Nagorno-Karabakh's breaking point: why we can't wait any longer
In November 2020, I stood on the soil of Nagorno-Karabakh, witnessing firsthand the ashes of a 30-year war between Armenia and Azerbaijan that had intensified over the past year. I saw shattered homes, met families torn apart, and listened to stories of loss that were too heartbreaking to put into words. The devastation was palpable, but there was also a glimmer of hope. A Russia-brokered armistice promised some semblance of peace, and the world seemed to believe that the worst was over.
Today, I can say with heavy certainty that the situation has not only failed to improve, but has deteriorated alarmingly. A recent report by Luis Moreno Ocampo, the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, rings an urgent alarm bell, warning of acts tantamount to genocide.
An ethnic Armenian soldier stands guard next to Nagorno-Karabakh's flag atop a hill in the separatist region in Azerbaijan in November 2020. (Sergei Grits/AP)
A Turn for the Worse
Back in 2020, the blockade of the Lachin Corridor was a significant concern, but it has since become a full-blown humanitarian crisis. Imagine a lifeline, once open and pulsating with the flow of goods and hope, now cinched tight. Trucks filled with essential supplies like medicine and food are parked, stranded on the edge of urgency. These aren't mere statistics or nameless faces; these are real people with real needs, waiting for a lifeline that seems increasingly unlikely to come.
The sense of isolation has deepened over the past few months. Armenia's call for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council echoes unanswered. This collective inaction is hauntingly reminiscent of the silence I witnessed in 2020, except that now the human cost is mounting at an exponentially alarming rate. Amid the Ukraine war, Russia's peacekeeping forces, who had previously inspired hope during the armistice, are now overwhelmed and inactive. This passive stance jeopardizes not just the lives of those in Nagorno-Karabakh but also undermines international efforts for peace.
Azerbaijan's denial of the situation adds fuel to an already raging fire. Luis Moreno Ocampo's report is dismissed as biased and baseless. If in 2020 there was a general hesitancy to act on humanitarian grounds, there is now a disturbing reluctance to recognize the situation for what it is—a calculated act that is increasingly resembling genocide. In this delicate theater of international relations, such dismissals can no longer be taken lightly; the stakes are high, and every moment lost is a step closer to a point of no return.
Genocide doesn't always manifest in brutal physical violence. Sometimes, it's an invisible weapon, like starvation, insidiously calculated to destroy a community from within. The lack of food, medicine, and basic supplies is a slow-burning but effective means of obliteration. When Ocampo says, "Without immediate dramatic change, this group of Armenians will be destroyed in a few weeks," he is not indulging in hyperbole. He is pointing to a bitter truth that I can affirm, having seen the early stages of this devastation.
Global Responsibility
The geopolitics of the region also bring Russia and the United States under scrutiny. As signatories to the Genocide Convention, they bear a legal and moral responsibility that transcends their current diplomatic confrontations over other issues. The crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh should not become collateral damage in broader geopolitical disputes. The mechanisms for prevention and intervention are there; they just need to be acted upon. Institutions like the International Criminal Court stand ready to enforce international laws, but their hands are tied until the U.N. Security Council takes the essential step of referring the situation to them.
As someone who has seen the devastation that preceded this worsening crisis, I can attest that the world is standing on a precipice. With every moment that action is delayed, lives are lost, and the humanitarian crisis edges closer to becoming an irreparable tragedy. The inertia of the international community is no longer just a failure of action; it is a failure of conscience. The world cannot afford to ignore Nagorno-Karabakh again; the stakes are too high, and the cost of inaction is immeasurable.
