Vanes Martirosyan: Prayers are not enough to help Artsakh

Boxer Vanes Martirosyan representing USA is also worried about the situation in Artsakh.

The boxer wrote on his Facebook page that a lot of people in the U.S. are concerned about the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh. He noted that you can frequently hear people say they want to leave their jobs and go to the front line.

Martirosyan addressed his non-Armenian friends and presented the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Things are calm in Yerevan but the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is on the back of everyone’s mind. Most people know at least someone who is on the front lines. I keep hearing of people leave work to volunteer or be called from the reserves to serve. It’s hard to do much work at all in a situation like this.

For my non-Armenian friends, Nagorno-Karabakh (aka Artsakh in Armenian) is an autonomous ethnic Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan just east of Armenia. It was oddly arranged like this by Stalin to appease Azerbaijani and Turkish interests way back when the Soviet Union acquired territories in the region. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the majority ethnic Armenians in NK fought to claim independence ending in a ceasefire in 1994 that both sides agreed to uphold. However, Azerbaijan has significantly breached the ceasefire in recent days and attempted to take parts of the autonomous Nagorno-Karabakh territory.

The timing of these events should not be a surprise. Azerbaijan’s economy is in terrible shape right now. Their currency dropped 40% in value against the dollar in January. Their entire economy is almost completely tied to oil and oil prices are at the lowest point in a decade. Mass protests against corruption and a depressed economy in Azerbaijan have increased in recent months. Invading Nagorno-Karabakh is an attempt to boost nationalism and act as a distraction from real problems at home. All that plus Russia’s deteriorating relationship with Turkey, a strong political ally of Azerbaijan, creates a terrible condition for Azerbaijan to act aggressively against Nagorno-Karabakh,” wrote Martirosyan.

He stressed that thoughts and prayers are not enough to help the country in war. He called to draw attention to Azerbaijan and demand to abide by the ceasefire agreements put in place in 1994.