How To Visit a Warzone

Yuri's guide to the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO)

Comrades: Nagorno Karabakh is one of the most naturally beautiful and historically fascinating places in the world.

Also known as Republic of Artsakh, it is a disputed territory the size of Delaware located in the Caucasus Mountains between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It’s a picturesque 12-hour round trip drive from Yerevan, Armenia’s capital. 100,000 Armenians call Artsakh home. I had the good fortune to spend a few days there with Armenian friends in Summer 2018 during a time of relative peace. My Karabakh passport stamp will prohibit me from entering Turkey and Azerbaijan.

After a brutal 45 day war in late 2020, Azerbaijan recaptured most of the territory that it lost during the first war in the 1990s. Karabakh’s rag tag militia fought valiantly, but was no match for the Azeri oil money funded modern army equipped with suicide drones and foreign mercenaries. Armenia’s corrupt and arrogant government failed to upgrade its armed forces to the 21st century and negotiate from a position of strength for 30 years. Its media pumped propaganda that Armenian forces were holding strong, but the lies collapsed. After Azerbaijan captured strategic city of Shushi, Armenia surrendered and Russian peacekeepers intervened to maintain a tenuous truce. 3,000 Armenian men lost their lives in a country of 3 million people, which would be the equivalent of the US losing 300,000 troops.

Once again, Armenia finds itself landlocked inside a geopolitical shit storm. Leaders and media of the “Christian” West ignored the war because they don’t have any financial interests in Armenia. Turkey and Azerbaijan are saber rattling about taking over what remains of Armenia because they have newfound leverage. To the west, Turkey is part of NATO and to the east, Azerbaijan signed an oil deal with the EU. To the north, Russia is occupied with Ukraine and to the south, Iran is becoming restless. The frozen conflict in Karabakh could flare up again at anytime because skirmishes keep occurring along the new lines of contact.

Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity in 300AD. The Armenian people have suffered immensely over the past century and the erasure of their heritage continues. Yerevan lies in the shadow of the sacred Mount Ararat, which now belongs to the country that conducted the Armenian genocide. Even over the past few decades, Armenian churches and graveyards full of beautiful thousand-year-old khachkars were desecrated and destroyed in Nakhchivan.

I hope the images and stories in this post preserve Artsakh, as many of these monuments may also be destroyed. In a sinister development, Google has removed many of the landmarks from Google Maps just like Brandon Falls. I have linked their locations and street views so that the world can remember.

As you continue reading, play this System of a Down banger that was made in honor of Artsakh’s defenders:

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We are Our Mountains Monument outside Stepanakert, Artsakh’s capital city:

Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi was bombed during the 2020 War and is now being “renovated” just like the Hagia Sophia. Shushi occupies a strategic high ground above Stepanakert and both recent wars ended when they were captured. As the local saying goes, whoever controls Shushi controls Karabakh:

Memorial to a famous Armenian tank that helped storm Shushi during the first war in the 1990s:

Zhingyalov hats, a traditional Armenian flatbread packed with a dozen varieties of fresh herbs:

Delicious Khorovats (Armenian BBQ) and friendly grill master using hair dryer:

The moon and cross over Stepanakert at night:

Tatev village:

Courtyard of Vank Monastery overlooking the mountains:

Hand etched thousand-year family tree and two of its members:

Dadivank Monastery, founded in the first century AD

Mural inside Dadivank monastery

The priest of Dadivank Monastery, who took up arms in both wars. Rumor has it that he is still living there under the protection of Russian peacekeepers, even though the surrounding town was ceded to Azerbaijan and all the Armenian residents fled. God protect this man.

Karabakh Armenians have a spiritual connection to their land over millennia that no modern rootless bugman can understand. They are among the few humans left who still live the same way and preserve the traditions of their ancestors. The Armenian soul is a unique mix of obstinance, pride, humor, and cynicism. Their resolve in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges should serve as an inspiration to us all.

For further reading I recommend Black Garden and My Brother’s Road, the story of Armenian American Monte Melkonian who became a hero in the First Karabakh War. The documentaries 45 Days and Invisible Republic are also worth watching.