• “Cinematic, Cosmopolitan and Wonderful”: Vogue France Features a Dream Wedding in Armenia

  What happens when Armenian wedding traditions meet the cultures of Vietnam, Cambodia and China? Sara-Mae Ngo and Gevorg Ambartsumyan transformed their wedding into a cinematic story where family traditions, French fashion, the music of Charles Aznavour and Armenian culture came together. French Vogue has now chronicled their extraordinary celebration in detail...

• Sex as an Elixir of Youth: How Billionaire Calouste Gulbenkian Tried to Extend His Life Through a Conveyor Belt of Mistresses

  Calouste Gulbenkian entered history as a brilliant entrepreneur and philanthropist. However, his personal archives, declassified in Lisbon, and detailed research by modern biographers (such as Jonathan Conlin) paint a portrait of a deeply flawed, tyrannical, and mentally unstable man...

Renowned American Armenian singer Cher and filmmaker Eric Esrailian have written a joint article for Newsweek magazine, reflecting on the ongoing Azerbaijani blockade of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) as well as the current situation in Artsakh and Armenia.

In the article entitled "You Cannot Erase Us," Cher and Esrailian that, as Armenian Americans, they want to be hopeful about the new year, but the ongoing crisis for the citizens of Artsakh and Armenia makes it difficult to do so.

“They are enduring a brutal campaign that is currently threatening the lives of over 120,000 men, women and children [in Artsakh], and they desperately need the attention of the world to act now and save lives. The barbaric Azerbaijani blockade of the only road connecting Artsakh to Armenia has cut off the delivery of food and lifesaving supplies. This campaign of ethnic cleansing, and the brazen attempts at cultural erasure, are barbaric,” they added.

Cher and Esrailian reflected also on the belonging of Artsakh, and noted that it appeared as part of Soviet Azerbaijan only when the Soviet map was clarified. They emphasized that in 2020, when the world was fighting against the coronavirus, Azerbaijan launched an attack on Artsakh and now controls a significant portion of its territories.

"POWs have been abused or murdered. Religious sites have been desecrated and systematically destroyed, and Azerbaijan's kleptocratic leadership has encouraged and celebrated these violations with glee. The indoctrination and hatred toward Armenians are propagated on state-sponsored news and social media and the antipathy is even formally taught to children in Azerbaijan. More recently, Azerbaijan invaded the undisputed borders of Armenia with periodic attacks. If given an inch by the global community, this current Azeri leadership will take as many miles as it can—deep into Armenia's sovereign territory—under the guise of trade routes and corridors,” Cher and Esrailian stressed.

It is noted in the article that the current war in Ukraine and much of the world's subsequent efforts to limit the purchase of Russian oil and natural gas has emboldened Azerbaijan further.

The Cher and Esrailian stated that Azerbaijan has one of the worst records on human rights and freedom indices in modern times. “Artsakh and Armenia—rare democracies in the region—cannot be sacrificed for convenience or anyone's political expediency. What can we do? As Armenian Americans with some level of influence across different realms, we need to engage with government leaders using our political capital, keep telling our stories at the highest levels, direct resources to protect Armenians through the international legal community, help Armenia develop its own strength across various domains through strategic investments and work to preserve our faith, history, and culture,” they added. Cher and Esrailian wrote that f Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, and other Christian minorities from the former Ottoman Empire, the pain is still raw because there has never been a reckoning for the governments and systems built on this brutal history. “We need to continue to shine a light on these injustices until decent people start to reconsider their financial, political, and emotional partnerships with these regimes,” Cher and Eric Esrailian concluded.

Follow NEWS.am STYLE on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram