Citizens of Artsakh, formally known as Nagorno-Karabakh, woke up on the morning of Sept. 13 to the sound of explosions from the country of Azerbaijan targeting ethnic Armenians in the capital Stepanakert and surrounding villages. Artsakh, a region between Armenia and Azerbaijan, has a majority Armenian population. 

Since then, over 100,000 ethnic Armenians have left the historic region of Artsakh. A gas station explosion ended in 20 casualties, and almost 300 people were wounded. Additionally, the historic We Are Our Mountains landmark is set to be torn down, and many government officials have been kidnapped or taken to prison in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

Sophomore public relations, advertising and entertainment marketing student Angie Mitillian describes herself as “heartbroken and restless,” especially with the little media coverage the attacks are getting. 

“I feel numb, I get up every day and go on with my daily school routine and can only think about how stupid and useless it is; my people, the people of Artsakh, are running frantically trying to find lost family members, finding shelter from the constant shooting and resisting yet another genocide after enduring nine months of blockade with no access to basic human necessities,” Mitillian told The Panther.

Chapman’s Armenian Student Association (ASA) has spread awareness about the current events in Artskah via Instagram and through the Chapman community. The club has been posting about the events on the Global Citizens Wall in Argyros Forum, urging students to take action. 

“We are upset, we are tired and we want our land back,” the club’s executive board wrote in an Oct. 1 statement. “For over 100 years, Armenians have been going through genocide and ethnic cleansing and have been constantly fighting to preserve their indigenous lands and culture. As American-Armenians, we feel betrayed, and hurt. But most importantly, we will never stand by in silence. We will always fight for the Armenian people.”

This is not the first time ethnic Armenains have been targeted. In 1915, over 1.5 million Armenians died during the Armenian Genocide conducted by Turkey, and a majority of the western Armenian region was taken over. 

Later, the first Nagorno-Karabakh war occurred from 1988 to 1994, when ethnic Armenians wanted to convert Artskah to Soviet Armenia. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Nagorno-Karabakh was partially controlled by Armenia but still contained their own government. Even though there was no war after 1994, there were many deadly incidents and attacks caused by multiple ceasefire violations from Azerbaijan. 

In 2020, the 44-day war began, becoming the second Nagorno-Karabakh war. Azerbaijan organized a military operation with the help of Turkey. Over 100 innocent civilians were killed and wounded. After six weeks, a ceasefire was organized and partial land of Artksah became under Azerbaijani rule.

A treaty was developed to plan a ceasefire and to hand Azerbaijan all the villages surrounding Stepanakert, where they ended up surrendering 80% of their land. The treaty was signed by the president of Azerbaijan, the prime minister of Armenia and the president of Russia. This caused many protests in Armenia and across the world, who were against the selling of this land. 

Since then, a blockade was placed in Artsakh by Azerbaijan, blocking the citizens from entering and leaving. The blockade cut off gas, food and water, and Armenian citizens were arrested. With the actions of Azerbaijan, they have denied the accusation of ethnic cleansing. 

In 2021, President Joe Bidenformally recognized the Armenian Genocide, stating, “We do this not to cast blame, but to ensure that what happened is never repeated.” 

Today, a mass exodus is occurring in Nagorno-Karabakh. Historic landmarks like Amaras Monastery, where the Armenian alphabet was created and what became the first Armenian school, will be under Azerbaijani rule. 

After one day of visiting Nagorno-Karabakh to assess the situation, the United Nations concluded the mission by stating that “they did not hear — from either locals interviewed or others — of incidences of violence against civilians following the latest ceasefire.” There was also no mention of forced displacement. 

“It deeply saddens me to witness this conflict, as it has since it restarted in 2020. It seems that Armenians can’t catch a break,” Chapman economics professor Niree Kodaverdian told The Panther. “I feel pretty hurt and disappointed… disappointed in the Azerbaijani government for resorting to violence, in the Armenian government for abandoning peace talks and in the rest of the world for not providing sufficient humanitarian aid to Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.”

Kodaverdian continued: “Since the conflict has not — and historically has not — gotten much media attention, it’s important to raise awareness in other ways. Not only should the media be paying more attention, (but) policy makers and politicians should be paying more attention. Ethnic cleansing continues today in part because of a lack of awareness of its occurrence. I would also encourage my fellow faculty to incorporate this topic in current teaching materials.” 

A few hundred Armenians are left in Artsakh today, and many Artsakh government officials have been illegally detained by Azerbaijan, including the foreign minister and the Artsakh chief of police.

Second year law student Gregory Mikhanjian urges people who don’t know what's going on to reach out and spread awareness. 

“The best way to help is to be active and convince their state representatives to sanction Azerbaijan and try to spread awareness, especially to our representatives,” Mikhanjian said.

Mikhanjian continued: “It’s really tough that Armenia wasn’t able to do anything or didn’t even try to become involved anymore in the Artskah conflict, and it is just tough overall. It’s sad (that) people are losing their lives, and humanitarian violations are going on and people are being killed. It is a general sense of helplessness that a lot of people are fighting to overcome.”

Over 84,000 ethnic Armenians have fled to Armenia from Artsakh, seeking refuge. On Sept. 28, Artsakh President Samvel Shahramanyan signed away Nagorno-Karabakh. Artsakh is set to disband by Jan. 1, 2024.

“To see people inflicting pain on one another is truly heartbreaking for me,” Kodaverdian said. “I have nothing but love for people — regardless of their background. I hope that one day we can all live in peace as neighbors.” 

A statement from Chapman has yet to be released supporting Chapman Armenian students.