Andriasian

Before 1988, Samvel Andriasian’s family had lived relatively peacefully in Azerbaijan for seven generations. In 1988, however, a territorial dispute broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The resultant inflammation of ethnic tensions and escalation of violence abruptly ended the Andriasian family’s prospects for peaceful existence as ethnic Armenians living in Azerbaijan. Samvel Andriasian, his wife, and his daughters soon found themselves facing discrimination, hostility, harassment, and physical violence from their neighbors and coworkers wherever they went. The Azeris initiated an ethnic cleansing campaign that ultimately resulted in hundreds of thousands of individuals becoming refugees. Brutally attacked by their countrymen, the Andriasian family fled its homeland and ultimately arrived in Armenia. The Andriasians may have hoped that, since the Azeris had persecuted them for their Armenian origins, they would be more welcome in Armenia itself. But they soon made the unfortunate discovery that their new neighbors were also suspicious and hostile — because of the Andriasians’ religion, their former residence in Azerbaijan, and their noticeable accents. In an effort to avoid…