German Press Sounds Alarm on Threat of Genocide

Not only Russia, but also the EU is seeking alterative trade routes, via the Caucasus to Asia; and the EU, increasingly dependent on Azerbaijan for gas, is looking the other way. In an understatement, Meister writes, this is “problematic … when people in Karabakh are starving.” Furthermore, though these energy supplies may be important, they are “not decisive;” nor will massive deliveries be available. “Here the EU’s credibility regarding values and geopolitics suffers. Deals with authoritarian Azerbaijan at the expense of the more pluralistic Armenia cast the EU in a negative light, in the region and beyond.” Meister sees the need for authentic EU—and German—commitment to conflict resolution. Concretely he calls for “mechanisms for implementation, sanctions, and political will to become active with its own peacekeeping troops beyond the EU observer mission.” Europe should develop negotiating leverage in relations with Azerbaijan; the EU is a powerful market for energy, and could provide industrial capacities for infrastructure development. “Instead,” he concludes, “the Europeans seem to let themselves be played and don’t want to burn their fingers in this conflict in a key geopolitical region.”

By August 28, public exposure of the genocide danger—and of governmental inaction—escalated. The leftist Tageszeitung (TAZ) featured a commentary by Tigran Petrosyan, who minced no words. “Germany Shares Guilt/ The Accepted Genocide: Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh is Cut Off from the World, the Population is Starving, Fuel-rich Azerbaijan is More Important to the West.” For Petrosyan this is “a Déjà-vu.” In 1915 it was 1.5 million Christian genocide victims, today 120,000 Armenians face starvation. “This genocidal situation,” he writes, “could come into being because the international community – as earlier during World War I – is not looking. The German federal government too, like the German Empire 1915/16, bears a share of the responsibility.” After reviewing the facts, the journalist elaborates on the historical parallel: just as back then German diplomats and missionaries appealed for intervention, the Imperial Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg replied with his notorious pledge to preserve the alliance with Ottoman Turkey regardless of the consequences for Armenians, so today Berlin turns a blind eye. Petrosyan recalls the 2016 Genocide resolution passed by the Bundestag, which acknowledged German co-responsibility. And he reminds readers that, following protests by Turkey, the government two months later specified that the resolution was “not legally binding.” Thousands of parliamentarians, he writes, have “looked the other way, while Ankara delivered,” and goes further to denounce Baku’s notorious corruption of its lobbyists.

Who Cares?

Petrosyan’s prose may have offended sensitive readers, but when one learns what he was referring to, one should think twice. What, indeed, has been the federal government’s response to the growing press exposure of impending genocide? On August 22, at a government press conference in Berlin, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit was confronted by a question on Karabakh. It was all well and good, said Jenny Günther, for the government to express concern regarding the crisis. Comparing the clear sanctions against Russia and Putin for the Ukraine aggression with the response to genocide threatened against ethnic Armenians, she referenced Chancellor Scholz’s appreciation of Azerbaijani President Aliyev as a reliable partner in energy deals. The question she had was, whether a genocide of Armenians was being considered “acceptable.”

Hebestreit, who is also Head of the Press and Information Office of the federal government, replied, “I almost reacted with ‘Naja’ – that’s what I say when I’m confronted with propaganda and not questions.” The German “Naja” is a slang expression of dismissal, roughly translated as “oh, well” or “y’know,” “anyway” or perhaps better, “whatever….”  Hebestreit continued, saying the Russian war on Ukraine was not comparable to the “case” of Armenia and Azerbaijan, that the international community was concerned and engaged. He denied ignoring a genocide, criticizing use of the term as a “battle cry,” “inappropriate,” and “propaganda.” It is not to be overlooked that similar language was uttered by Yashar Aliyev, the Azerbaijan Ambassador at the August 16 UN Security Council session, in refuting Armenia’s assertions.

The incident provoked an uproar in the press. It was not the first time Hebestreit had had problems with the issue of genocide. It was recalled that he had committed a comparable blunder one year ago, when he failed to react after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, at a joint press conference with Chancellor Scholz, had uttered offensive remarks relativizing the Holocaust.

When Will Berlin Respond?

Pressure is building not only in the press but in the streets of Berlin. The human rights organizations, Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV), and Against Genocide, for International Understanding (AGA), staged a large demonstration on August 23 in front of the Chancellor’s office. Following greetings by

Sarah Reinke, Eastern Europe Speaker for GfbV, AGA chairwoman Tessa Hofmann said in brief remarks, they were protesting not only the 8-month long blocked of the Lachin Corridor but the “silence of the German government.” After summarizing the devastating impact on the population, lacking food, medical care, fuel for transportation, and energy, she cited Armenian UNICEF representative Lussine Karachanyan, who deplored the fact that on September 1, when worldwide, schools at all levels will open, in Artsakh “the school bells will not ring” but “silence will be deafening” as “thousands of undernourished children and youngsters” must bear the brunt of this terrorist action. “For the love of God, prevent this Hell … otherwise it will guarantee the destruction of human civilization.”

Hofmann documented Azerbaijani President Aliyev’s genocidal intent, citing his own ultimatum to Artsakh Armenians, either to capitulate or suffer the consequences. Refuting the notion that the crisis stems from a territorial conflict, Hofmann recalled the “more than century-long denial of self-determination of an indigenous majority, with genocidal consequences,” and referenced the Lemkin Institute’s latest Red Alert, charging those political leaders of Europe, Russia, and the USA, who have respected Aliyev’s impunity, for responsibility in the starvation death of Karo Hovhannisyan. She also quoted a poll among Baku Azerbaijanis, showing that only 38 percent thought coexistence with Armenians were possible, whereas 67 percent believed they would be expelled or killed. Hofmann called for the German government to impose sanctions, lift the blockade, and guarantee the rights to self-determination.

Gerayer Koutcharian recalled Turkish President Erdogan’s comment at the 2020 “Victory Parade,” that they were “finishing what we began in 1915.” Today, Azerbaijan has assumed the role, aiming to eliminate Armenia, seen as an obstacle to the union of Turkic peoples; “first Artsakh, then Syunik” in southern Armenia, a country Aliyev considers “West Azerbaijan.”

Similar appeals have arrived on the desks of government officials. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, for one, received a letter from Till Mansmann, a Liberal Party (FDP) member of the Bundestag and President of the German-Armenian Forum. On August 2, he wrote describing the dramatic conditions in Nagorno-Karabakh, and called on the foreign minister to “increase political pressure” on the Azerbaijan government to allow unhindered access to humanitarian relief goods. In addition, he asked her to consider German aid shipments. “We cannot solve this conflict in the short term,” he concluded, “but we must not allow a hunger catastrophe on our continent.” The reply he received two weeks later from Baerbock’s office was disappointing. The Foreign Ministry had been following the “tense supply situation” with “concern,” and the German representative at the UN Security Council session had joined those calling for humanitarian access, etc. Azerbaijan offered the Agdam route, but the “Armenian de facto ‘authorities’ from Nagorno-Karabakh” reject this. Foreign Minister Baerbock “spoke unambiguously of the importance of the Lachin Corridor” when Armenian Foreign Minister Mirzoyan visited on February 8, 2023. Conclusion: Germany continues to support conflict resolution, etc.

Prime Time News

Amid mounting exposure in the press, official media finally covered the crisis on August 28. The Second German Television, ZDF, carried a report from Karabakh on its prime time news program, and at the 9:45 p.m. late news, the coverage was expanded. Despite Azerbaijan’s ban on foreign media access, ZDF had fresh film footage of Armenians lining up for bread, waiting for their number on a list to be called; among them, a mother of four, three of them soldiers. A dentist was receiving only emergency cases due to lack of supplies. His message: Azerbaijan has posed an ultimatum; our only option is to fight. The late news broadcast included a short clip with Ocampo, saying the situation has a name, “genocide.” The aim of the blockade was to starve the Armenians.  Anchorman Christian Sievers added that 20 trucks with 400 tons of humanitarian goods were at the border, not being allowed through.

The Fourth Estate has showed what it can do. That would not have been possible without the pressure exerted by the Third Estate, the People, in the form of human rights organizations. On September 23, the GvfV and AGA will hold an expanded demonstration in front of the Chancellor’s office. Now it is up to the government to open its eyes and take action.