We are Armenian scholars in an Armenian school; because of this, we are often exposed to our country’s good and bad, the highs and lows. We often hear about the Armenian Genocide and the Artsakh conflicts, but we are not always reminded of the conflicts our people face outside of the homeland. We have seen Genocide survivors and young Artsakh soldiers whose stories we have heard and are a little familiar to us. However we rarely hear from a survivor of mass discrimination and violence, who stood up with Armenians the way other survivors did- just outside the homeland. Pilibos freshmen, sophomores and juniors met one such survivor in an assembly on Tuesday February 27 when Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte came to Pilibos to share her story and experiences.
Anna Turcotte was a ten year old girl living in Azerbaijan when her mother told her she could no longer go to volleyball practice. She did not know at first, but this was just the first sacrifice out of many for the years to come. This was in 1988, when the Azerbaijanis planned out and executed the Sumgait Pogroms: racially charged discrimination against the Armenian people living in seaside Sumgait. During this time, Ms. Turcotte started keeping a journal about her daily life as young Armenian living in Azerbaijan under oppression. Years later, Ms. Turcotte was informed that her journal was the only written manuscript by an Armenian under the Sumgait Pogrom. Thus, she decided to publish it under the title Nowhere: A Story of Exile not because she wanted to step back in time to it, but because she was willing to bring back her nightmares so that the stories of the Armenians lost in the Sumgait Pogroms were not forgotten. Ms. Turcotte says that this is the same reason she goes to schools, libraries and community centers and talks about her experience.
Mrs. Turcotte also expanded on what her life’s work is now. Her main goal is getting Artsakh the recognition and development it deserves under the right of self-determination. She can relate to the Artsakh people who are stuck under Azerbaijani rule, just like she was. Mrs. Turcotte has done quite a bit of work in the United States, including teaming up with Dr. Dorian on Advocacy Day to go talk at the Capitol and push for Artskah’s recognition. After her lecture, Mrs. Turcotte entertained some questions from the audience and received a Pilibos T-shirt as a gift of gratitude. All the Pilibos scholars present were happy to have been a part of this experience, which gave them a first hand account and a perspective on the true plight of Armenians living in Azerbaijan.
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