RSSSaker, thank you for the “deep dive” into Russian policy in the Transkavkaz and the tragic humbling of Armenia (May She Rise Again!). I have a number of questions, but I’ll pose just one now. You mention that both the Azeri and Armenian sides tortured and executed their POWS, hence the lack of same. While I don’t consider myself naive, I have noted that different societies, cultures, ethnicities, and military traditions do often view such behavior in different ways. And I have always taken pride in what I understand to be the rarity of such gratuitously cruel and unnecessary behavior by Armenians. For example, the exodus of Azeris living in Armenia when news of the Sumgait atrocities broke was not marred — to my understanding — by rape and murder of those Azeris by Armenians. And I believe that while Amnesty International and the Red Cross/Crescent noted the horrors perpetrated on civilians by the Azeris in 93/94 in Karabakh (reminiscent of 1915-18), there was no mention of Armenians engaging in similar acts that I am aware of.
Can you provide the source(s) for your conclusion that Armenians tortured and executed Azeri POWs? I don’t discount what you say (though I consider it unlikely to be correct on any large, or policy driven, scale). If true, this would be deeply distressing to me as an Armenian. Thank you.