Note at Watertown Armenian church a hate crime, members say

Why it matters: The situation stoked fears in a city that's home to thousands of people of Armenian descent.

The latest: Watertown police did not respond to calls from Axios but wrote on Facebook that they're investigating the "suspicious note."

Context: Artsakh is an Armenian name for the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a breakaway region that's internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan even though it had been under unofficial Armenian control.

• After decades of fighting, Azerbaijan claimed full control of Nagorno-Karabakh last week once local Armenian forces laid down their weapons following hundreds of casualties.
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Azerbaijan's use of force.

Of note: St. Stephen's, a staple of Greater Boston's Armenian community for more than six decades, had a nearby road renamed Artsakh Street in 1991 to honor the region's fight for independence.

What they're saying: "Artsakh has been defeated. That may make some people happy, fine, but when you translate that into this kind of action, then you make people afraid," St. Stephen's pastor Antranig Baljian tells Axios.

• "That's why it becomes a hate crime."