#artsakh strong
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Karanlığın Meramı
Çözümlenebilir olanın tükendiği yerde cerahati, cürmü ve çözümsüzlüğün başat ögesi olagelen ihtilaf hallerini birlikte görürüz. Dünyanın var ettiği yeni liberalizm yapısının sunduğu her şey apaçık bir fecaatler sarmalını bildirir. Hayatın hakikati tükenirken tüm o çözümsüzlük ekseni tek istikamet bildirilir. İhtilaf var edilirken cürüm öncelenir esasen. Cürüm öncelenir her zaman. Birbirinin peşi sıra duraksanmadan imal edilen kötülük hal ve eylemleriyle birlikte mavi kürenin dönüşümü hep tersi istikamette bina edilir. Yordam, anlam, paramparça edilir. Cürmün birbiri ardına var edilmesi güncelliğin de hep katran karası suretini imgeler. Bir ülkenin yenilendiği zikredilirken aslında hiç eskisinde uzakta kalmadığı, ayrışmadığı afaki kılınır mesela. Cerahat bütün denetim, gözetim ve tahakküm üçlüsünün tamamlayıcısı olurken bir çözümsüzlük girdabının da yol haritası çıkartılır. Bir asırdır benzeş, bir örnek, her dem aynı yaralarla, o yaraları kanatarak var ederek ilerleyen menzilin açmazları paldır küldür dikiliverir. Denklemler tarumar edilip, dengeler alt üst olunurken zorbalığın iktidarı bütün o çözümsüzlüğü başat kılan ihtilafları var eder. Bir biçimde yönünü, günce içindeki eylemselliğini oralardan devşirir. Tehdit, tahakküm, linç hallerinin doğrultusunda o ihtilaflar belirsiz bir karanlığa rehin ülkenin halini de imgeler.
Bu imgelem sadece Türkiye nam yerin sınırlarına özgü değildir. Bir asırdır sürdürülen, bir yerde var edildiği zikredilirken öte yandan tahrif olunan demokrasi imgesinin dışarılarda da nasıl talan edildiğini artık biliyoruz. Modern çağın, yeni liberalizmin çarklar dönsün de isterse insanlar paldır küldür ölmeye devam etsin hallerinin bir benzeri, gündelik hayatın ta merkezine odaklanmış zorba iktidar mefhumlarının düzeneklerinin devam edip, hayatı zehir ederken, kıyıda köşede insanların can çekişiyor, el aman feryatları duyulmasın istenir. Bütünüyle karanlık, ismi konulmamış bir savaşımın hüküm sürdüğü coğrafyanın gerçeklerinden birisi budur artık. Ukrayna’yı mahveden Rusya’nın, Gürcistan’dan bir parça tırtıklaması mesela gündem edilmez. Yok ettiği kentlerin üstünde hak tanziminden başkaca yönelimini tastamam Türklük imgesini diriltmek olarak kullanan Türkiye Devleti gibi onlar da boş bulunan anları kolaçan ederek, Sovyetler sonrasındaki düzende harap viran demokrasileri alenen talan etmeye devam eder. Biat kültürünü son raddede daimi kılabilmek için. Teslimiyet için. Daha geçtiğimiz günlerde silahlı kuvvetler denen yapıyı ifşa ettiği, Bakür Kürdistan’ından Rojava’ya kadar savaş suçlarına imza attığını deklare ettiği için bir muhalif vekil Türkiye’de hedef kılınır. O vekilin Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi ve Anayasa Mahkemesinin kararlarına rağmen hukuksuzluğu sürgit devama teşne olanların önüne yem atıldığı yerde cürümler halen Afrin, Qamişlo, El Bab ve sair yerlerde Kuzey Suriye, Kuzey Irak sahanlıklarında devam olunandır. Cürmün yok edicilik hallerinin kıyısında bir demokrasi, eşitlik, adalet mefhumu değil topyekun yok etme, tehcir, kırım ve kıtal hallerinin ufkunda bir dünya imgesi yeniden biçimlendirilir. Oysa zaman ne 1900’lerin başıdır, ne de 1940!
Dönüyoruz çok daha yakın zamanların büyük yıkımlarına sahne olan bir başka menzile. Ermeniler için Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh, Lernayin Ğarapağh, Türkler için Dağlık Karabağ olarak anılan yerde sahnelenen Azerbaycan devletinin sunduğu yok etme hali, sistematik tehcirine. Sovyet Rusya’nın dağılmasına kadar kör topal yürütülen, bir halde, bir biçimde devamlılığı sağlama alınan Ermeni, Azeri birlikte yaşama pratiğinin handiyse Sumgayit / Xocalı pogrom ve kıyımlarının karşılıklı yok etme sistematiğine dönüştüğü bir zeminde Ermeni ya kalacak ya da tükenecek olduğu 90’lardaki savaşa kadar sürdürülmüş ve Artsakh’a dönüşmüş olagelen var olma mücadelesi handiyse tükenir. 2020 yılında var edilmiş olagelen Türkiye, İsrail ve Pakistan destekli, Rusya’nın da göz yumduğu bir savaş ile o yaşam pratiği çürümeye terk edilir. Geçtiğimiz dokuz aylık süreçte de 120 bin insanı önce muhtaç, sonra da aç koyarak, tabi olandan alıkoyup müşterek bir yaşama ulaşmasını ihtimal dışına taşıyarak bir nihai vuruş gerçekleştirilir.
Pan-Türkist emeller doğrultusunda dünya Türk olsun laf kalabalığı zikredilirken beş bine yakın Azeri hayatından olup onu en az ikiye katlayan bir Ermeni’nin yok edildiği, hayatının çalındığı bir zeminde Artsakh’ın ol tükenişi var edilse ne olur, var edilmemiş olsa ne. İnsanlık toptan zayi edilirken. Salyalar saçarak, oturduğu koltuklarından deri yüzen ermeni, kafa kesen ermeni, cana ve mala kasteden ermeni, hain ve kötü ermeni gibi bir dolu hedefe alma, tehdit ve yaftalama cümleciği kullanılırken 19 – 20 Eylül’de bir gün sürdürülen o nihai yıkım sonrasına geriye ne kalıyor sahiden düşünüyor musunuz? İhtilafları sürekli kendi bekaları için bir yön belirleyici, düşmanlığı mutlak zorbalıklarını sürdürebilmek için duraksamadan kaşıya duran, körlemesine bir nefreti köpürtüp, insan değillerdi, hayvandan aşağı yaratıklar diyerek sınırın bu tarafında hepsi hepsi 45 bin civarındaki Ermeni’yi de gözden çıkartan bir yavaş medya ordusu, propagandası da mevzubahis iken çözümsüzlüğün bir çözülmeyi beraberinde getirdiğini görürüz. Artsakh bilinen en az bin beş yüz yıllık bir var olma hali, yaşam veren sahanın yok edilmesi, el değiştirmesi bütün o hakikati, Ermeniliğini de yok edebilecek midir? Bir toprak parçasının mülkiyeti değil, birlikteliği ile imecesi ile ev olma halinin yıkımından sahiden bir hayata varılabilecek midir, varılır mı? Düşünen kaldı mı?
Eşit haklar denilip, Karabağ Ermenisi yaşamaya devam edebilir buyrulurken sadece savaş ve yıkıma itiraz haklarını kullananlara var edilmiş gözaltı / geçici tutsaklık halleri de mi bir şeyleri izah ettirmeye kafi gelmez. “İnsan hakları aktivisti Rüfat Safarov BBC'ye “ Azerbaycan hükumetinin muhaliflere karşı zulmünün kendisine zarar verdiğini söyledi ”.
“Şu anda, tüm dünyanın dikkati Kafkasya'da, meselemiz dünyanın bir numaralı siyasi merkezi olan BM'de tartışılıyor. Ülke içindeki insan hakları ve özgürlükleri konusunda herhangi bir reform yapmak yerine, ülke çapında muhalif insanlara zulmetmeye başladık. Kuşkusuz işgal altındaki topraklarımız kurtarılmalı ve egemenliğimiz yeniden kazanılmalıdır! Bir devlet olarak Ermeni toplumuna hakkınız ve hukukunuzun korunacağına ve Azerbaycan toplumuna yeniden entegre olacağınıza söz veriyoruz. Bu kadar hassas bir anda, bunca söz verilirken bu tutuklamalar, zulümler ve bazen psikolojik baskı ile birbiriyle çelişir diye bildirir Safarov ve bunun saçma ” olduğunu söyler.
Evrensel Gazetesinden aktaralım: “Ermenistan ile Azerbaycan arasında kalan, resmi olarak Azerbaycan toprağı kabul edilen ancak 30 yıldan fazladır fiili olarak bölgedeki Ermeniler tarafından yönetilen Dağlık Karabağ’daki Ermeni 120 bin kişinin Ermenistan’a gideceği açıklandı.
Azerbaycan’ın son saldırılarının ardından bölgedeki Ermeni yönetiminin silah bırakmayı kabul etmesi ardından bölgenin tamamen Azerbaycan’ın kontrolüne geçmesi için görüşmeler başlatılmıştı.
"Halk Kalmak İstemiyor"
Dağlık Karabağ’daki fiili yönetimin lideri Samvel Şahramanyan’ın danışmanı David Babayan, Reuters’a yaptığı açıklamada, bölgedeki Ermenilerin tamamının Ermenistan’a geçeceğini söyledi.
Babayan, Dağlık Karabağlı Ermenilerin, Azerbaycan’ın hakimiyeti altında yaşamak istemediğini ve olası bir etnik temizlikten çekindiğini belirtti. Babayan, “Halkımız, Azerbaycan’ın parçası olmak istemiyor. Yüzde 99,9’u tarihi topraklarımızdan ayrılmayı tercih ediyor” dedi.
DW Türkçe’nin haberine göre, Babayan, Karabağlı Ermenilerin bölgeden ne zaman ayrılacağının henüz belli olmadığını söyledi.
Ermenilerin, bölgeyle Ermenistan’ı bağlayan Laçin Koridoru’nu kullanarak Dağlık Karabağ’dan çıkması planlanıyor.
Babayan, Dağlık Karabağ’daki Ermeni güçlerin silahlarını bırakma sürecinin de sürdüğünü söyledi.
Azerbaycan, Dağlık Karabağ’da geçtiğimiz salı günü “terörle mücadele” adı altında saldırı başlatmış, yaklaşık 24 saat sonra Rusya’nın ara buluculuğunda varılan ateşkesin ardından görüşmeler başlatılmıştı.
Ermenistan Başbakanı Nikol Paşinyan da yaptığı açıklamada, Dağlık Karabağ’dan ayrılması beklenen Ermenileri kabul etmeye hazır olduklarını yinelemişti. Paşinyan, ulusa sesleniş konuşmasında, Dağlık Karabağ’a insani yardım ulaşmaya başladığını ancak bölgedeki Ermenilerin hâlen “etnik temizlik tehlikesiyle” karşı karşıya olduğunu söylemişti.
BM’ye Çağrı
Bu arada New York’taki Birleşmiş Milletler (BM) oturumunda konuşan Ermenistan Dışişleri Bakanı Ararat Mirzoyan ise uluslararası toplumu Azerbaycan’ın Karabağ operasyonuna sessiz kalmakla suçladı. Mirzoyan, Dağlık Karabağ’daki güvenlik durumu ve insan haklarının izlenebilmesi için bölgeye bir BM misyonu gönderilmesi çağrısında bulundu.
Bölgede yaşanan "ciddi anlamda kahredici gelişmelerin, sadece açıklamalar ve genel çağrılarla bu sorunun üzerine gidilemeyeceğini gösterdiğini" ifade eden Ermenistan Dışişleri Bakanı, “Uluslararası toplum ve Birleşmiş Milletler insanları kurtarmaya gelme konusunda başarısız oldu” dedi.”
İhtilafları patolojik bir yıkıma dönüştüren, otuz iki yıllık bir derin ayrıştırma halini açık bir biçimde yok etmeyle bağdaşık kılarak güncellemeye çalışan Azeri devletinin başında yer alan zatı Aliyev’in onca hesaplı kitaplı açıklamasına rağmen bir etnik kırım ihtimali karşısında Ermeni’ye kalan yeniden yollara düşmek olur. İki uzun savaş, handiyse son üç yılın tamamında aralıksız kılınmış olan psikolojik harp ve ötesindeki açlıkla terbiye etme, bunu yapabildiğini zanneden bir zorbanın sahiden bir arada yaşamı savunmayacak olduğu gerçekliği karşımıza çıkar. Bir yandan da Azerbaycan kaynaklı telegram gruplarında yer alan tehdit, hakaret ve tecavüzden katledelim ermeniyi çağrılarına varan bir dizi sistemli dehşet sebebi ayrımcılık hallerinin var edilmesi çabası karşısında gitmek dışında her ne kalmıştır ki, bir başına bırakılan bir halka! Sahiden sorgular mıydınız? 27 Eylül Çarşamba yerel saatle (Yerevan) 19.00 itibarıyla Dağlık Karabağ'dan 53.529 kişi Ermenistan'a giriş yaptı. sahiden anlar mıydınız dert topraktan olmak değil evinden ilelebet uzak kalmaya mahkumiyeti, sahiden?
Bütünüyle bir insani facia / biz Ermeniler için çart, ağhet var edilirken en son geçtiğimiz Pazartesi günü canhıraş bir biçimde Ermenistan’a göçebilmek için biraz da olsa benzin almak isteyen insanların bulunduğu bir yakıt tankı infilak eder. Öylece sokağın orta yeri bir can pazarına dönüşür. İmdat çığlıklarına kahkahalarla, gebersinler artık ya hu diye yaza duranlarla bir tepkime çıkagelir. Düpedüz bir yıkımın kıyısına terk edilirken nefesin kesildiği, günün simsiyah kılındığı bir zeminde olmakta olana kayıtsızlık medyanın kepazelik dozu yüksek yalan propagandası, Azerilerin de aralıksız nefret siyasetiyle bir ve beraberce, Rusya, İsrail ve Pakistan ve illa ki her masada cellatlığa oynayan Türkiye’nin olur vermesiyle bir kere daha vuku bulur. Gidenlerin akıbetinin meçhul hali de düşünülesi bir mesel olurken üstelik, daha cendereden çıkamadan hayatlar derdest edilir. Azadlıq Radyosundan aktaralım: “Caucasus Edition dergisinden Lala Tarçınova geçici tahliyenin “ sürekli ” olabileceği konusunda uyarır: “Ermeniler olmadan Karabağ'ı görmek istemiyorum, Azerbaycanlılar olmadan Karabağ'ı görmek istemediğim kadar. Bu yüzden tahliye benim için büyük bir gizem. İnsanlar geri dönebilecek mi? Bu çok zor bir durum. Ancak kısa vadede bu insanlar için bir alternatif var mı?” Bütünüyle 1915 kendisini yine yeniden var ederken, Xocalı’dan Sumgayit’e bir kırım sürekliliği, daha yepyeni olan o ikinci savaşın yaraları ortadayken, on binin üstünde can kaybı dönem içinde, sadece bir günde yüzlerce Ermeni ve Azeri’nin canı hiçe sayılırken kısa vadede bir barış ihtimali söz konusu mudur? Çok dilli, çok kültürlü, çok fazlasını barındırabilecek bir sahnenin yeniden simsiyah kılınmasının, kötülüğün yüceltilmesinin, bir gıdım benzin için beklerken havaya uçan insanlarla alay edenlerin varlığı, yıkımın zafer nidalarıyla karşılandığı bir zeminde ne edecektir ki Ermeni!
Misak TUNÇBOYACI – İstan’2023
Görsel: An Armenian Cross Overlooking The Town Of Goris, A Resort Town Near The Border Now At The Centre Of An Exodus Of People. Photograph: Christopher Cherry / The Guardian
#yıkım#cendere#artsakh strong#nagorno karabakh#armenian#genocide#yıldırı#azerbaycan#devlet102#şiddet sarmalı#kötülük#rövanşizm#medet umulan karanlık#geleceksizlik#deport#ahlak#yaşamak#hürriyet#demokrasi neydi#barış#kafkaslar#ermeni#mesel#arzihal#başka türkiye var
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hi y’all armenians celebrate christmas on the 6th and i wanted to take this time to spread awareness about what’s going on in my home country.
for some context, during the year 1915, Armenia was genocided by the Ottomon Empire. Now modern day Turkey. Over 1.5 million Armenians were massacred, millions more forced out of their homes, my great-grandparents included. the land was taken by the Ottoman Empire and it is impossible for Armenians to travel to their motherland.
Over a 100 years later the same thing is happening again. Azerbaijan, a country that shares cultural and economic ties with Turkey, has been forcing native Armenians out of Artsakh. They have been encroaching on Armenian land and have had support from Turkey and Israel, a country commiting its own genocide against the native Palestinian people.
Please do not forget about us, we are a strong people but we are small in numbers
#armenia#armenian#artsakh#azerbaijan#turkey#israel#world politics#genocide#current events#world events
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Fighting Back in an Age of Impunity
Its the last essay of the year and the events going on in Gaza - and similar events elsewhere - had me pondering some thoughts for those who may feel powerless and like they can't do anything. It's not perfect, but its something.
Full essay under the cut. Happy Holidays.
I feel like I increasingly start each of these essays with checking on folks and seeing how they’re doing following “the event” – with whatever “the event” is varying depending on what time of the year the essay is occurring in. When I first started thinking about what I may be writing for my last essay of 2023, I thought the worst event I’d have to think about was Azerbaijan’s assault on Artsakh, which resulted in over 100,000 ethnic Armenians fleeing their homes as Ilham Aliyev finally realized his genocidal dream of cleansing the region and forcing it fully into Azerbaijan by force.
Of course, then October 7th happened.
This is not to say that what happened with Artsakh should be forgotten about by any stretch of the imagination. We definitely shouldn’t forget about Armenia and Azerbaijan – especially as Azerbaijan, supported by Turkey, continues to make aggressive statements suggesting it may attack the Republic of Armenia proper in order to secure a corridor to its exclave in Nakhchivan. This is still very important and deserves our attention.
At the same time, if you’ve been following world events at all since October 7th, you kinda know what the most pressing, soul-sucking issue of the moment is. In the weeks since the attacks launched by the Gaza-based Palestinian militant groups – spearheaded by the Islamist political-military movement HAMAS, which largely controls the enclave – Israel has used that unarguable tragedy as an excuse to launch a horrific campaign of violence of its own in revenge, the sheer scale and scope of which has left the Israeli bodycount of October 7th in the dust as more and more Palestinians are killed by the Israel Defense Forces with each passing day – most of them women and children.
I originally was going to shift focus and write something entirely about what’s going on in Gaza, but I was also not sure what more I could say that would be constructive and not simply venting to avoid exploding (something I do on Twitter on a regular basis). I also didn’t want to complete leave Armenia and Azerbaijan in the dust, because I felt there were a lot of parallels between the two situations and their histories (which makes sense since Azerbaijan and Israel have such a cozy relationship, with Israel being one of Azerbaijan’s main arms suppliers in its wars against Armenia and Armenians).
In the end, I decided I wanted to write about something that is more generally going on, and that we’ve seen in Israel’s campaign against Palestinians, Azerbaijan’s campaign against Armenia and Armenians, Russia’s war against Ukraine (which Putin says isn’t ending anytime soon in case you were curious), and other acts of aggression by hostile states and armed groups in what feels like every corner of the globe these days. Everywhere you look, it seems that fascistic states and groups are taking every possible opportunity to try and conquer and kill that which they covet or hate.
We are currently living through what I conceive of as a new “Age of Impunity” in international relations, of which the current assault on Gaza is only one example – though certainly the most egregious and barbaric of the moment. Such ages are not new, and have waxed and waned throughout history, but they all have one core theme in common: during their span, we see a drastic increase in aggression by those states and groups who are determined to hammer home the Thucydidean cliche that “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”
But there is a new rub to this tale as old as time. Now, in an age of an increasingly interconnected world via the internet and social media and smart phones and etc., aggressors are not just seeking to prove that might is right, but to gaslight us constantly as they do it, doggedly endeavoring to convince us that this state of affairs is not simply the glib, bleak reality that is allowed to persist in international relations, but is actually good and right and just and fair that those of us that dare question their narrative are insane and sick and even criminal for believing otherwise. To try and add further legitimacy or distance themselves from the acts of information warfare, such aggressors often enlist third parties as well who are aligned to them either ideologically or financially (i.e. they’re paid to).
This combination of consequence free mass violence combined with an aggressive campaign to make you feel insane for not thinking its actually good is enough to make anyone with a moral compass feel actually insane, or to feel incredibly depressed and distraught over it all. Its so easy to feel completely and totally powerless from events such as Gaza and more, boiling over inside with a sense of impotent rage, especially when it seems that all that a key set of individuals and governments would need to do to stop it all – or at least less the impact – is show a modicum of backbone and a slight bit of effort to go along with it, but they don’t.
However, it is important for us all to understand against this backdrop of slaughter, that we are not powerless – not completely. There are limits on our power as “normal” people, absolutely; but we are not totally powerless, and the longer we go on thinking that the longer this Age of Impunity will last – to say nothing of other negative states of affairs we’d rather not stick around. There are actions that we as people can take to try and effect better outcomes. These actions are often indirect, focusing on applying pressure in various forms on those who can actually do something or who can otherwise force someone else to do something, but are none the less impactful and not to be disregarded.
To the end of helping folks not feel powerless in the face of impunity and aggression and giving them a concept through which they can push back on aggression and fascism and authoritarianism worldwide, I’ve crafted an approach of my own. The approach I’ve conceived of is extremely simple, straightforward, broad, long-term and almost certainly incomplete – but a start. So, if the gifts you’re looking to get this holiday season are a shred of hope, a sense of purpose, a modicum of agency, and the ability to actually make an impact upon ongoing global events, let’s open up Santa’s big bag of toys and see what’s inside for all the good little guys, gals, and non-binary pals out there. Ho ho ho.
BLUF: “Don’t Shut Up”
I already warned you that my plan is pretty simple. What I haven’t warned you is that this plan, in a nutshell, may make some people roll their eyes and go “yeah, right, whatever” (or something more impolite), so consider yourself warned of that now.
So, the plan? Don’t shut up.
Ok, obviously this is going to need more expounding upon.
To build upon “don’t shut up” in more detail, the plan is simply to not give up voicing your opposition to the unjustifiable acts of aggression going on throughout the world – whoever it is that is undertaking them, whenever they occur, and wherever they occur. This opposition can come in various forms, be it protests and various other forms of activism and civil disobedience, both physical and virtual, but it really can be boiled down to those three words: don’t shut up. Keep talking – shouting, rather – about what’s going on and don’t let people forget what’s going on.
Not to get defensive right off the bat, but I am anticipating some people reading this feeling a bit disappointed, dismissive (maybe to the point of eye-rolling), or frustrated with this simple approach. So I want to take a little time to push back gently before we get more into the nuts and bolts. I’m going to try and not go on for too long with this because I wrote this earlier and fully made half of the essay me being defensive so be thankful I went back to make this part shorter.
First, to those saying “that’s it?” I would say, ‘yes’; but with the caveat that while its a simple answer, its also a simple problem (which I will get into more detail about later). To those saying “that won’t work,” I would say “based on what?” I feel the problem with that strain of preemptive defeatism, dismissiveness, and doomerism are a uniquely American-centric perspective that is focused only on our own experiences – and also, a very recent and limited view of them. All you need to do is look to the rest of the world to see instances where mass movements that refused to be silenced and maintained pressure accomplished the ousting of various dictators and autocrats (I picked relatively recent examples here, but you can look even further back). I know we’re all tired and demoralized and depressed (hence why I’m writing this), but all you need do is widen the aperture a bit and look beyond our shores to see that things are not as hopeless as they seem. That doesn’t mean that there are quick and easy solutions (something else I’ll get into – we’re in this for the long haul), but again, that doesn’t mean that we are powerless and that our actions mean nothing.
Ok, I got my defensive preemptive pushback on doomerism out of the way and I did it in two paragraphs instead of a page and a half. You’re welcome. So let’s actually get into the nuts and bolts.
Using the potential criticism of “that’s it?” as a starting off point, I will concede again that t his is a very simple approach. But, I would also assert that the activity that this approach is crafted to counter is actually fairly simple in its own right when you think about it. It makes sense that a relatively simple problem demands a relatively simple answer (note that just because the idea is simple doesn’t mean the execution will be quick or easy, but we’ll get to that).
Regardless of the approach or the medium through which they are attempting it, in the information sphere, the ultimate goal of an aggressor to is to silence criticism and to boost its own narratives and supporters. If aggressors can’t coerce or cajole you to their side, they’ll settle for getting you to shut up by whatever means are at their disposal – which is just as good to them; it doesn’t matter if they don’t actually have a lot of popular support at home or abroad, but as long as they can silence dissent and criticism and keep their narrative as the main one, they can just keep on doing what they’re doing.
This can take multiple different forms: drowning you out with torrents of useless, twisted, or outright false information, intimidating you through hostility and harassment, depressing you by making you feel weak and powerless and convincing you that there is absolutely nothing that can stop them (potentially giving you a genuine mental breakdown through their gaslighting), and mental and emotional exhaustion from some or all of what was previously described, just to name a few different methods. These methods may be utilized by the aggressors themselves, or through various allies, partners, and proxies – be they other states and organizations various individuals who are consciously or unconsciously boosting the aggressor’s narratives and attacking the aggressor’s detractors. But the end goal of all of these methods remains the same in every case, but in different guises: to shut you up. If the aggressor’s goal is that simple, it make sense that our response doesn’t need to be that complicated either: deny them their objective by simply refusing to be silenced and, in fact, continuously increasing that pressure.
If information is a domain in warfare, it is probably appropriate to think of your role in it not as a soldier in the army of a peer competitors in a high-end conventional fight. Rather, you should think of yourself as a fighter in an insurgent army, and as this information warfare as an insurgency or rebellion or an uprising rather than the information equivalent of a conventional war (at least not at this stage; we have a few more stages of Mao’s guide to get through first in this analogy). If you conceive of it that way, it can make your task seem even more daunting, but then it also can reveal the inherent advantages that we have in our approach and the challenges it creates for an aggressor trying to manage information.
The Cognitive Insurgency of Attrition
I’ve talked about insurgency and counter-insurgency in the physical domains of warfare before at great length, with my main takeaway being that counter-insurgency is almost always a losing game for whoever is acting as the COIN force. Unless they are prepared to make significant political concessions, they are likely to never win; the best they can ever hope for is to not lose – which will require constant fighting and expenditure of resources of all kinds, indefinitely (something that few countries, even reasonably prosperous and powerful ones, can hope to keep up).
Recalling that takeaway, your advantage and the disadvantage of the aggressor becomes clearer. When I said earlier that really all you have to do is not shut up, I really meant it, because as long as you and others refuse to be gaslit and continue to speak out against particular aggression and injustices, the aggressor is failing at the primary objective they have regarding you. As long as you exist and continue to act and speak out, they will continue to have to expend time and resources to try and counter you. The struggle with the aggressor becomes a battle of wills, and by simply continuing to exist and refusing to be silenced, you are wearing them down in a war of attrition. The more they are worn down, the more likely they are to make mistakes and to show more of their true colors, and the full extent of the horror becomes harder and harder for more and more actors (be they people, organizations, states, and etc.) to ignore and turn a blind eye to, and the pressure mounts to take actual action.
This whole approach and the idea of not shutting up and not giving up is closely tied to another idea, which is that “bullying works” (another thing I originally had in a section unto itself, for another peek behind the curtain, but decided it wasn’t dissimilar enough to separate out). As you refuse to be silenced and continue to speak out and apply pressure, one form of that pressure, is in effect, “bullying.” Basically, making sure that those who are either taking part in various acts of aggression or who are facilitating it or supporting indirectly won’t get a moments peace in their lives as long as they continue to do so. They need to be shown that people will not forget what’s going on and will not go away and will be reminding those who are carrying out out aggression or supporting it at every possible opportunity and be making their lives very difficult for as long as it takes and for as much as it takes until change for the better occurs. Remember kids: bullying by punching down (figuratively), is bad; but bullying by punching up (again, figuratively), is not only good, but necessary for a healthy society!
The inherent downside to this overall approach, of course, is that it is a long-term one. This is not a single battle, but a broader campaign in the wider war against aggression and authoritarianism and fascism. This in its own right may be discouraging to some, but also a bitter pill that must be swallowed. To be perfectly clear: this is not me saying that we shouldn’t bother trying to apply pressure and affect change on issues in the short term. To use our primary example of Gaza once more, we should absolutely be trying in the short term to bring more pressure to bear to bring about a lasting ceasefire and greater humanitarian relief and more in Palestine. However, we’d be deluding ourselves if we believed any action we take right now would suddenly and decisively end the occupation and fundamentally change the political status quo in Palestine in the short term.
As discouraging as this reality can be, it should not dissuade us from taking action, but compel us to gear up for the long fight. Much as the right is willing and able to do with its policy goals at home and abroad, we need to undertake more generational and multi-generational efforts to achieve our aims in all areas – especially when it comes to foreign policy and international relations. Like an actual insurgent force fighting an occupying army or authoritarian regime, we must take a long-term view. This long-term view may encompass short term surges and bursts of activity to achieve specific, tangible, secondary and tertiary goals (like a ceasefire, humanitarian aid, or what have you), but its primary goals and planning must be fundamentally protracted in nature.
Even if you understand, agree with, and accept the protracted nature of this approach, that doesn’t mean it can’t still be demoralizing in the short term. However, there are reasons to be optimistic, because if you look around you can see the signs that this approach is already bearing fruit. In the case of Gaza, you can see signs that the dedication to not “shutting up” about the plight of the Palestinian people on the receiving end of Israel’s military campaign in how the Israeli government and its supporters are either becoming more deranged in their defensiveness for their actions, with some Israeli government officials being increasingly mask off about their genocidal intentions towards Palestinians and their homes, as well as increasingly dismissive towards ideas such as the two-state solution – which governments like that of the United States continue to cling to. We also see this in the reaction of some states supportive of Israel, such as the United Kingdom, where now former-Home Secretary Suella Braverman labeled all pro-Palestinian protesters in the country as “hate marchers” (and was fired from her post not long after that).
In other cases, where governments and groups supporting Israel haven’t gone fully deranged, its becoming increasingly difficult for them to look the other way in the face of Israel’s mask-off violence and aggression. Even as US President Joe Biden continues to stand by Israel doggedly and assert its right to “defend itself”, the administration has internally squirmed at Israeli actions (as well as the potential for escalation). While the administration continues to fruitlessly try and have it both ways (which is fundamentally impossible and only wastes time as more civilians die), the fact that they’re even attempting to do that rather than continue to support Israel wholeheartedly shows that the pressure is mounting. This is born out by polls in the United States that show that support for Palestinians is rising. If aggressors and those running support for them are lashing out or are becoming more desperate in their attempts to control the narrative or silence opposition or even have a leg to stand on in their support, those are signs that the pressure that countless regular people are bringing to bear with their humanity is having an impact. Don’t give up now.
I am once again asking you not to give in to despair
We can’t stop everything going on in the world on our own as individuals, that’s true. And posting alone also won’t stop anything – that’s also true (as much as a lot of us wish it would – or convinced ourselves it will). But we are absolutely not powerless, and we must avoid falling into that trap, or the aggressors win right off the bat.
You are fighting in one particular campaign in a much wider war against aggression and fascism and authoritarianism the world over. There are other fronts that exist now and there will be more in the future – both physical, and virtual. But combat of various sorts (literal and figurative) will be required on all of them in order to achieve successes. It is a collective effort; we are are all in this together, in numerous different ways. To crib a line from the trade union anthem Solidarity Forever: “yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one, but the union makes us strong.”
The broader struggle against fascism and aggression will be a long war, and all likelihood, it will likely never end in an absolute victory, and only be one in a series of wars and struggles to come (again, both figurative and literal). As I’ve always said in my writing, part of the reason I’m sure people like me will still have a job even in a better world is because there will always be authoritarian aggressors of some kind who can convince others to fight and die for them in service of their rancid ideology and hatred (hence why I say a “better world” and not a “perfect” one). But even if we there will always be another enemy around the corner in some shape or form, we can set ourselves up to be stronger, smarter, more united, more compassionate, and better prepared for the additional struggles and wars ahead.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that everything I just talked about isn’t exclusively for responding to acts of aggression abroad, but is perfectly applicable at home as well. The approach that I’ve laid out can be applied to fascist aggressors of the domestic political variety, just as much as they can be applied to aggressor states and groups overseas engaging in armed aggression. In the United States in particular, we face an ever increasing war from within. Even if the political crisis in the United States doesn’t escalate to the level of a full scale civil war (something that I certainly don’t want, that I imagine most sane people don’t want, and something we should all work to avoid), we still find ourselves in an American Years of Lead situation at bare minimum that will very likely only get worse as we approach the 2024 election. Again, we can see some promising signs that these approaches are actually working, from the progressive gains that have been made in recent off-year elections on matters such as abortion, legalization of marijuana, and other progressive causes – many of which have been in response to right-wing forces doubling down on their extreme positions in desperation as normal people increasingly point out and deride their “sicko” behavior and refuse to let it go unanswered.
However, as heartening as these victories are, polling shows that the 2024 election is looking increasingly fraught, and nothing should be taken for granted in the eleven months that remain before election day 2024 – especially as former-President Donald Trump has been perfectly blunt about what his plans are if he makes it back into the White House (to say nothing of the coterie of other sickos and chuds that he will put into positions of power in his administration if he wins). While far from the only tool at your disposal, the approach I have laid out previously for pushing back on the narratives of fascism, authoritarianism and aggression abroad may very well make a real difference in the rhetorical and political battles against those same insidious forces at home. Keep that in mind on the road to November 5th, 2024 (or, if you live outside the United States, to road to whatever political battles you have to face in the near future).
We live in particularly bleak times in general, there’s no arguing that. This current Age of Impunity we find ourselves in has no shortage of dictators, tyrants, and fascists who are eager to take advantage of global instability and shifting geopolitics to take things they’ve long coveted, settle scores and seek revenge, and carry out a laundry list of other heinous acts. But even in those acts of aggression, we can find hope. For example, in Myanmar, a diverse coalition of varied ethnic groups – spearheaded by young people – are pushing the fascist junta back on its heels in that country’s civil war. While their battle is far from over, the progress they’ve made in recent weeks since launching a new offensive against the junta has been remarkable. Wherever we can, we need to grab onto examples of maintaining persistence, applying pressure, and not giving up hope – whether its on literal battlefields, or political and ideological ones. We need to take the progress and victories where we can, to remind us why we’re doing any of this at all: because we believe a better world is not only possible, but necessary and inevitable.
It is on that note, I leave you on this last essay of 2023. I’ll be back with another by mid-March at the absolute latest for the first essay of 2024 (God only knows what I’ll be writing about by then, but we’ll see where Mr. Bones’ Wild Ride takes us all). For those of you who are celebrating, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season, and also a Happy New Year to you all. Please, wherever and whenever you’re able, even while you all try to keep up the struggle, try to find some time to rest and be kind to yourself because we all need that.
See you in 2024. Stay safe.
#War Takes#essay#War Takes essay#leftism#leftist#the left#socialism#democratic socialism#international relations#war#warfare#fascism#anti fascism#Palestine#Gaza#Israel#Palestinians#international affairs#information warfare#HAMAS
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I have to say this: the education on fascism in American education is largely limited to "Germans in 1940s." And the settler hatred and right wing extremism we are surrounded by, growing up in my privilege felt invisible as water to a fish.
The first cracks in the limited America centric blinders however into international awareness came from relationship: learning about Chiapas and the Zapatistas from my ex, from my friend's education on Armenia and refugees.
It started to click in my brain because researching the situation on Instagram, even on pictures of natural landscapes or other posts not even about the genocide, you would see these accounts with the most hateful vile dehumanizing language - Azeri. And out of the American context and programming it was easier to see that for what it is, baseless aggression towards Indigenous people based on insecurity. And how insane, how strange and baseless it was. I had to block and report and argue with a few of the trolls just from commenting something harmless on an Armenian's post.
Then a few months later - that aggression erupted into white phosphorus bombs. I did not respond in the way that Palestine has been responded to, or much at all. There was less on the ground reporting but that's not really an excuse for how little the waves of pain hit me, how invisibilized Artsakh occupation and land grab was and emotionally unattended to. I was still in my own bubble of settled misery.
It's easier to share content about Palestine because there is so much content made. And the visibility is so high that propaganda can't counter it. In contrast my friend had to put in a lot of work to educate me and most people around them about Armenian history. I regret that. And the resistance and ignorance I exhibited. And I regret coming so late to awareness of colonialism's tangled roots and the history and work of resistance and persistence of indigenous peoples.
However it was that particular encounter with the Azeri hatred which laid the tracks for understanding my friend, and also for this further and intense assault on Palestine. Which was already in my proximal awareness but I am ashamed to say, never fully awakened by relationships with real people here.
And meanwhile, happening, and now, people are speaking up about the Congo. About Sudan. About Tigray. About extraction and assault and bombing and execution and horrors and violence which can scarcely be out to words. About the freedom they want for their people and the immense load of pain they have been carrying for far too long as refugees, as colonized people fleeing their own lands.
About these I know even less.
And I do not think it is wise to pretend to know more. I have been called in for posturing or getting ahead of my self in ignorance, of the heart of the movement which is care for and being in community with the people who are caretakers of the land and/or doing the work of survival and fighting colonial oppression and repression.
So what I have to say from where I stand is: the future is coming. If you do not know the survivors of this generation you do not know how strong they are, and their vision of the future. Beyond all the trauma and the need for care and support, this strength is not arguable. The ancestors are with people now.
There will be a future and Armenians, Palestinians, all of these nations will be in it. I choose to believe that, believe in them but not to hope for it because there is an absolute chasm of work to be done, reconciliation and listening and conceding and fighting. And hope can let us get off easy. No, but the work is joyous if you surrender to it.
Do not lose heart, do not be afraid to sacrifice and do not lose yourself in fear, guilt and doubt. They are a maze I've been lost in for years. And only finding my way out through the hands of these friends, having done harm and been corrected in it, witnessing the meaning of pain but also spirit, of God, of joy of true undying Love. This is what revolution is and requires is a total eclipse and regeneration of the heart, the ego, the mind.
I have only taken the first baby step but already despite the horrors laid out before us, the future is glimmering. The evils of settler colonial rabid fury are stains on the world that cannot be washed out. Every second they are allowed to persist kills the collective soul of humanity. Especially the souls of those of us complicit in settler states. We must release our fears, and fall in line with the call for reparation and return.
And our time is running thin but i do believe it is here. The road ahead is very dark, very brutal and very long. But we have the strength to walk it side by side because we must. Or stand aside.
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The following information comes from the Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief (SOAR) of whom I have only the utmost respect:
The evacuation of Artsakh has begun, with more than 100,000 Armenians forced to relocate within the past 48 hours. Of these refugees, many are children. SOAR is steadfastly committed to perpetuating our work in child protection through three primary mechanisms:
1. Assisting with the relocation of children from the Artsakh Boarding School. When the Azeri attack into Artsakh began, the School found shelter on a Russian military base. They are now on their way to Armenia and will be housed at a partnering residential childcare institution. Our intent is to support these children with food, clothing, personal necessities, and educational expenses.
2. SOAR established the Artsakh Family Restoration Fund (AFRF) in November 2021 to assure that no children in Artsakh would ever have to be institutionalized because of the casualties of war. To those Artsakh families forced to relocate to Armenia, SOAR provides emotional and financial support to assure cultural preservation and economic self-sufficiency.
3. SOAR established the Families of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund (FFSRF) in 2020 to assist the families of fallen and severely disabled Armenian service personnel by providing emotional, educational, and financial support and children’s enrichment assistance. The Fund aims to build strong, caring, and loving bonds with each family and to follow the widows and children through the years to assure that no children of fallen Armenian soldiers are ever institutionalized. To date, SOAR has supported more than 300 fallen soldier families with food support, housing assistance, educational expenses, psychological/grief counseling, and vocational training.
Imagine one day you are forced to abandon your belongings, relinquish your livelihood, and most importantly, compelled to leave your home and ancestral territory. You have nowhere to go and wonder if, and when, assistance might come from strangers. SOAR is that intervening entity, dedicated to providing support to the abandoned and impoverished. We want nothing more than to provide normalcy to those Armenians children and families in times of chaos and uncertainty.
PLEASE open your hearts and donate what you can.
All donations will be earmarked exclusively and entirely for the three interventions described above.
Please consider donating and reblogging. As always, thank you.
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Please reblog this.
Any Armenian and Assyrian users here are more than welcome to reblog the shit out of this post.
It should serve to spread awareness of one of the worst acts of barbarism of the last century.
#personal stuff#dougie rambles#political crap#apparently#armenia#assyria#armenian genocide#1915#Sayfo#Assyrian genocide#Armenian people#Assyrian people#Assyrian#genocide#artsakh#reblog this
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New Post has been published on https://massispost.com/2024/04/russia-troops-withdrawing-from-artsakh-enter-armenia-through-the-lachin-corridor/
Russia Troops Withdrawing From Artsakh Enter Armenia Through the Lachin Corridor
YEREVAN — A convoy of Russian military trucks entered Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday as Russia continued to withdraw its peacekeeping troops from the depopulated region occupied by Azerbaijan last September. The 2,000-strong peacekeeping contingent was deployed to Karabakh in line with a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement that stopped the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war. The Russian troops were due to stay there at least until November 2025. Their failure to prevent or stop the Azerbaijani military offensive, which forced Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population to flee to Armenia, called into question their continued presence there. Moscow began withdrawing the peacekeepers from Karabakh last…
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Azerbaijan calls for sanctions over tennis player's pro-Armenia messages at the Australian Open | CNN
CNN
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Azerbaijan’s tennis federation has called for Karen Khachanov to be sanctioned after the Russian player expressed support for the Armenian-majority population living in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region at the Australian Open.
Khachanov, who has Armenian heritage, has written “Artsakh stay strong” on TV cameras after matches in Melbourne.
Artsakh is the Armenian term for the…
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Hi, can i get your thoughts on this piece?
https://anglokuwaiti.substack.com/p/the-republic-of-azerbaijan-has-no
I think the author makes good points, but too much time is spent, in my opinion, in discussing pre-19th and 20th century history to create or justify the parallels being made between modern-day Azerbaijan and the historical counterpart that had been under Persian rule.
I think more weight is given to Israeli influence (making it sound on par or equivalent to both Turkish and Russian influence) than probably really exists (I think Turkey is the strongest influence and then Russia, with Israel making inroads) and also doesn't really go into how each of those three powers have conflicting agendas and goals at play and what impact that has.
Finally, it also, based on my reading, is making it sound like Aliyev and his government have no agency or agenda of their own and are purely operating based on the dictates and influences of those three powers, which is both too convenient and ignores the history of both Allyev's comments and actions and Azeri sentiment towards Artsakh/Nagorna-Karabakh going back to independence over a century ago. I'm not saying that those *aren't* factors, but some things are also beyond logic and rationality (as Putin and Russia's invasion of Ukraine shows as a prime example of that).
But, otherwise, I think it's an interesting and strong and fairly persuasive analysis and argument.
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Family Support Network
At Thrive Armenia Foundation, we offer several family support service programs. Our family support network is vast and available for families and individuals, victims of the Artsakh War, with personalized needs. We provide them with special health care needs and examine developmental, behavioural, and mental health diagnoses. For more insights, call us!
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in any case, we are still here, and we need your help.
due to relentless bombing for more than 40 continuous days, much of our cities and villages in Artsakh have been destroyed. houses, buildings, streets, churches, cultural centres. on top of the destruction and death this war has brought to my people, we are struggling to cope with covid - number of new cases have been steadily increasing since the war broke out, for obvious reasons. Armenians of the diaspora have been donating since the war broke out (and even before that, because it is with our donations that we built Artsakh after the first war 30 years ago). we are a small country, with limited resources, and this war and pandemic has put a strain on us. we were struggling before, but now we need all the help we can get.
donations are desperately needed - you can donate here: himnadram.org or here: armeniafund.org
other ways to support:
https://helparmenians.carrd.co - a really useful page with plenty of resources, you can learn about armenia/artsakh, there’s petitions to sign, and donation pages
@armenianblog also has a lot of posts with helpful infographics to educate yourself and others on the subject.
you can buy System of a Down's newest album - proceeds are going towards the armeniafund (alternatively, you can stream the songs on Spotify or Youtube)
watch this YouTube video (beginning to the end, don't skip ads, don't mute the video, don't play it on a loop) all proceeds are being donated
Armenian jewlery maker, all proceeds are being donated
Armenian creator on Etsy, all proceeds are being donated (link to tumblr post you can reblog)
My redbubble shop - all proceeds for November and December I will donate to himandram.org (redbubble is currently having a sale of 20-60% with the code GIFTS60, fyi)
if you know any other creators who are donating proceeds from their works, please add them on this post. let’s create a masterpost and boost each other’s efforts.
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“A must see clip to understand the level of hate and racism taught to Azeri kids from a young age against Armenians. This is why Artsakh required and requires its independence.”
#artsakh#armenia#artsakh strong#stop aliyev#stop azerbaijani aggression#don't believe azerbaijan#armenia against terrorism#peace for armenians#sanction turkey#recognize artsakh#azerbaijan#armenophobia#armenian genocide#larry king#human rights
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#armenia#artsakh#artsakh strong#defend armenia#defend artsakh#politics#law#international affairs#international relations#international law#lawblr#2020#history#world history#blm#war#coronavirus#studyblr
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eringartwork on Etsy is selling these really cute stickers! 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Armenia Fund!
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https://www.instagram.com/etoilesenvelours/ (via arpikrikorian)
🇦🇲 I was born in the glorious town of Stepanakert, Artsakh, with nature so beautiful, many compared it to the beauty of Switzerland.
In 1991, when Soviet Union collapsed, a war started between Armenia and Azerbaijan, each claiming it was their land to own. But it was ours, of the people of Artsakh.
We were sheltered in basements with rats and cockroaches, no heat, no water, no food. Babies, children, elderly, women. All hiding in cold basements, while our fathers, brothers, husbands and sons fought for our freedom.
A ceasefire was signed in 1994, but that didn’t lead to a resolution. My homeland has been the apple of discord ever since.
And now, in September 2020, my homeland is under attack once again. With children and women and elderly being forced to hide. With men, fathers, sons, brothers and husbands being forced into a full-blown merciless war.
I hope none of you ever wakes up to a message that a war has started and your country is under martial law. I hope all of you always have peaceful skies above your heads. And I hope this makes you speak up about my land, my Artsakh.
#stop azerbaijani aggression#long live artsakh#artsakh#armenia#karabakh is armenia#artsakh is armenia#artsakh strong
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SAVE ARMENIA 🇦🇲
Armenia is currently going through a brutal war. They have already gone through a brutal genocide, they do not deserve this. Please help and join any protests you can. You’ll learn a lot and meet great friends!
Best,
AJ
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