Somehow, the 21st century managed to be just as bloody for
Armenia as the 20th. But the Armenian people have reason to hope that the 22nd will be better. The Armenian government points to improving relations with its neighbors, a growing economy, and a minuscule crime rate as reasons for optimism. Cynics in the opposition claim that the nation is increasingly becoming a client state and that, after the destruction of war, the economy had nowhere to go but up.
And it's amazing what killing off two generations of men will do to reduce your violent crime rate.
The Azerbaijani Islamic Revolution of 2049 led to the installation of a new, Tehran-oriented regime in Baku, giving the international community hope of an Iranian-brokered deal to settle one of the longest-standing geopolitical conflicts in the world. But the hopes never came to fruition, with the Islamic government proving just as keen on the reintegration of Nagorno-Karabakh into Azerbaijan as the secular one had been. What started as a minor border skirmish in the contested region soon turned into a shootout, and then a full-blown proxy war. Arms manufacturers and internet military buffs around the world greeted the
Armenia-Azerbaijan War with glee, creaming themselves at the chance to see the newest, edgiest killing machines in action. But for the two Caucasus nations, the war was devastating, with both losing nearly a third of their populations in the inconclusive thirty-four year long conflict, one of the bloodiest of the 21st century.
One of the few positive things to come of the war for Armenia was the establishment of positive relations with one of their greatest historical enemies. With the Iranian bloc lining up behind Shi'a Azerbaijan, Turkey had no choice but to bite their lip and warm things up with hated Armenia. It wasn't a smooth transition by any means. First was the gradual ending of the blockade, then came the opening of the border. After that, the guns and Chechens soon followed. By the end of the war, the Turkish military was openly providing tactical assistance to their Armenian counterpart, despite the lack of official diplomatic relations between the two nations. Those wouldn't come until after the war. Two years later, with the assistance of Russia, Armenia and Turkey signed the historic
Treaty of Friendship, Reconciliation, and Mutual Assistance, a watershed moment in relations between the two nations. In the agreement, Turkey officially recognized the Armenian Genocide. And while no reparations were paid out (any direct survivors had died long ago), Turkey issued an official apology, a response considered satisfactory by the Armenians, who weren't exactly in any situation to demand more. In exchange, Yerevan dropped all of its claims on Turkish territory, agreeing to the current border as permanent. In addition, Turkey agreed to provide annual financial assistance to the Armenia's devastated Armed Forces as well as give direct aid to the Russian fund to help rebuild Armenian infrastructure, much of which was still rubble at the time.
Another sector to benefit massively from the war was Armenia's domestic erotic literature industry. With few young men around, Armenia's women turned to print to satisfy their carnal needs, producing a glut of independently published works. Although most of Armenia's post-war erotica was never translated or traveled outside the borders of the Caucasian nation, several titles managed to attract minor success.
Markos and Grigor is probably the most well-known of these, having been translated into twenty-four different languages and five different Norwegian dialects as of the time of this writing. A heart-thumping bodice ripper, Anna Mangasaryan's seminal work tells the tale of two young brothers from a small Armenian town, who after being conscripted into the military, find themselves deep in enemy territory, deep in peril, deeply in love, and deep in each others'....well...
