By Gayane Barseghyan
Special to the Mirror-Spectator
The second and expanded edition of the book, Azeri Aggression against Armenians in Transcaucasia, Reports from the U.S. Press (1905-1921) (Yerevan, 2023), by Ara Ketibian has come out, an imprint of Areg Publishing House. The present volume is a compilation of US news reports, eyewitness accounts, editorial opinions and political analyses which unfold and trigger deep understanding of the massacres committed against Armenians by Tatars (as Azerbaijanis were known then) from 1905 to 1921.
This volume comprises 505 US press original articles, extracted from both best-known US newspapers (The New York Times, The Boston Daily Globe, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, The Chicago Daily Tribune, The Los Angeles Times) and numerous smaller state and county-based ones. The compiled articles spell out in great precision the incessant hostilities towards Armenians by Tatars – the brutal suppression, repeated instances of outrageous cruelty, destruction of life and property, plunder and arson, slaughter and extermination of entire Armenian population from Armenian villages and towns. The articles as well reveal the instances of triple siege of Armenians from three sides by Tatars, Turks and Kurds.
The US media coverage from 1905 to 1921 alludes to exclusive stories in the Armenian Highlands and Transcaucasia in line with the regional developments, hitting the headlines upon breaking. In 1905 and 1917 there was a revolution in the Russian Empire, followed by a breakup and collapse of the Empire in 1917. The latter gave rise to the escalation of inter-ethnic and inter-religious clashes. Moreover, in 1918 the Ottoman Empire captured the city of Baku, which led to the massacre of thousands of Armenians. Thus, in the light of the foregoing, the subsumed US press back copies narrate about Russia in revolt, Baku plunged into anarchy and chaos, pillage and fighting, leading to the massacres of hundreds of Armenians by Tatars, ghastly street murders, accompanied by mutilation of the dead in Baku streets. Next, the town Shushi was besieged by Tatars, leaving the city racked with pain and anguish, filling every corner with the agony of loss. The streets of Shushi were filled with the dead and wounded, asylum seeker and starving people, mutilated Armenian children thrown to dogs.
Furthermore, the compiled articles showcase the collapse of oil industry in Transcaucasia, Russia’s Civil War, the ravage by fire and sword of the Armenian quarter in Shushi, the renewal of Tatar-Armenian war, the reasons behind the massacre of Armenians, the plight of Armenians: fleeing from Kurds and being harried by Tatars. Hence, they reveal appalling bloodsheds, Tatar ferocity, and demolishment of Armenian churches.