tragedy that had occurred.

At that moment, the new Armenian parliament stated about its desire for the full-scale independence of the republic. And suddenly Moscow began to realize that it was not separate “groups of Armenian militants” acting in Karabakh, but a well-organized army with missiles, Israeli and German guns which were transported through Lebanon, artillery, and experience of fighting and terrorist attacks…

Azerbaijani TV showed captured bearded men who came to Azerbaijan from Armenia to commit terrorist attacks. The Armenian side immediately stated that there were no “Armenian terrorists” and couldn’t be, and all captives were “Armenian policemen.” The most incredible thing was that everybody believed it again… Nobody even asked what “the policemen” were doing on the territory of a different republic and why they were armed… Meanwhile, Armenia continued to arm. Captured or bought weapons were sent to Karabakh.

However, the real war began only in 1991 when the Armenian authorities decided to build “a corridor” between the NKAO and Armenia. In some villages men were captured as prisoners, while all women were raped. In one village women and children were burnt in a shed. The Azerbaijani mass media published a picture of a pregnant Azerbaijani woman’s charred body – her stomach burst and the hands of her unborn child stretched out from it…

Using the favorable situation, Armenia turned to full-scale military activities in Karabakh and neighboring regions. It was strange, but the Armenian army which attacked the territory of a different state was still called “forces of self-defense”…

In late 1991 and early 1992 Armenia stated that it had never had territorial disputes with Azerbaijan, and the point was about human rights in Karabakh. International public opinion believed in it once again. And Armenia turned from an aggressor into a country that fought for human rights. A referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was declared.

This enabled Yerevan to distance itself from the developments in the NKAO de jure. Finally, the smartest step by Ter-Petrosyan was official rejection of establishing his own army. It was done because the Armenian army was actually established…

At the end of winter the “nonexistent” Armenian army attacked Karabakh and other regions of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army had to withdraw. It left certain residential areas, including Khodjaly. Militants celebrated their success, according to their view on Christian mercy – hundreds of people were slaughtered during one day; cut female breasts were trophies…

Those who stayed alive said that in front of a four-year old girl her mother and sisters were raped and shot dead, then the victors lined up to rape the girl. When they did it, they shot her as well.

Nobody buried the corpses of the Khodjaly residents to hide the horrible crime – their bodies were scattered in the mountains, and from the sky journalists saw a dreadful surrealistic picture… The Armenians stated that the bodies were “a product” (a nice word, isn’t it?) of the exchange of the deceased between the conflicting parties.

Soon the Khodjaly tragedy happened in other regions of Azerbaijan. Today the international community is trying find a way out of this horrible conflict, which could turn into an international conflict, in vain.

But now… The blood of Azerbaijanis and Armenians has been shed in Karabakh, and national mourning has been declared in Baku. I remember an old song by Ashug Alesker, which was written in 1918 when Dashnak troops slaughtered Azerbaijani villages:

Where are the men – the beauty and strength of the place?
Where are the ladies who proudly smile with their eyes?
I would never cry, but tears are shed…
Mountains, you contain so much pain!
All the men gone and the villages are empty.
Where trees grew, now bushes grow,
And the generous land has lost its mercy…
Mountains, why are you looking down?
No pretty girls walk around to bring some water;
Muslims and Armenians are full of hatred and aggression.
One cannot even meet a stranger.
Mountains, the throat of your roads has been cut…