What's Happening?

Learn more about the Artsakh conflict and the Armenian Genocide.

Things to know before you read: Artsakh is the Armenian name for the region, Nagorno-Karabakh is the Azerbaijani name. Both refer to the land in conflict.

• The short answer: civilians were getting shelled by Azerbaijan, and now face persecution, violence, executions and eviction from their homes.

  • Men and women (including Arayik Harutyunyan, President of Artsakh, Anna Hakobyan, wife of the Armenian PM, and Diana Gasparyan, Mayor of Etchmiadzin) had voluntarily enlisted to defend their homeland by the thousands.

  • Armenian POWs and civilians are also still held captive by Azerbaijan. Almost every week, a new execution video of an Armenian surfaces on the internet.

    • Read more about the war crimes committed against the people of Artsakh under the "War Crimes and Violations" tab

• Land claims aren't the only reason.

  • Ethnic cleansing. Azerbaijan wants Artsakh, Turkey wants Armenia, and both want to erase Armenians. There's no sugarcoating the truth: Armenians are at risk of another Genocide*.

    • Read more here: https://www.civilnet.am/news/2020/10/01/Most-Victims-on-Azerbaijani-Side-Consist-of-National-Minorities-Karabakh-Officials-Say/398057

    • *We'll cover this at the end of this page! Scroll down to the bottom for infromation regarding the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

  • A former Azerbaijani diplomat admitted to Aliyev’s involvement in order to “divert people’s attention from internal problems in Azerbaijan… such as the pandemic, drop in oil price, and socioeconomic problems.”

    • (Full video available on @thearmenianreport)

• Sending Syrian mercenaries:

  • https://thetimeshub.in/turkey-sends-syrian-rebels-to-aid-azerbaijan-two-say/5820/

• General aid promises:

  • https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-17/erdogan-offers-to-aid-azerbaijan-after-skirmishes-with-armenia

• Sending ISIS fighters:

  • See more about this in the "War Crimes and Violations" tab.

• Blocking humanitarian aid to Armenian via their airspace:

  • https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-awareness-initiative-reports-turkey-blocked-100-tons-of-humanitarian-aid-to-armenia-301153765.html

• Finishing the Genocide of 1915:

  • https://nypost.com/2020/10/11/erdogans-proxy-war-in-armenia-is-an-echo-of-turkeys-genocidal-campaign/

• The first ceasefire was brokered on October 10, 2020 between Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan. The agreement was to stop firing for both sides to "exchange bodies and recover the dead." (@thearmenianreport)

  • Almost immediately after this agreement, Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire. They continue to shell civilians in Stepanakert.

• The second ceasefire was brokered on October 17, 2020 between Armenia, France, Azerbaijan.

  • It was again violated by Azerbaijan in a matter of hours.

  • Read more about it here: https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/10/1076622

• The third ceasefire was brokered on October 25, 2020 between Armenia, the United States, and Azerbaijan.

  • It was again violated by Azerbaijan in a matter of hours.

  • Read more about it here: https://www.state.gov/u-s-armenia-azerbaijan-joint-statement/

• The fourth ceasefire was brokered on November 9th, 2020, between Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan as part of the "stop the war" agreement (see the "Current Situation" tab for more)

  • On December 12th, 2020, the ceasefire was violated twice by Azerbaijan. After heavy firing into Artsakh, they succeeded in capturing the villages of Hin Tagher and Khtsaberd.

• This war isn't just being fought physically in Artsakh. The internet is also teeming with misinformation, propaganda, and anti-Armenian content, all with the hopes of changing the narrative to frame Armenia as the aggressor to a war they didn't start. Here's what's happening online:

  • Azerbaijani bots are running rampant. They target anything to do with the conflict, and spread their government's propaganda. How do we know they exist? Sophie Zhang, a whistleblower from Facebook, helped remove an Azerbaijani troll farm. These bots (in addition to actual Azerbaijanis) are also targeting the posts of celebrities and bullying them into taking down their posts in support of Armenians (including Cardi B and Elton John).

    • Read about Facebook's removal of the troll farm here: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/facebook-azerbaijan-troll-farm

  • Anti-Armenian hashtags are trending on Twitter (such as #dontbelievearmenians)

  • Surge in hate speech/anti-Armenian accounts and comments online, including “Everyone knows that Karabakh is the land of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is coming to celebrate in Karabakh. Get ready to collect your corpses!” (- @aytan _farhadova)

    • Look up “F*** Armenia” on the accounts section of IG for examples of anti-Armenian hate speech (trigger warning: violence, death)

  • Several Instagram accounts exist with disrespectful, violent photos of dead Armenian soldiers. Instagram isn't removing these accounts (see more on this in "War Crimes and Violations") These accounts regularly post execution videos of Armenian POWs and civilians.

  • Armenian accounts are being targeted and hacked.

• Again, there's 3 million Armenians and 100 million Azerbaijanis/Turks, not including their bots. Though Armenians are outnumbered, they are doing their best to fight to correct the narrative online.

• Not only this, but prominent news outlets and organizations are playing either the pro-Azerbaijani or "both sides" narrative, which is incredibly harmful and inaccurate. The most recent and notable false article came from Human Rights Watch, claiming Armenians were responsible for civilian casualties, damage of homes and businesses, and heavy missile strikes. As we discussed earlier on, Armenia does not have the money or manpower to do this kind of damage.