Whatever happened in Artsakh on September 19-20, 2023 was undoubtedly genocide, committed with an intent to destroy a national group in whole, or ethnic cleansing. The practice of ethnic cleansing may constitute genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes under the Geneva Conventions. It should be noted that hitherto Artsakh was under siege for more than nine months, leading to starvation most of the time of its residents - Artsakh’s indigenous Armenian population – leaving them without gas and electricity, medicine, food and other means of existence. One hundred and eight years later, the descendants of the age-old enemy once again created impossible living conditions, this time for 120,000 Armenians, including 30,000 children, in Nagorno Karabakh Republic, which is also a manifestation of genocide according to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

When drawing parallels with the Genocide of 1915 of Ottoman Armenians, one can see the same features and symptoms in Artsakh: a deliberate and systematic isolation, massacre, disarmament, torture, abduction, and impoverishment, and mass deportation, deprivation of Homeland and elimination of Armenian traces through the destruction of the nation's historical, cultural and spiritual values. It is worth mentioning that for superpowers and influential countries genocide towards a small nation is nothing more than a lever for applying pressure.

Even a century after the Armenian Genocide, a country that has any problems with Turkey first of all mentions the issue of the Genocide and, if possible, extracts this or that concession from it. The same is expected from Azerbaijan and, especially, by those countries that have interests in our region. By the way, both in 1915 and now, the so-called "international community" tacitly agreed, and more precisely, contributed to the genocide.

Let us bring another episode worth mentioning from the list of coincidences. Both the century-old genocide and the present-day ethnic cleansing in Artsakh have coincided with ongoing wars and geopolitical competition among major countries. In one case the context was the First World War, in the other - the Russian-Ukrainian War or, broadly speaking, the Third World War, which is actually between Russia and the collective West and as some consider it a "proxy" war between the US and China.

Well, what is the role of the Armenian people in these geopolitical upheavals, apart from undergoing genocide? In 1915, Armenians were regarded as bearers of Russian influence, and for the Russians, they were considered a pawn in the deals to reach a Russian-Turkish agreement. The same is the case with Artsakh, the latter is considered a territory thanks to which Russia's presence in the South Caucasus is ensured. The scheme always seems to stay the same.

Nonetheless this is just the beginning of a thorny problem. The Artsakh issue is complicated and tough and will last for a long time, especially if, prudent and resilient authorities come to power in Armenia, who will think diplomatically and be state-wise and able to conduct a flexible and effective internal and external policy, guided by national interests of the country, and deeply aware of the logic of geopolitical games and the interests of large countries and superpowers.

The struggle for the South Caucasus is just beginning, and this region is the intersection of Europe-Asia, Middle East-Central Asia lines. The most unlikely alliances and conflicts are not excluded. Time will tell whether or not Armenia will find its place under the sun.