Gerard Kiladjian, President of the Armenian Cultural Association of Maine, sent a letter to four Maine officials who had just returned from their visit to Azerbaijan, complaining about the one-sided propaganda they were subjected to.
Gerard Kiladjian, President of the Armenian Cultural Association of Maine, sent a letter to four Maine
officials who had just returned from their visit to Azerbaijan, complaining about the one-sided propaganda they were subjected to.
The four Maine officials were: State Senator Jill Duson, State Representative Mana Abdi,
State Representative Deqa Dhalac, and Judge f Cumberland County Court of Probate Paul Aranson.
Here is what Kiladjian wrote to the four Maine officials:
“On behalf of the Armenian Cultural Association of Maine, I am writing to express our deep
concern with your recent trip to the Republic of Azerbaijan as part of a Maine-Azerbaijan Society
delegation.
According to Azeri media reports, your group, which apparently consisted of private citizens and
elected officeholders from Maine, met with government officials to discuss improving
Azerbaijan’s international image, energy exports, and the development of legislative ties to
Maine, among other things. You also reportedly traveled to the Karabakh region (known as
Artsakh to Armenians), presumably to admire Azerbaijan’s recent seizure of the area and witness
it’s rapid redevelopment.
Quite frankly, we are shocked and heartbroken that, to our knowledge, at no point during or after
your trip did you acknowledge Azerbaijan’s recent ethnic cleansing of Karabakh’s indigenous
Armenian population, the last remaining 120,000 of whom were harassed, attacked, starved, and
ultimately forced off their ancestral lands and into the neighboring Armenian Republic. This
catastrophe marked the end of a 3000-year majority-Armenian presence in a region considered an
ancient and integral part of the Armenian homeland.
To make matters worse, Azerbaijan is now aggressively erasing all traces of Armenian identity in
Karabakh, a blatant act of cultural genocide. It’s likely that much of the new development your
Azeri hosts proudly showed you is built on the rubble of ancient Armenian churches, graves, and
monuments.
None of this was a secret, so we are surprised that you, elected leaders with a global perspective,
participated in what appears to be an official or quasi-official mission to improve ties with a racist
government that has blood on its hands. We are especially saddened that you did not anticipate
what the spectacle of your visit might mean to the many Mainers of Armenian descent.
Surely, you know of the violent recent history between Karabakh’s Armenians and Azerbaijan.
Surely, you were aware that Azerbaijan is ruled as an authoritarian personality cult with no
democratic tradition, no free elections, and no free press. Surely, you knew of the Armenian
Genocide of 1915 at the hands of Azerbaijan’s ethnic twin and strategic partner, Turkey. But
perhaps you didn’t know that Turkey and Azerbaijan speak of themselves as “two nations, one
people” and that leaders in both countries talk of “finishing the job” while de-legitimizing the
very idea of Armenian identity. Perhaps you also didn’t know that Azeris refer to the Republic of
Armenia as “Western Azerbaijan” and publicly champion the idea of a regional Turkic ethno-state
with no place for Armenia or Armenians.
As elected officials, you should be aware that Azerbaijan has long used its enormous oil wealth to
cover up its dismal human rights record by cultivating relations with politicians at all levels of
government throughout the world – often illegally. While we have no reason to question your
sincerity or integrity, it is worth remembering that Azerbaijan operated one of the largest
international slush funds in history, the notorious “Azerbaijani Laundromat” that distributed
bribes in exchange for favorable treatment to politicians and media figures throughout the world
and that they were recently implicated in the bribery indictment of U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of
Texas.
Please understand that we do not believe any of you hold ill will toward Armenians. You probably
traveled to Azerbaijan with the best of intentions. But we do believe you have been exposed to a
grossly distorted and self-serving misrepresentation of the realities of the Armenian-Azeri
conflict. We also think it is crucially important for Maine citizens to know what your relationship
with Azerbaijan will be going forward. Consequently, we respectfully request a meeting with each
of you, individually or together, to give you a respectful, balanced view of the region and hear
your thoughts on the subject. We can meet at any time or place of your choosing. We believe such
a meeting would be enormously helpful to all of us.
Thank you for your consideration. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is anything you
would like to discuss further.”
