“It is also too early to talk about ‘culinary diplomacy’ in the Karabakh conflict, sometimes also referred to as ‘gastrodiplomacy,’ though countless state banquets demonstrate that is by no means a new concept,” writes Onnik James Krikorian in this op-ed for commonspace.eu. “Instead, ‘gastronationalism’ has often defined the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict – especially over national dishes common to both such as dolma – in much the same way that Lebanese and Israelis have engaged in a perpetual ‘hummus war’.” He adds that “amid the petty squabbling over food there are also positive examples” of how cuisine has bridged divides across the South Caucasus.
In September 1992, as winter approached, critical shortages of wheat threatened to plunge Armenia into a major humanitarian crisis. The railroad from Russia through Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia had been closed because of that separatist conflict and Yerevan had no other option but to approach neighbouring Turkey for assistance. Despite its support for Azerbaijan in the Karabakh conflict, Ankara agreed – though only after first consulting with Baku.
“Ter-Petrosyan called me one day,” Hikmet Cetin, the Turkish Foreign Minister at the time, said in a 2015 documentary made by an Armenian documentary film studio. “He said they were in trouble. Winter was approaching. The European Union had promised […] wheat but due to bureaucratic obstacles and bad weather conditions it was rather hard to get that to Armenia in time. He was wondering if it would be possible to buy some wheat from Turkey […].”
Cetin discussed the issue with then President Suleyman Demirel who instructed him to talk to his counterpart, Abulfaz Elchibey. “No-one should be deprived of God-given bread. It’s a humanitarian issue,” the then-Azerbaijani president responded even though the conflict with Armenia over Karabakh had already descended into a full-scale war. Grain shipments, as well as processed commodities from warehouses in Turkey transported by the United States, were dispatched.
It might not have given new meaning to the term ‘breaking bread,’ and not least because the Armenia-Turkey border was closed soon after Armenian forces captured and occupied the Azerbaijani region of Kelbajar in spring the following year. But it did, however, highlight the importance of food in conflict situations, something that the current impasse on the Lachin Corridor also demonstrates today. Although there have been no cases of starvation given that Karabakh is largely agricultural, has its own reserves, rationing was introduced, and Russian peacekeepers had been bringing in supplies until 15 June this year anyway, food security has nonetheless shown itself to be of vital importance.
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The full article can be read here.
