ARMENIA | One Year after the War 

Will you shoot a video reflecting Azerbaijan’s point of view on this topic? It would fair and great if you shoot a video from Baku or Shusha presenting other side’s view. 👍

Your next video should be in Baku

Waiting for your visit to Baku and the liberated territories, especially Shusha! But, unfortunately, your some remarks don't reflect the reality, for example, you say Azerbaijan wasn't willing to negotiate to settle the matter. However, I want to let you know that Azerbaijan participated in all kinds of negotiation processes for 30 years. And because of the Armenian side's provocations aimed at spoiling the negotiation processes, and the co-chair states' unwillingness, made Azerbaijan to cut its own umbilical cord. Moreover, the statements(Artsakh is Armenia)and actions(going to Shusha, drinking and dancing there) of the prime minister of Armenia in recent years made the negotiations meaningless and totally ended them. Azerbaijan has always wanted to solve it in a peaceful way, but Armenia hasn't wanted to because then Armenia should have obeyed to the UN Security Council's 4 resolutions, which clearly stated that Armenian forces should leave the occupied territories of Azerbaijan unconditionally, immediately and completely.

Great video, continue to do videos like this.

@@muradshirinov7451 Thanks. If you listen again, I was very clear to point out that this was the simply view I heard in Yerevan. It wasn’t a statement of my view. In fact, I explicitly pointed out that I would hear something very different in Baku. This was a video deliberately designed to relay what I heard in Armenia. I didn’t go to judge. Just to listen to how people view the situation a year on from the war. Hopefully that is useful in its own right. But it’s important not to jump to conclusions about what my own views may, or may not, be.

Thanks. I would love to do more of these. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to do it often. But I do hope that I will be able to do it from time to time.

@@JamesKerLindsay best wishes and respect for Armenia and Azerbaijan From south asia pakistan

Melonhead azeryturq s.o.b.

@@vshlearning7230 s.o.b

Thank you so much. I don't know how often I will be able to do them, but I do hope to make more like this from time to time.

Thank you so much LocalLt. That is incredibly kind of you. You know how much I always value your thoughts! I am so glad you liked the style. I thought long and hard about how best to try to approach it. People have suggested that I should have done some interviews and vox pops. But this was difficult for a number of reasons, not least of all the sensitivity of the subject and language issues. In the end, I hoped that distilling the many conversations I had when I was there and trying to give a flavour of the city would be my own way of doing things. I also wanted to hold off from too much analysis. I went to listen, not to judge (although I obviously have a lot of views on things). Technically, it was also a challenge as I haven't done any outdoors videos before. Needless to say, I hope to be able to do more of these from time to time. I don't think they will be very often, but hopefully they will add an occasional something extra to the channel.

It's a required job from him. He is doing a secret job for secret societies. Wake up bro 🤔🤷‍♂️

Thanks Abdi. I have been thinking about doing some interviews at some point, but in a different format. It wasn’t suitable for this video as the subject is very raw. I didn’t want to ask people in the street what they thought about the conflict. One has to be careful about this. Also, most older people don’t speak English. Russian is the main second language there still.

Hahah yeah he will never do such a video. Biased christian ofc

@@supaturk97 More like he's gonna have to tiptoe much more carefully there. For instance, isn't anyone who denies Azeri claims to Artsakh liable to immediate arrest upon entry to the country?

Yes, sure pretending to be offended is the best way to justify any violence.

@@supaturk97 The guy seemed to work pretty damned hard to be objective. The video was essentially about how Armenians feel and he did a good job of conveying that. I would have liked his explanation of the origins of this conflict to be a tad bit more in line with reality but overall I think he did a very good job presenting an extremely sensitive topic.

@@MinecraftAddict991 where are y from?

Turkey and Azerbaijan can become an ally of Armenia, will open roads to west for Armenia. Biggest loves start with fights.

Thanks a lot. Great idea. I agree completely. The origins of the EU can provide a really good model for this. It's also worth noting that in the Balkans there are real steps by Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia to try to create a free trade and travel area.

Thanks. But I’m not sure what ‘my argument’ is that Georgia is a good example against!? I didn’t try to present a particular argument. This was about listening and learning what they view was in Yerevan.

@@JamesKerLindsay sorry for mistake. Against their argument which is how they represent being the wall between Turkic world and how they represent and express it as a holly mission that all Christian countries had to come to defend them(which they didnt). Georgia is also between Turkey and Azerbaijan and other Turkic World. But Georgia or its people don't see it as a threat but an opportunity. Georgia is now a gateway between Turkic countries and their trade with Turkey. So Georgia take greatly benefit from the foreign trade and taxes. Why cant it be the same with Armenia? The problem with them, they got themselves too much extremized with some shitty historical propaganda eventually results in bad relations with its almost all neighbors and put them in extreme poverty and got locked inland. What do you think? İ'd like to hear

@@canakaln8423 I dont know why you think Georgians and Armenians don’t get along? The main reason why Georgian government slightly supports Azerbaycan is due to them being economically important and the fact that Armenia supported Russia at the Georgian Ossetian border conflict. You make it seem like Armenia is a warmongering state but we have the worst geopolitical cards due to the genocide and being displaced you know… you can still feel the effects of the bad geopolitical state Armenia got put in.

@@canakaln8423 I don’t want to get too deep but I think you are a hypocrite. You push a certain stigma on armenian people while turkey is literally interfering on every of its Border Cyprus, syria Armenia, Greece, Libya etc. Please stay neutral or else don’t say anything in that subject.

You need Jesus ✝️🙏✝️

Well the Armenians are allied with Rus a IA. Which shares their problems in many ways. Having lived near Glendsle California which has a large concentrations of Armenians and well devoted white collar crime such as hacking data bases Medicare fraud credit card fraud car theft and export rings etc its really not surprising that Armenia has problems with its neighbors. The Azeris are themselves rather a piece of work. So it's not surprising th as t they have problems with the Armenians. In any event in the latest hostilities the Azeris throughly thrashed the Armenians. Th we EU and the US did not stop or intervene with the war given Armenisns alignment with Russia.

Thank you so much Aram. I had always wanted to go to Armenia. (I lived in Cyprus and there is an Armenian community there. I was always fascinated by it.) It really is such an interesting and welcoming country. But as you could see I also wanted to get a sense of how people see the situation now, but hopefully present it in a fair and non-judgemental way.

@@JamesKerLindsay Fascinating. Yes, Armenians definitely take pride in hospitality and will sometimes be effusive in the best way possible, haha. Very much appreciate the lack of judgement. I think this video can also remind Armenians in the diaspora that the "denial" that seems to exist in bustling Yerevan is only a veneer that covers the profound feelings of devastation and grief.

@@JamesKerLindsay I would like to see you in Azerbaijan.

@@josephali2965 Yes. Maybe one day. But in the meantime enjoy seeing me in Armenia.

@@JamesKerLindsay It's great to watch your videos. Good luck !

There is no any international law which insist that's the land

@@vartankhachadourian7048 and you still deny it.

Azerbaijan didn’t deny international law when torturing and killing innocent Armenian civilians? Or exploding trucks carrying supplies, rations, and water. All these actions are against the Geneva Conventions and you turn a blind eye to it?

@@aalexandrian accept the reality. War is over and you lost it. The truth won. Just live with it. Never think about revenge.

@@nurlanshikhaliyev7274 did Azerbaijan accept the fact that they lost in 1994?

This is a very nuanced take and I think you have an excellent point

I am happy that there are people who are not brainwashed by the "western propoganda" and the Armenian lobby. Yes. 800.000 people who lost their homes are almost never mentioned by the west. Unfortunately.

What you refer to as ethnic cleansing was Azeri’s leaving the surrounding areas of Nagorno-Karabakh and Soviet Armenia/Republic of Armenia during the war since around 400.000 of them lived in Soviet Armenia Heydar Eliyev admitted trying to change the demographic in the largly Armenian dominated region by encouraging Azeri’s to migrate to NK by opening a university with Azeri sectors and opening shoe factories. This and Baku’s other policies like limiting the Armenian language in schools and the press resulted in Armenians wanting independence from Azerbaijan. Armenians living in western countries do not revolt against their governments because those governments treat them with respect, something Azerbaijan and the Ottoman Empire (and Turkey until the 80’s) didn’t do

After Armenians in NK grew increasingly dissatisfied with Soviet Baku’s policies a referendum was held where a majority of NKOA citizens voted to either be independent from Azerbaijan or join the Armenian Soviet Republic. In response the Pogrom’s against Armenians living in Azerbaijani cities like Baku, Sumgait and Kirovabad (Ganja) stated. This was the start of the war and I believe Azeri’s lost the first war because they didn’t have the proper reason to defend a region that they knew has always been inhabited largely by Armenians. I can say that Armenians lost the 2020 war because they grew too comfortable with the status quo. Also Baku’s government for 30 years has been promoting ethnic hatred against Armenians and lying about history (saying ancient churches in NK are not Armenian but ancient Caucasus Albanian (not European Albanian)). This hatred among young Azerbaijani’s who have never met an Armenian before lead to the same strong feelings wanting to take land the same way Armenians wanted to become independent from Azerbaijan and succeeded.

@@Not_From_Holland So this is how you rationalize the wholesale ethnic cleansing of nearly 800,000 civilians? Do all ethnic cleansing deniers use the same guidebook or something? Your version of events seems oddly similar to when the Turks blame the Armenians for the Armenian genocide. I see you've been taking lessons from them.

28 years of defeat for Azerbaijan.. Wowwww. Armenians have been experiencing victories and defeats for thousands of years..

@@asala2116 armenia only 100 years, show me 1 armenian empire. NONE! 200 years ago no armenia

@@cavada615 every Historian in the world will laugh at your statement.. Our Empire has been recognised by every Old Civilization..If what you said is true then how did the Armenians have an Empire stretching from the Caspian to the Black Sea to the Mediterranean all well known and documented history by the people living in thise days, how did we fight a large war against the Persians in 451 AD, how did we live in the Ottoman Empire for 700 years? Wake up to yourself and get some education..

@@asala2116 весь мир уже смеётся над вашими сказками ))

@@asala2116 In whole history you only have 1 fake empire like 3000 years ago. Show me just 1 armenian country or empire last like 2000 years. NONE! I can show you many Azerbaijani empires last 1000 years

Who are your common enemies?

@@husseinabbasoff2128 Turks that came here from Mongolia 😊

@@Natchke_V. Mongolians are different language familiy. They are not turk. And there are a lot of nations who ruled the new teretories. Armenians couldn't ruled their historical state. But georgia could. There is no Bizanate, Babil, Wikings anymore. World is secular. But if you support your religious brother. That is your opinion. I hope you also love your Christian Russian brother. Even they took Abkhazia and Shout Ossetia. But you can't judge them. Because they're also your religious brother.

@@husseinabbasoff2128 You aren’t native Caucasians,you are Turks and not Caucasians.native causasians are Georgians,Chechens,ingushs and other people Your historical land is in Iran and not in Caucasus ;)

All of the separatist projects in the South Caucasus are known to be interlinked and all of them were originally led, coordinated and directed by the Armenian lobby. And beyond this, they have one main feature: demographically, the separatists were doomed in advance and it was an attempt to "outplay the laws of history" that explained their savage, inhuman cruelty and purposefully organized genocide of the population, the "wrong", from the separatists' point of view, nationalities - Georgians in Abkhazia and Azerbaijanis in Karabakh. After all, it was enough to take statistical data from Soviet times to understand that demographically the three most "problematic" groups in the South Caucasus were Ossetians in South Ossetia, Abkhazians in Abkhazia and Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Abkhaz and Ossetians of Samachablo had lower fertility rates than the Georgians and the Armenians of Karabakh had much lower fertility rates than the Azerbaijanis. Furthermore, this also encouraged nationalism and separatism and was used by provocateurs to say that "if we leave things the way they are, they will "outbreed" us. Although no one in principle prevented the separatists from showing personal example and to "multiply and multiply" themselves. But the fact is that most of the leaders of the separatist movement had families with either few or no children. However, international law knows no such thing as infringement of human rights on the grounds of belonging to a demographically better ethnos. One cannot expel a person from his homeland just because his fellow tribesmen have more children than the separatists have " "miatsums" Therefore, the separatists not only lied, making up historical myths, according to which native Georgian and Azerbaijani people in their native lands were allegedly "newcomers", but they conducted ethnically cleansing of the peaceful population with wild cruelty during the wars unleashed. Firstly, to radically alter the ethno-demographic situation by killing as many people as possible, and secondly, to intimidate people so that they were afraid to return to their homes. This explains the brutality against the civilian population of both Armenian fighters in Khojaly and the same Armenian fighters and Abkhazian separatists in Sukhumi. That the separatists and Armenian nationalists have always considered the demographic factor as the main one and that is why they carried out ethnic cleansing, in fact, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan acknowledged and in fact revealed the aims of the separatists from the Karabakh clan, as well as those who sponsored and directed separatism in Abkhazia. This is evident from the text of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement on the negotiations on Nagorny Karabakh's notorious 'status' that the previous Armenian authorities were going to conduct: "...I refuted Serzh Sargsyan's statement at the RPA congress that the essence of the negotiations they abandoned guaranteed that Nagorno-Karabakh remained Armenian. Refuted because the right of Azerbaijanis living in NKAO to participate in the decision on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh as residents of Nagorno-Karabakh was fixed in the content of the negotiations. Consequently, if according to the content of the negotiations they are residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, then they should have been residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Armenian side never objected to this content of the negotiations before the 2018 revolution. And if we take into account that a referendum on the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh, according to the content of the negotiations formed before I became Prime Minister, could have taken place 100 years later, it is predictable what changes in the demographic picture would have been in 'Artsakh' under those conditions...". In other words, everything is clear as to why not only the brutality in the massacre of Azerbaijanis in Khojaly, but also why similar atrocities in Abkhazia against Georgians. It is also clear why there is such wild Georgianophobia of the Armenian lobby in Russia, and why the same Armenia's constant voting against the return of Georgian refugees and Abkhazia at the UN General Assembly. One can logically surmise where is a completely senseless visa regime for citizens of Georgia introduced on the initiative of the Armenian lobby in Russia? Armenian lobby was not and does not want Georgian refugees to return to Abkhazia. So as not to create a precedent for the return of Azerbaijani refugees to Karabakh. In addition, due to the Armenian nationalists' inherent "greed" for foreign lands, they already consider Abkhazia "theirs", i.e. "Armenian" and do everything to ensure that Armenians demographically dominate here. Bear in mind that before the separatist wars, Georgians made up over 45% of the population of Abkhazia and Azerbaijanis over 30% of the population of NKAO. But! There is a pattern - the birth rate and natural increase of refugees is almost always higher than that of their persecutors. Obviously, the birth rate and natural increase of refugees from Karabakh and Abkhazia will be somewhat lower, but it is much higher than that of the separatists. In reality, before the second Karabakh war, no more than 50,000 of the original 120,000 or so Karabakh Armenians were left. At best, only 25,000 (some of them moved to occupied Abkhazia). Azerbaijani refugees from the former NKAO have long since outnumbered them. The families of refugees from Karabakh are the most numerous in Azerbaijan. Thus, there is no need to wait for 100 years, any referendum held in the territory of the former NKAO, if Azerbaijanis are returned to their homes, will show that the vast majority of the indigenous population of Karabakh considers it Azerbaijan! For Georgians refugees from Abkhazia, the demographic trends are somewhat similar. It is enough to visit any refugee settlement and one can see a lot of drying baby clothes, diapers and other children's clothes, small children everywhere. And at the same time, the families of the separatist looters who expelled them are often simply dying out in "trophy" homes. In this regard, one is simply amazed at the mendacity and cynicism of Armenian nationalists. They shout on every corner when they benefit from "friendship and brotherhood" with the Georgian people, but have deliberately arranged ethno-cleansing of the Georgian population from Abkhazia, deliberately do not allow Georgian refugees back to their homes and pursue a policy of "visa barriers" so that Georgians could not get into occupied Abkhazia even through Russia which occupied this territory. kavkazplus com

Why are you so sure Azerbaijan will not participate in the contest in Armenia? There is a precedent as Azerbaijani Youth judo team participated in a competition in Armenia in 2009. I hope it will be repeated in Junior Eurovision as both governments more or less try to stabilize the relations.

Both leaders? Azeris claim Armenia to be small and weak and they claim they lost so by logic Azeris started the war and Armenians were protecting themselves and their country. Armenians do not hate and have many friends do Turks and Azeris have many allies ?

@@haroutkabaian9627 It does not help to continue repeating the same phrases over and over, Harout. If you want our region to prosper, stop repeating the same illogical, toxic, neo-fascist patriotic ideologies. Azerbaijanis do not wish nor try to make Armenia "smaller", no, Azerbaijanis want the houses, the lands they had to leave 30 years ago due to the fact that Armenians occupied them. But it's in the past. Now is not the time to decide what was right or wrong in the history, but to flip the paper over and work together for a better future.

@@gudrat Armenia decided not to participate in Azerbaijan in 2012 when they hosted the adult Eurovision. Could be that Azerbaijan would do the same, but ofc I hope they'll participate nevertheless.

@@FUZZYnow those are there's!!!!! Go read history!

Thanks so much. It was certainly a very different video from my usual ones! I’d love to do more of them from time to time. It probably won’t be very often though. But I do have some potential ideas in mind.

Supposedly, Artsakh still exists but 1/3 smaller. They still have a government. Russian troops are stationed in Artsakh. Who knows what will happen when they leave. Population before the war at least 150.000. Around 90.000 left but many returned. Russian counted at least 50.000 returning. The government of Artsakh says there population is currently 120.000. Azerbaijan says Artsakhs population is 25.000, a figure they use to give the excuse on no need for further negotiations when it comes to Artsakh. Artsakh really needs the UN to have an official population count.

@@ab9840 Nope,we won the war and liberated our lands. Karabakh is Azerbaijan 🇦🇿. Armenians in 4 regions are Azerbaijanis and they will accept Azerbaijani passports

@@ab9840 There no troops, they are called peace keepers.

@HayelladaBall38 Probably true but you need to stop dreaming back for thousands years… It doesn’t help to develop Armenia in this stage

@HayelladaBall38 Sure!

By your logic, Bangladesh should join Pakistan

That’s a lie

@@claireindigo1200 No it's not? Did you even take a look at the map he showed? It clearly shows Karabakh and then the land around it that Armenia illegally snatched up and was inhabited by Azeris.

Thanks. It is really interesting, isn’t it!? Actually, I get the impression that many are Turkish. Also, I think some are Pakistani or Bangladeshi. (Remembering that Pakistan is the only country in the world that doesn’t recognise Armenia because of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue!? Even Azerbaijan recognises Armenia!) But it is incredible how many commenters don’t get the concept of looking at how a conflict affects a society and that this can be done without having to then go and look at how it affects the other side. It is actually fascinating.

@@JamesKerLindsay Hello sir. I understand you have any information about First Karbakh war (1989-1994) . Please search about it and I sure you will be well informed aremina and its war crimes .

This should be the top comment ^

Yesterday I visited Baku military Trophies Park 🤣

@@YALQUZAQ_AZ and you will of course be a virgin in the end

@@deusvult5247 Why yoy are not in Erablur with your p11s

If you again think to hold our territories with your military groupings, then a new war cannot be avoided.

Thank you so much! I hoped it would come out OK. It was so different from anything I’ve done before. And I’m certainly not a professional journalist or documentary film maker. But I like to think it was an interesting and useful look at the situation over there.

The European Court of Human Rights has clearly confirmed the controversial nature of the events of 1915. Moreover, in 2005 Turkey proposed to Armenian side to establish a Joint History Commission in order to reach a just memory in the light of historical facts of that period. Although Armenia has never responded to this proposal, it is still on the table. So all those armenians and their so beloved diaspora (btw go live in yerevan if you love your land so much instead of Los Angeles you know) have kept pushing that genocide lie for 100 years. It is the biggest lie in history in order to prevent Turkey's success. Today there is still armenian community living in Turkey but no Turks in the other country, see who is hostile & biased in real? Armenians inland should give up on genocide horseshit and accept the reality, they just play victim and poor because their diaspora wants that so

@@Flowshakers As Turkish you will disagree…with statements involving your country… Thank you for your comment. Sadly, Turkey is now involved in the #TigrayGenocide with Ethiopian regime. Turkey is not only supporting the Genocidal regime but full involved in supplying weapons to the Ethiopian Gov . In fact they are operating drones attacks over #Tigray many innocent have died from Turkish drones as early yesterday 😭😭…

@@Orthodoxsawit1 Europe awarded aby ahmed with peace prize and he is responsible for tigray thing due to not recognizing their election. Before it comes to our drones, please just check what is european agenda to gain from africa, turkey is not colonizing any country

@@Flowshakers European is agenda another argument However, I am very disappointed that Turkey is involved with drones. Tigrayans are dying not only from man made famine but also from drone attacks… the support of Turkish drones has worsening the suffering of Tigray people.

@@Flowshakers this comment is why Turks are hated all over the world except for equally wretched places like Pakistan and Israel. I mean really is there a more hated people from the Americas to East Asia more hated than the Turks?

Thanks so much. I would tend to agree. It does help countries face up to disastrous situations like this. Many outsiders I have spoken to who know the situation well pointed out that Armenia had become very complacent over the past couple of decades. But there's also an issue that it just couldn't keep up with Azerbaijan's military spending. There were years when Baku was spending more on its armed forces than the entire Armenian state budget! But it is clear that Turkish - and Israeli - help was decisive. (It is also fascinating to see how drones are completely revolutionising warfare.) In any case, it would be really interesting to read a full account of all this at some point - if we ever get one!?

For your info genius, Armenia got the cheap stuff from Russia. The soviet version of their weapons. And Azerbaijan could afford and spent far more on the Russian, Israeli, Turkish latest cutting edge weapins with its oil cash. As for Israel's? They sure helped, since anyone is supported by them has western support autimatucally, or turning a blind eye on their actions. And azeri corrupt dictatorship is one such country.

@@JamesKerLindsay Huge military spending does not necessarily translate into military strength. An example would be how little Saudis accomplished militarily during its years-long conflict against Housis in Yemen.

@@JamesKerLindsay, the whole idea in warfare is to make sure that your opponent is inferior to you in as many aspects as possible. One can always find injustice even if they have the equal number of soldiers, equipment, budget. There is always something that makes one side win. It takes intelligence to use those resources and diplomatic skills to benefit from foreign actors.

What many don't realize, is that Pashinyan was ALWAYS making anti-Artsakhi statements in favor of Azerbaijan, and then he came to power through a color revolution. Google "color revolution" and see what that is. No, it's not NATO and ISIS and Israel helping AZE that decided the war- it was Pashinyan. He capitulated. Russia even tried getting inside to help early on, but Pashinyan refused. Lol. Color revolutions are backed by the US, UK, and EU and other NATO members. There is geopolitical reasons for this, and it all comes down to $$$ sadly.

@Travelmentary TV, out of all the comments I've been reading this is the most rational one. Russia most certainly didn't step in earlier to "teach Armenia a lesson" as Armenia had been looking to get away from Russian influence and forge closer ties with Nato nations. But as another poster on the same thread said, Russia did eventually step in to stop their ally's army from being completely destroyed. In general terms Russia causes these conflicts, then Russia comes in as the saviors. It's very interesting. I'd imagine people in both these nations would be far better off without any sort of Russian influence.

@@williamdavis9562 I doubt that Armenia “would be better off without any Russian influence”. Because without Russia, Armenia wouldn’t exist for three days. Erdogan from Turkey has already phantasized about “breaking Armenia’s back”. And given what we know what Turkey has done to Armenians in the past, this is not just talk. In this case I also fail to see how Russia “causes these conflicts” - this is about a disputed area between Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Turkish idea of being a global player - not so much about Russia. For the Russian government it is just another nuisance next to its borders and not a conflict that they have been actively looking for. In the end it is geopolitics and the Russian Federation is neither better nor worse than any of the other participants in this new round of “the Great Game”.

@@travelmentaryTV Georgia is in that region and no one is trying to "break their back" aside from Russia itself. I'd imagine when Armenia stops making territorial claims on 3 of it's 4 neighbors they'll be just fine, not to mention all the trade opportunities that come with it. As far as Russia causing these conflicts it's no secret that Russia to keep influence in different regions had a policy to ferment divisions in different ethnic groups, it's a policy they've been pretty open about since Soviet days. In fact the borders of Nagorno Karabakh were actually drawn to keep the town sides in conflict by the USSR. Not to mention that in the 1990s Russia armed Armenia to the teeth to invade Azerbaijan which is what is causing this current conflict. Russian influence in this region will lead to nothing but misery for the people. As far as geopolitical strategy being "no worse" than other nations I beg to differ. All large nations do horrible things, my nation has done some of the most horrible things on the planet in the last 50 years. With that said you won't find one group of people under Russian influence who didn't suffer massively from it and will curse Russian influence to the ends of the world. I get why Russia does it, it's their defense strategy to keep influence outside their borders as their heartland would be difficult to defend without that buffer, considering how aggressive Nato has been on the Russians even after the breakup of the USSR, I can again understand why Russia does this. But understanding why they do it and to simply ignore the horrible consequences on these ethnic groups under their thumb are two different things. Russia will at the end of the day do anything in their power to make sure these two nations are in constant tension, it's the only way to ensure they stay within the Russian orbit and keep Nato out. From the Russian point of view just imagine what would happen of Armenia had great relations with her neighbors. First their economy would take off, their trade with the outside world via the ports of Armenia's neighbors would open Armenia up to the world, it's living standards would go up and it would be a lot closely aligned with Nato and the west in general. Big win for your average Armenian in the street but a HUGEE loss for Russia. So my original point still stands, Russia does not in any way, shape or form want Armenia and Azerbaijan to not have tension. Good for Russia, bad for Azerbaijan much worse for Armenia. Yes I understand the "great game" and I don't blame Russia for playing it. But I won't sit here and paint a rosy picture of what is done in the great game either. If I did, I'd sound like those idiots who claimed invading Iraq was going to be a good thing for the people who live there.

@Nikolay Karlovich If Russia didn't want tension between these two nations long term why draw the borders that will inevitably lead to tension? Why arm one side so heavily so it can invade the other and slaughter their people? Russia wants and needs nations in their orbit to not get along, its' the only way to retain their influence.

@@williamdavis9562 I’m sorry, I think your point of view is rather biased and blatantly anti-Russian to begin with. It seems to me that for a reason I don’t know your opinion is based on some sort of personal issue. I have seen people talking similarly, because their Russian girlfriend sacked them or because they lost a business dealing - I don’t know what it is, but I have heard it all before 🤷‍♂️ 😅. Just kidding 😀. So back to the topic 😀 What you’re claiming just doesn’t seem objective. Hence you are making Russia responsible for an issue that is not at all about Russia. Russia has had no interest in this conflict whatsoever and could have easily lived on with the status quo before it. Now it binds more troops and costs more money than it did before. Besides, it is hard to believe that Armenia could coexist peacefully with Azerbaijan and especially Turkey. The latter frequently questions the very existence of Armenian statehood. Georgia and South Ossetia are a totally different story. I believe that all those conflicts have pre-existed and when the Soviet Union collapsed it caused a major geopolitical problem. Old hatred reappeared, while millions of people ended up living in completely different post-Soviet reality. This is also why the Russian president called the dissolution of the Soviet Union a geopolitical catastrophe. Anyway, I made my points and prefer not to further participate in that sort of discussion and wish you a great day.

as long as u write your country's name with upper case and my country's name with lower case, you prove all we say about you

@@vardansimonyan966 making a elephant out of a house fly.

@@vardansimonyan966 Read carefully, no country name "Armenia" were mentioned in the text above, only "armenians" or "armenian forces" as a people which is grammatically not required to write in capital letter. It just proves another time how brainwashed you are in seeing aggression in everything.

Id still argue nagorno karakh and the region southwest of armenia should just be armenian and simply do a greek turkish style population exchangr

@@Cecilia-ky3uw no one listens to you if the international community disagrees

Very well outlined. When I said this guy is bias he is offended. He also fails to mention Khojaly massacre. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khojaly_massacre

Real nationalists don't cause war because they know that war is nothing but a waste of energy. Real nationalists love their country and always seek to go with diplomacy before war. People misunderstand nationalism...

Little correction: Armenia was forced to hand over the remaining surrounding territories. The war would've ended much worse for Armenia if they refused to hand over the rest...

@@skylawusa It would have ended much worse for Azerbaijan too according to Aliyev.

😀 🤦‍♂️ ooh loosers as usual looking for excuses. Shusha was taken, Khankendi (Stepanakert) was about to fall within hours. As Putin said they saved Armenians from total collapse. The rest is just bla bla..

@@veyselturan6916 Putin never said such a thing lol. Show me the official report. Also I'm just saying what Aliyev said. In an interview he said that if war continued, Azerbaijan would have suffered great loses in Karvajar and that's one of the reasons why he stopped.

@@Medic_V 😳

Thanks. You are very right. The role of outside actors was crucial. But it is also important to note that most outside observers familiar with the country also note that Armenia had become complacent. As for the longer term situation, hopefully some form of peaceful settlement will be found. The wars between the two countries have cost both to them far too much!

Karabakh is Azerbaijan!Yashma,special forces 052 dominated armenian soldiers!I am proud of Azerbaijan soldier!

Pure armenian..You have lost to the moral and psychological strength of the Azerbaijani people..It is not your business to fight with us..

I have made other videos on the conflict. But this was a chance to explore the Armenian thinking a year after its defeat. I’m sorry you see this as bias. Many viewers, including many from Azerbaijan, have been interested in this insight into attitudes in Armenia. It’s disappointing that you haven’t tried to understand its purpose or value.

I am not sure that you understand the purpose of this video. This is not an analysis of the conflict, as such. I have done that in other videos. It is an account of how a country is coming to terms with losing a war. I went to Armenia listen, not judge, and then relay that view - albeit with some of my own analysis added. This is a perfectly legitimate - and hopefully valuable - form of scholarly enquiry. Not everything in conflict studies needs to be framed as this side says this and that side says that. Exploring how individual societies come to terms with war is a useful academic exercise in its own right. I hope that clear it up for you.

@Nikolay Karlovich Putin made sure neither side got a decisive victory and made sure a situation for future tension wasn't lost.

@Nikolay Karlovich And he got Russian troops into the region which was his main goal. Lets not forget this conflict has roots in Russian policy to draw borders to ferment conflict between ethnic groups so they're easier to control. This specific conflict exists because Russia armed Armenia to the teeth to invade their neighbor and didn't even blink an eye as 800,000 people were ethnically cleansed. So now we're supposed to believe they're the peace makers? Please.... I understand Russian policy, they need influence in these regions to defend their heartland, especially considering how aggressive Nato has been to Russia, I get that I also get that the easiest way to maintain influence is to keep these nations in conflict with each other. But don't paint this situation as Russian influence being a good thing for the native people, they're simply not.

@Nikolay Karlovich "But I will say that the conflict did start during soviet times and that Soviet military and Azeri special forces were displacing Armenians which angered the Armenians and then led to the first nargano-Karabakh." - now that's simply a lie. Conflict started long before that, and armenians had no issues in cleansing ALL Azeri populated areas in armenia before that. You should refresh your memories, conflict was instigated by Mikhail Gorbachev’s advisor Abel Aganbekyan stating in Paris on November 16, 1987 that Nagorno-Karabakh region should be handed to armenia. It was unheard of in USSR to make territorial demands of such scale, let alone publicly, let alone in frickin Paris! And it went downhill from there. It was clearly approved by Gorbachev and top USSR leadership, so to make claims that Gorbi was on Azerbaijani side is not just a lie, it is a blatant lie. Mind it, armenians in NK were given autonomy by early Soviet government specifically for that, while comparably large territories populated by majority Azeris in armenia and Georgia, weren't given any autonomies at all. And they never made any issues about it! To this day, Azeris are most populous minority in Georgia, but unlike literally every other minority, even georgian minorities like Mengrels, Azeris in Georgia always stayed loyal to Georgia and didn't make any secessionist claims. Compare that to armenians, Ossetians, Abkhaz and even Mengrels.

@Nikolay Karlovich Again, you deliberately swapping cause and effects. Zangezur region in armenia was also majority Azer region, and they had no autonomy, none of the rights which armenians in Karabakh enjoyed. The rest is just outright lies, like " because the Armenian language was not taught in schools" - not only was it taught in schools, but they had theaters and publishing in armenian. The claim about churches is even more laughable, churches and mosques in soviet union were treated in the same way. "hey will keep attacking and provoking Armenia" another lie, as Azerbaijan NEVER made any territorial claims against armenia, and never attacked it, YOU invaded Azerbaijan, simple fact even your government acknowledged. "Armenia doesn’t ask Azerbaijan to give up their enclave on their western border." ffs, this is just getting ridiculous, do you live in some parallel reality ? Nakchivan is not enclave, do you even know what enclave means ?? For any prospect of peace, you should start by accepting facts and reality, why is it so hard for you ??

Bro what do you smoke?

@@YALQUZAQ_AZ 1. You're not my bro. 2. Ask that to Aliyev the great sultan of lies and censorship

@@noway6379 What you say everything is fake

@@YALQUZAQ_AZ fake is your nation from the bottom to the top :) when there was great ARMENIA, Turks were hunter gatherers somewhere in central Asia :) learn this fact. Also, it's 21st century, but you solve problems with Ramil Safarovs. You really need democracy.

@@YALQUZAQ_AZ facist virgin devil

Thanks so much GW. I was obviously rather apprehensive about doing it. It was such a change from my usual videos. But I thought that a trip to Armenia was just too good an opportunity to try something new. And I was really keen to try to convey some sort of sense if the city. It really is a lovely place. I enjoyed my time there enormously. It really was very welcoming.

Thanks. Not sure when or if I will do one from Azerbaijan. But it’s actually not that important. If I do one, I do one. If I don’t, I don’t. I just hope this was an interesting view of the situation from Yerevan.

@@JamesKerLindsay But that makes you biased. I think you should ask azerbaijan. Because you say azerbaijan never negotiated but azerbaijan is waited for 30 years to make west and russia to solve it because even they did not recognized the karabaq as armenian soil.

When you see that destruction that armenians and russians caused in those areas ask armenians why they have not done anything in that land

@@JamesKerLindsay excelent work! I believe that being with Armenia is being with the right side. Just reading about the history Nakichevan,karabagh have been always part of the armenian people and how this turkics stole from them is disgusting. The same we face IN Serbia we lose Kosovo .

Did u forget who helped in first Karabakh war to Armenia?

@@rasimmammadli443 EXACTLY

@@rasimmammadli443 Who did? Russia? Tell me howmany Russian soldiers died during the war. Can you name some Russian commanders who died during the war too so i can google them? No you can’t. Lol

@@hrachzakaryan5674 what about u ,tell Turkish solider who died in this war then ? I don’t know how many Russian died i know one fact there is monument Armenians built in Karabakh written “ thanks our Russian brothers fought for independence of artsax “ 366 мото стрелковый полк , were there .. do u wanna translation?

@@rasimmammadli443 So the 366 rifle division won the war? Tell me how many soldiers were in that division? What about Operation Ring where Soviet troops helped Azeris ethnically cleanse Armenians, forgot about that? Russia gave Armenia free weapons and even then, azerbaijan still had 3x more soldiers, 10x more tanks and 5x air superiority. They still lost.

Thanks, but you completely missed the point. This is not an an account of the conflict. It is about exploring how Armenians are reacting to their defeat. Many viewers, including many Azerbaijanis understood this and found it interesting and useful. Not every study of conflict needs to be about telling both sides. Sometimes it is just valuable to explore what is happening in a particular society. This doesn’t mean one is biased or is neglecting the feelings if the other side. It is just that one is concentrating on understanding one particular aspect of a conflict. It is important to be open minded about these things and not get dragged into the view that simply because someone looks at one side of a situation, they must necessarily be biased.

Yesss russia warned Armenia number of times to let go.. I guess they deserved the hammer when they just dont listen eh 😤😬😬 conflict is never nice but at least thankfully this was a quick one

Armenians attacked pipelines out of no where..

Yess you are right

Thanks! How have you found living there? From my week there, it seems like a lovely city and very liveable.

@@JamesKerLindsay Good and bad, I don't like the police. Maybe if the Economy was better.

Interesting to hear about the police. I must say that I noticed rather a lot of them. But I never felt any sort of threat from them. Then again, I know that while they often avoid foreigners it is only matter if time before you have to encounter them for some reason. I can remember a very unpleasant run in with Greek police one night when I lived in Athens. We’re taught to be polite to police. In Greece everyone hates the police and so they don’t trust people who are too polite. In fact the more polite I was the more aggressive and unpleasant they became. My girlfriend, who was about as tough a Greek woman as I’ve knew, sat back and watched with amusement until it looked like they were going to arrest me for being too polite. Choosing her moment perfectly she stepped in and went mad at them. Threatening them. They backed off immediately! Never seen anything like it, especially as that would get you arrested on Britain! Anyway, I get a sense of what you might mean. I was only in Yerevan a short time, but really liked it. But I know his difficult it can be when you have to live in a place much longer. What seems fun and different at first can become very frustrating very quickly. Again, Athens springs to kind! :-)

Thank you so much. I had wondered what it was. This is precisely why I love the internet! :-)

😌😌😌

Your best bet is to give peace a chance. Leave the past behind and look forward. You need to reconnect to the world. This can only happen through Turkish help. I know one thing. We are ready.

Lol. I wouldn't out the words "Turkey" and "successful" in the same sentence unless separated by a "not."

Stepanakert will be like: I'm a joke to you?

@@tiziogg6350 Literally the war zone. Hours away from being captured by the time armistice was signed.

@@TurkishRepublicanX it was bombed at the begining of the war. The azeris argue a lot about Ganja, but also they forget about Stepanakert that was bombed earlier and the intentions were quite the same.

@@TurkishRepublicanX let's not forget Martuni.

Made all the more difficult when both sides have spent their lives being told that they are victims (as in their own separate and very different ways one could perhaps argue they were).

Armenians do live in the historical reality as victims of genocide, but rest assured they are as happy and confident as any people on Earth.

@@VerGuut222 Being the victims of genocide over 100 years ago doesn't give you the right to invade and ethnically cleanse someone else. That would be like me beating my neighbor to death because some other guy killed my great great grandfather. You do see the insanity in this line of thinking no?

@@williamdavis9562 Extremist and violent Pan-Turkic elements have played a part in Armenian-Azeri conflicts leading up to the First Karabakh war. That is why Armenians were so aggressive in the first place, because the sanctity of life and cultural heritage of the population could not have otherwise been assured. That is the "false victim" backdrop under which Armenians have been forced to take up arms so many times in the last 150 years from the Hamidian massacres to the Karabakh conflict.

@@VerGuut222 bla bla. I guess we could say the same about 1915

Thanks. I thought so too! Do keep an eye out for upcoming videos. I’m hoping to do another one in the next month or so.

It was an intentional border issue created by Stalin after ww1. Armenians voted to legally leave Azerbaijan after USSR collapsed. This is a legal right given by the UN but was not granted.

@@sjaghiarian What? This situation existed even during the civil war in the Russian Empire/Republic, when it collapsed.

@@DreamWalkerVl I know Azerbaijan illegally did not allow the NK to leave per UN laws, that is why war happened in 90s

@HayelladaBall38 not true. Even Armenia itself officially recognises Karabagh as part of Azerbaijan on their maps

It will indeed be fascinating to see how Russia adapts to the post-Putin era.

Thank you very much. I hope you found it useful to get a perspective from neighbouring Armenia. It will be very interesting to see what happens with Turkish-Armenian relations. There has been some talk of a thawing of relations. I actually hope to make a video on this at some point. And warmest greetings from London! :-)

@@JamesKerLindsay I think when Armenia withdraws its claims on land from TR ans AZ the first step will be made. And if not TR and AZ can wait. In the meantime Armenia well remain poor and weak!

@HayelladaBall38 "Historic lands"? Give me a break. Turks been living there since early 1000s, Seljuk Turks been ruling the place since 1037! Thats more history than your great grandma can tell you. More history than most European nations or off-shoots of that can claim for. Thats THOUSAND years for you. And we didnt expect anyone to give, we simply took it since we could, as any nations in those ages did for eternity and many centuries thereafter for your knowledge. Matter of fact, you werent even the first owner of that land or of the land your very republic of Armenia is now standing on. Remember the Urartians / Biai people? You stole their land when you came down from what is now Russia / Urals. Even your capital city, Yerevan, your biggest landmark, lake Sevan, and your symbolic national landmark which is internationally recognised Turkish property, Mt. Ararat... all of them carry names which DO NOT ORIGINATE in your Armenian language, that is Indo-European, but are scientifically Urartian. Now come to terms with modernity and international community, update your school books and maps and we can be normal neighbours. If you think you gain anything by prolonging this charade, you will only find out that this game can be played by more than one and nobody, no Russia or France or USA, will be nearby when the next round of this stupid game is laid out.

@HayelladaBall38 do u learn history from wiki?😂😂😂😂😂

they had to flee or were deported, many fled to Armenia proper or Stepanakert (capital of Nagorno karabahk)

Thanks. Unfortunately not. But there was something about him that just stood out. As I was going through my footage, it just seemed to be the perfect ending to the video. It was really nice to hear that you had been over there and recognised so many of the places. I must say that I really loved Yerevan. I found it such an interesting city, even despite the difficulties that that country faces. It was rather different from what I had expected. But certainly well worth a visit for anyone who hasn’t been.

@@JamesKerLindsay Indeed it was 😁 I now remember something I wanted to share. On our tour we visited a Cognac distillery and they had a circular room on ground level in which they raised flags of different nations, and a single barrel of liquor, waiting to be opened for a special day. What day, I asked (dramatising a little), and the treasurer replied: for when we celebrate a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Their good faith delighted me. Later I experienced a romance with an Armenian woman, I wonder how it fared for her. We texted a bit on this, but she is not the one to reveal much of her emotions. Realising Armenia's dire geopolitical position, I can understand better why many Armenians, including this highly educated and intellectual woman, tend to have a one-sided view of their territorial fights with Azerbaijan and struggle to come to terms with Russia's limited loyalty.

It seems to me that the guy plays the old Soviet tune 'А нам все равно' in a jazzy fashion.

Thanks. I think you are right. I have had a lot of Armenians say that they would like to escape the Russian orbit, but are stuck for as long as Nagorno-Karabakh remains an issue. There is a lot of anger and resentment about Moscow's position.

probably you will lost your ındependence in soon time :(

Кто проиграл войну? Карабах как был армянским так и остался армянский! Чей флаг над столицей Карабаха Степанакертом? Армянский флаг! Так что это вам пора домой на родину! Алтай ждёт вас кочевники!

What the fuck?

@Elliott Prats, in a perfect world 800,000 Azeris wouldn't have been ethnically cleansed from that region in the 1990s. Now that the war is over, the question still remains of reparations to the families of those 800,000 people who's farms and homes were illegally seized (by any metric of international law) for over 30 years. I think once they settle the issue of reparations the two sides can finally hammer out a lasting peace.

My Grandfather older than azerbajan 😂😂😂imagine Hes born in1911…..but azerbajan made by turks for political reasons…in 1918 😂😂😂😂😂😂 and stalin give them a name azery in 1936..did you know that my smart friend

@@Armenia-td3wj The ethnonym "Azerbaijanis" has been used in various forms in academic literature since the 18th and 19th centuries. The same encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron called the Turkic population of the Caucasus and Northern Iran "Azerbaijani" or "Aderbeijani". In particular, the encyclopedia names “Azerbaijanis” as separate peoples in the Turkic family, pointing out its anthropological, linguistic, cultural and external differences from the rest of the Turkic peoples. “Iranian type Turks - Iranian and Caucasian Aderbeijanis”. Further, when classifying the Turkic peoples of the Caucasus, Iran and Asia Minor (Turkey), they are divided into two types: Osmanli and Aderbeijanis. Describing the various peoples of the Caucasus, the encyclopedia writes: "the Aderbeijanis with such a high growth are mesocyphalic (head index 80.4)." And describing the Persians of Iran, the Brockhaus and Efron encyclopedia states that the “Persians” also mean the Turkic peoples - including the “Azerbaijanis” of Iran and the Caucasus, which make up half of the so-called “Persians”

@@Armenia-td3wj "I could never come to an aggrement with the Armenians. Their cunning is rather squeamish,meanness is rather unbearable,and the meanness is regrettable" (French traveller Count de Cholier)

@HayelladaBall38 Karabakh is Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 Cyprus is Turkey 🇹🇷

@HayelladaBall38 We are indigenous inhabitants of Caucasus Turks liberated Cyprus during Ottoman Era

Thanks bro 🇦🇿❤🇸🇴

Thank you so much! That’s incredibly kind of you to say!

Borders shouldn't have been drawn against ethnic lines

Emre us, majority armenian territories, historically armenian lands and armenian cultural sites which azerbaijan ahs either destroyed or decided to own for itself, similar way to how turkey exploits greek artifacts and sites

I have covered it in other videos. I put links to them in the video and in my playlist.

@@JamesKerLindsay That is very kind of your. Your videos are wonderful. Thank you.

Thanks. Yes, I must say that I loved Yerevan. It was actually rather different from what I was expecting - especially so soon after the war. Overall, it was incredibly interesting and welcoming. Highly recommended.

Thank you so much Fredo! And thank you for the absolutely brilliant tips before I left. I can’t tell you how much I appreciated it! It made a huge difference.

Thank you very much indeed. I really appreciate it. I'm not actually a journalist, and this was my first ever attempt to make a video on location, and so it perhaps lacked some of the finesse that one would expect of a news report. But I hoped that it would give a flavour of the situation.