Armenian diaspora demonstrating in Paris. Photo: Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia
The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is again a top priority for the South Caucasus and the international community. The war, which began on September 28th, was not viewed as a surprise by Armenia. For the country, Azerbaijani rhetoric, discourse, and physical action made it clear that a new war was always likely. Since there are hundreds of publications discussing the disputed region’s history and who is to blame for the conflict, this article instead focuses upon both sides’ non-military tools in Europe. Except for diplomacy, there are several ways in which Armenia and Azerbaijan have attempted to make their voices heard and gain support in international society.
Armenian diaspora protesting in Los Angeles, USA. October 2020. Photo: Tverdokhlib / Shutterstock
Anna Barseghyan’s article provided a biased view of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations that is very common in European and North American media. This is despite attempts to portray these opinions as balanced. There are four main reasons for this.
The first is the large,
wealthy and therefore influential Armenian populations and lobbies that exist
in countries such as America and France. As Barseghyan writes, “EU official
announcements are quite pro-Armenian”. France has the third largest Armenian
community in the world, which numbers around 600,000 people. In late November,
the French Senate voted to recognise Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Armenia. Of