We Can’t be Indifferent

BY ALIK OURFALIAN

How can we be indifferent?

How can we be indifferent when our homeland is under constant threat? When 18-, 19-, 20-year-old soldiers are giving their lives every day? When the world doesn’t seem to care?

We can’t be indifferent.

Artsakh is our homeland. It’s a part of our collective struggle, our fight.

Our fight is political.

In 1991, the people of Artsakh exercised their right to self-determination, a primary human right, well-recognized under international law.

But to most, politics, money, and oil have proven to be more important than human rights. When Azerbaijan continuously violates the ceasefire agreement, launches offensives into Artsakh, kills five, ten, twenty soldiers, villagers, children – the international community is silent.

International law is a creature of politics: made by countries, enforced by countries, and judged by countries. It’s those countries that we need to win over – not to our side, but to the truth, which is undoubtedly on our side. Win them over so that Artsakh’s independence is recognized as a matter of international law. So that Azerbaijan is held accountable for its violence and terror. So that the people of Artsakh can live in peace.

But as long as politics, money, and oil are involved, it’s not that easy. But it’s not impossible because, simply put, the truth is on our side. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, right? So we can’t be indifferent.

Our fight is inspirational.

We take it for granted that the Artsakh Liberation Movement was successful. But it was no small feat. A tiny, landlocked, blockaded region with no army versus a giant nation with oil, money, and arms.

But Artsakh was liberated because so many Armenians around the world were not indifferent.

Whether they were Armenians in Artsakh who called those lands home, or Armenians in Armenia and the Diaspora who had never seen those lands, Armenians collectively felt the pain of losing a homeland, and they rose.

Some would rather die than give up their ancestral lands, what’s rightfully theirs. So they went to Artsakh. They joined the movement. They made volunteer detachments. They gave their lives. They liberated Artsakh. So we can’t be indifferent.

Our fight is now.

We are the independence generation. We don’t know what it means not to have an independent homeland. Until last year’s Four Day War, we didn’t have a real sense of urgency about the situation in Artsakh. But the Four Day War showed us that we can’t be indifferent.

The inhuman powers that control Azerbaijan clearly don’t care about the people of Artsakh or their human rights. World powers clearly don’t care about the people of Artsakh, or fairness, or the truth, for that matter. So who’s going to care? Who’s going to make them care?

The heroes of today continue to build on the legacy of the heroes that liberated our Artsakh. They continue to fight for the homeland and protect it at any cost, even their lives. So, you see, we can’t be indifferent. Because while we live our relatively comfortable lives in the Diaspora, our soldiers are giving their lives for our homeland, for us.

So we can’t be indifferent.