Recent events in Armenia leave us wondering:  How do we react as an international medical organization?  To summarize:

Daredevils of Sassoun, heroes from the war in Artsakh, stormed a police station, killing one police officer and wounding others.  An act of desperation intended to spark a movement, it brought tens of thousands of Armenians into the streets.  An ambulance came to attend the wounded at the police station.  Physicians attending the ambulance were detained at the police station to care for the wounded, so that the intruders would not risk further jailing. 

Fortunately, it was done more civilly than the police actions on the street.  At the time of this writing, all have been set free and the Daredevils have surrendered.

But with the possibility of a shootout at any moment, the Daredevils knew fully that they were placing these physicians in serious harm’s way.   

Violence against healthcare workers is not uniquely Armenian.  It happens in China, in the US, and it’s happened before in Armenia.

During this ordeal, members of the AMIC Board have discussed how we should react to the hostage-taking.  AMIC is not a political organization, rather we are quite apolitical.  We do not take sides in the events of Khorenatsi Street.  But we condemn abuse and violence against healthcare professionals. 

We will learn details of what happened in days to come.  Please send your comments to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

--Jerry Manoukian MD

AMIC president (now past president)