Over 3,000 people marched through downtown Ottawa on Oct. 23 to protest Canadian involvement in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Protestors gathered to urge the Canadian government to recognize the region Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh, as independent and condemn Turkey and Azerbaijan for war crimes against civilians.
The protest follows allegations that Turkey used Canadian drone technology to bomb civilians during a month of war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Both nations lay claim to Artsakh and renewed conflict over the zone on Sept. 27, after a 26-year stalemate.
Araz Hasserjian, one of many volunteers who helped coordinate Friday’s demonstration with the United Armenian Council of Ontario on Parliament Hill, said she is worried about the rising conflict in Artsakh.
Hasserjian said that since the conflict started in September, Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, has used illegal cluster bombs on civilians, destroying schools, hospitals and the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, a church with cultural significance.
Hasserjian fears Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will continue the genocide that began in 1915, in which over one million Armenians were killed.
“Earlier this summer, Erdoğan said they are going to fulfill the mission of their grandfathers,” she said. “He would like to get rid of us, and he is using his ally Azerbaijan to do this.”
Protestors also called for the expulsion of Turkey from NATO.
The protest was coordinated by several Armenian organizations, including the Armenian National Committee of Canada, the Armenian Association of Toronto, the Armenian Youth Federation, and the Armenian Canadian Medical Association of Ontario.
Demonstrators were led by the Homenetmen Armenian Scouts and Armenian members of the clergy from Quebec and Ontario.
Alina Avanes, a second-year Carleton University neuroscience student, and Lena Darakjian, a psychology student in her second year at Ryerson University, both traveled from Toronto to attend Friday’s demonstration in Ottawa.
“We hold Armenia close to our hearts, and knowing that we have Armenian soldiers that are our age or even younger than us dying on the front lines right now, hurts,” Avanes said. “Especially knowing that our population is so little.”
“As Armenians, we feel that it is really important for us to maintain our culture and our heritage,” Darakjian said. “The fact that our ancestors went through so much, it’s not that we’re making it up to them, but we’re carrying on what they’ve been through.”
Sarkis Kelebozian is a volunteer with the Armenian Youth Federation and a fourth-year University of Toronto biology student who attended the protest. He has volunteered at several demonstrations across the country protesting Turkish war crimes.
“If we were to lose Artsakh […] it would be the next step in the destruction of our race,” Kelebozian said. “We are not fighting this war to win a war, we are fighting this war to defend our lives and defend our people, our culture.”
At a recent demonstration in Toronto, Kelebozian explained that 35 cars drove from Finch Station to the Turkish Consulate, where they led chants and protested.
Protesting again in Burlington, Kelebozian said a barrel of fake blood was spilled outside of L3Harris WESCAM, the company who allegedly built a targeting sensor being used in Turkish attack drones.
Kelebozian emphasized that as a country that prides itself on its humanitarianism, Canada should not support Turkey and Azerbaijan.
“This is not an Armenian problem. This is a humanitarian problem,” he said. “People are dying […]. I think that all Canadians should take a stand against what Turkey and Azerbaijan are doing.”
Featured image by Isaac Phan Nay.
