Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

‘Religious Cleansing’ threatens Armenian Christians’ existence, Human Rights leaders warn

Vorskanian Yeghisabet
Dec 30 2023
 Catholic News Agency

By Peter Pinedo

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 21, 2023 / 16:15 pm

The ongoing war between Azerbaijan and Armenia threatens the existence of Christian communities in the near east, former ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom Sam Brownback and other Christian leaders warned in a Tuesday press briefing.

Brownback’s statements were delivered just days after he returned from afact-finding trip to Armenia with the Christian human rights group Philos Project.

Brownback, who is a Catholic, called Islamic Azerbaijan’s invasion of Armenia and its ongoing blockade of the Nagorno-Karabakh region the latest attempt at “religious cleansing” of the Christian nation.

“Azerbaijan, with Turkey’s backing, is really slowly strangling Nagorno-Karabakh,” Brownback said. “They’re working to make it unlivable so that the region’s Armenian-Christian population is forced to leave, that’s what’s happening on the ground.”

The ambassador added that if the United States does not intervene, “we will see again another ancient Christian population forced out of its homeland.”

Brownback called for Congress to pass a “Nagorno-Karabakh Human Rights Act” to “establish basic security guarantees for the Nagorno-Karabakh population.”

He also called on the U.S. to reinstate previously used sanctions on Azerbaijan should it continue its blockade.

Christians in the near east have been subjected to similar attacks before, Brownback said. Yet according to the former ambassador, this time the religious cleansing is being “perpetrated with U.S.-supplied weaponry and backed by Turkey, a member of NATO.”

Sandwiched between the Muslim nations of Turkey and Azerbaijan in the southern Caucasus, Armenia has Christian roots that go back to ancient times. Today the population is over 90% Christian, according to a 2019 report by the U.S. State Department.

Conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region has been ongoing since Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former Soviet territories, claimed the land for themselves after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. After the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994, Armenia gained primary control of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Tensions between the two nations once again broke into outright military conflict in September 2020 when Azerbaijani troops moved to wrest control of the disputed region. The open conflict lasted only about two months, with Russia brokering a peace deal in November.

The conflict resulted in Azerbaijan gaining control of large swathes of the region. This left Armenia’s only access point to Nagorno-Karabakh a thin strip of land called the “Lachin corridor.”

A study published in the Population Research and Policy Review estimates that 3,822 Armenians and at least 2,906 Azerbaijanis were killed during the 2020 conflict.

Today, an Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin corridor, in place since December, is crippling Armenian infrastructure in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The situation is extremely urgent and existential,” Philos Project President Robert Nicholson said. “This is the oldest Christian nation facing again for the second time in only about a century the possibility of a genocide.” He was referring to the deaths of up to 1.5 million Armenians more than a century ago in waning years of the Ottoman Empire that the U.S. now recognizes as a genocide, a characterization that Turkey has sharply denounced.

According to Nicholson, there are 500 tons of humanitarian equipment “unable to get into Nagorno-Karabakh because of the blockade that Azerbaijan has placed upon that region.”

“There has been no natural gas flowing since March and other energy supplies, [such as] electricity, are spotty at best,” Nicholson added. “Families have been separated. Surgeries have been canceled. The 120,000 people inside [Nagorno-Karabakh] are really desperate for help.”

Though much of the media coverage about the Armenian-Azerbaijani war has characterized it as simply a territorial dispute, according to both Brownback and Nicholson, the conflict is more one of ideology and religion.

“This is in fact not just a territorial dispute,” Nicholson said. “While there are territorial questions, I see this dispute absolutely as one of values.”

According to Nicholson, “the Armenians are not asking for much.”

“The Armenians we met, and we met a lot of them, were quite minimal in their demands,” he said. “They want to live in their homeland, and they want to do so securely.”

Despite the dangers, Nicholson said that the Armenian Christian communities’ plight “is not a lost cause.”

“Shockingly, despite all the threats that they are facing, Armenia is actually quite vibrant,” Nicholson said.

“There’s room,” he added, “for the United States to play a very constructive role in helping these different parties, both of which are our allies, to reach a peaceful and just solution to end the conflict.”

https://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/religious-cleansing-threatens-armenian-christians-existence-human-rights-leaders-warn/94643


Russia Angry at Armenia’s Westward Tilt after NATO Voices Support for Yerevan

Vorskanian Yeghisabet
by Asbarez Staff

 

 

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Featured Story, Latest, Top Stories

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks at a press conference on the margins of the UN General Assembly on Sep. 23


You’re ‘Either with Us or Against Us,’ Says Russia’s Ambassador to Armenia

Russian officials voiced their concerns about Armenia’s increasing embrace of the West after a NATO representative expressed support for Yerevan’s policies in the region.

Armenia is reorienting its foreign policy towards the West at the expense of its long-standing alliance with Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published on Thursday.

“Armenia has decided very clearly to make some shift in their foreign policy, to take some distance from Moscow,” Javier Colomina, the NATO secretary general’s special representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia, told Georgian television earlier this week.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed this head on when he voiced Moscow’s concern during an interview with the official Russian news agency Tass.

“Unfortunately, official Yerevan, succumbing to the persuasion of Westerners, is trying to reformat its foreign policy line,” Lavrov told TASS. “It is exchanging the time-tested alliance with Moscow not even for concrete help from the West but only for vague promises.”

Lavrov was particularly concerned about what he described as Armenia’s deepening ties with NATO.

“Yerevan has been developing cooperation with NATO and its individual member countries lately,” Lavrov said. “This year, Armenia took part in several dozen events with the alliance. It continues to modernize its armed forces according to NATO standards, and the republic’s military personnel are undergoing training in a number of NATO member states. This cannot fail to cause us concern.”

“I hope that Yerevan is aware that deepening interaction with the alliance leads to a loss of sovereignty in the field of national defense and security,” he warned.

Russia’s Ambassador to Armenia Sergey Kopyrkin was asked by Armenia’s Public Television about Lavrov’s remarks, saying that by setting up a joint observer mission in Artsakh with NATO member, Turkey, it is, in fact, Russia that has opened a foothold for the alliance in the region.

“We are aware of the extent of relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan. Turkey’s presence in the joint monitoring center is probably a reflection of that reality, but it is not Russia’s posturing toward NATO,” Kopyrkin said.

“When we [Russia] talk about NATO, we are concerned that what we call the ‘collective West’ has declared Russia their strategic opponent—and even enemy—at this moment. Certainly, Moscow is doubly cautious about the trends that exist in the relations with the West,” Kopyrkin explained.

The Russian envoy said that Moscow does not want to force a confrontation with the West, however, he said, “we view politics [as] ‘either with us or against us.’”

“In this situation, we must take into consideration that the West’s objectives are to force conflict against Russia itself on all fronts, be it regionally or internationally. From this point of view, Russia’s concern is understandable and justified,” Kopyrkin said.

Azerbaijan Announces Expulsion of Two French Diplomats

Vorskanian Yeghisabet
Voice of America
Dec 26 2023
AFP - Azerbaijan's foreign ministry said Tuesday that two French diplomats had been ordered to leave over actions "incompatible with their diplomatic status."

The ministry said in a statement it had summoned French ambassador Anne Boillon to express a "strong protest over the actions of two employees of the French Embassy."

Without providing further details, it said the two had been declared personae non gratae and ordered to leave the country within 48 hours.

The move came amid tense relations between the countries as Baku has accused France of being biased towards Armenia during European-mediated peace talks with its arch-foe.

In November, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused France of inciting conflicts in the Caucasus by arming Armenia.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have fought two wars over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Baku reclaimed the enclave in September after a lightning offensive against Armenian separatists who had controlled it for three decades.

Armenia and Azerbaijan had said a comprehensive peace agreement could be signed by the end of the year, but internationally mediated negotiations between the ex-Soviet republics have made little progress.

Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan have met on several occasions for talks under the mediation of the European Union.

But in October, Aliyev refused to attend negotiations with Pashinyan in Spain, over what he said was France's "biased position".

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had been set to mediate the talks along with European Council President Charles Michel.

Home to a large Armenian diaspora, France has been routinely accused by Azerbaijan of pro-Armenian bias over the Caucasus countries' territorial conflict.

LCF Armenian Class Celebrates Holidays Through Music

Vorskanian Yeghisabet
Dec 26 2023
The Armenian after-school program for LCE, PCR, and PCY elementary school students celebrated its first Christmas concert and performance on Dec. 19.
Led by the highly experienced and dedicated teacher Marianna Khachatryan, the students memorized and recited Armenian holiday poems, sang Armenian Christmas songs and played instruments.
The enthusiastic students included PCY first grader Emin DerHartunian, PCY fourth grader Mihran DerHartunian, PCY second grader Vahan Gozumian, LCE first grader Arka Terzian, LCE transitional kindergartner Arpi Terzian, and PCR fourth grader Alec Tsaturyan.
The students were also recognized for their personal achievements and were awarded certificates, highlighting their strengths in their learning. Parents were invited to the classroom to see the performance and experience the progress the students made in their Armenian language skills throughout the school year.
This initiative, which embraces diversity and inclusion in our community, is taught by the Davidian and Mariamian Educational Foundation. It is a reputable organization that has successfully implemented similar programs in 25 schools across Southern California.
The program officially started for the three elementary schools in February 2023 and offers a six-year curriculum that includes Armenian language and cultural components. Open to any elementary school child in the La Cañada school district, the program accommodates students of all proficiency levels. Currently, the class is divided into beginner and intermediate levels. Upon completion of the program, students will receive a graduation ceremony, marking their linguistic and cultural accomplishments.
For those interested in enrolling, classes are currently held on Tuesdays from 3:30 to 5:30 pm at a La Cañada Unified School District office classroom and will begin on Jan. 9. Further details can be found at DMEF.org.

https://outlookvalleysun.outlooknewspapers.com/2023/12/26/lcf-armenian-class-celebrates-holidays-through-music/

Russia says it’s working to achieve peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Vorskanian Yeghisabet

 15:07, 21 December 2023

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 21, ARMENPRESS. Russia is actively working in the direction of unblocking of connection routes in South Caucasus and the signing of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russian top general Valery Gerasimov has said.

Gerasimov, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said that the situation in the South Caucasus remains tense but has a tendency to stabilize.

“Russia is carrying out active work through political channels in the direction of unblocking of transport connections in Transcaucasia, the signing of a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan, as well as resolving the most pressing Armenian-Azeri disputes,” the general said at a meeting with foreign military attachés.

Gerasimov claimed that during the Azeri attack in Nagorno-Karabakh in September the Russian peacekeepers accommodated over 10,000 civilians in their deployment bases and then ensured the safe passage of civilians into Armenia. He said that the ceasefire was achieved within 24 hours as a result of the mediation by Russian peacekeepers.

“At the same time, our servicemen continue to fulfil objectives, as guarantors of building peaceful life and return of residents of the region,” he added.




The Fall Of The Republic Of Artsakh

Vorskanian Yeghisabet

Dec 20 2023


  • Timothy McGowan

On September 19th, Azerbaijan launched an intense military offensive in the contested Nagorno – Karabakh region, which killed over 200 ethnic Armenians and dozens of Azerbaijanis. After just 24 hours of fighting, a ceasefire was agreed upon between Armenian forces and the Azerbaijani military. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, separatist authorities announced that the break-away region would officially be incorporated into Azerbaijan on January 1st, 2024. After decades of Armenian defiance, the hopes for an independent Republic of Artsakh have finally ended. According to the BCC, approximately 100,000 Armenians have fled the region since the military operation and subsequent capitulation. While Baku has maintained that Armenians would be treated as equal citizens, the mass exodus indicates fears of ethnic cleansing. 

Although Armenian and Azerbaijani ethnic tensions have persisted for centuries, the current Nagorno – Karabakh dispute is a relic of Soviet occupation. In 1923, the Soviet Union established that Nagorno – Karabakh should be an autonomous region within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, despite the population being roughly 95 percent Armenian at the time. Whether intentional or not, Stalin’s odd land distribution increased the potential for ethnic violence following Armenian and Azerbaijani independence. According to the Council of Foreign Relations, the Republic of Artsakh was declared following a referendum in the region in 1991, which ultimately led to a three year war. After the death of roughly 30,000 people, a bilateral ceasefire was signed in 1994 and officially remained in effect until 2020. Despite international recognition of Nagorno – Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Artsakh remained a breakaway region for several decades due to the military and economic support of both Armenia and Russia. 

While Armenia initially gained territory in the 1991 conflict, the tide turned in Azerbaijan’s favor in the following decades. This was mainly driven by Azerbaijan’s superior alliances, largely created by their vast reserves of petroleum and liquified natural gas. One of Azerbaijan’s most important allies is Turkey, which has provided significant military and diplomatic support to the country. Azerbaijan’s supply of petroleum alongside their shared Turkic identity has solidified Turkey’s support for Baku. According to Reuters, 80 percent of Azerbaijan’s oil exports flow through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline to Turkey, which strategically circumvents Armenia by passing through Georgia. Furthermore, Armenia and Turkey were already geopolitical rivals due to Ankara’s denial of the Armenian genocide in 1915. Many European countries, alongside the United States and Israel, have benefitted from Azerbaijan’s exports as well, effectively isolating Armenia from the world. 

Armenia’s main allies are limited to Russia and Iran, which both lack significant geopolitical clout at the moment. According to TRT World, Russia’s support for Armenia is derived from their shared Orthodox-Christian identity and Slavic heritage. Without Russia’s military and economic support, Armenia was unlikely to win the war in 1991. Armenia’s alliance with Iran is mainly derived from Tehran’s tensions with its Azerbaijani minority. Iran is home to over 12 million Azerbaijani’s, more than the population of Azerbaijan itself. Tehran does not want its own separatist movement, which is why it seeks to undermine Baku to decrease the probability of a unification movement of all Azerbaijani people. One way to do this is to support Armenia so that Baku’s attention is fixated on another matter. According to Modern Diplomacy, Iran has supplied Armenia with extensive weaponry, including 500 units of anti-tank missile systems. While these allies have been helpful to Armenia in the past, Russia and Iran have been more concerned with their own internal matters in recent years. 

Following the 1994 ceasefire, the state of Nagorno – Karabakh remained fairly stable with infrequent clashes occurring over the subsequent decades. However, emboldened by significant weapon imports from Turkey, Israel, and Belarus, Azerbaijan has become increasingly aggressive in the last decade. According to the Center for Eastern Studies, Azerbaijan launched a military operation known as the four days war in 2016, in which Baku enjoyed miniscule territorial gains. In September 2020, fighting once again broke out along the Azerbaijan-Nagorno Karabakh border, which saw the most intense violence since 1994. Lasting roughly six weeks, the Second Nagorno Karabakh war claimed thousands of lives before a peace deal was finally brokered by Russia on November 9th. Azerbaijan reclaimed the majority of its lost territory and Armenia only retained a small portion of the Karabakh region. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the peace deal established the Lachin corridor, which was a designated passage protected by Russian peacekeepers connecting Armenia to Nagorno Karabakh. 

In December 2022, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of using the Lachin Corridor to supply weapons to Nagorno Karabakh and subsequently blocked the transit line. Armenia denied the allegations and accused Azerbaijan of isolating the region for its own agenda. Whether the Armenians supplied weapons or not, the Lachin Corridor was a vital route for supplying essential resources such as food and medicine. According to the BBC, residents reported severe food shortages and human rights violations were thrown at Baku. However, Azerbaijan maintains that any supply shortages were the fault of the Armenians as they refused to accept Azerbaijani aid when offered. In any case, Nagorno Karabakh’s isolation combined with a weakened Russian ally meant the break-away region had little means of defending itself in the recent military operation. 

Samvel Shahramanyan, the president of Nagorno-Karabakh, signed a decree to dissolve the Republic of Artsakh and all of its institutions on January 1st, 2024. While this specific territorial dispute seems to be resolved for now, it remains to be seen what these developments mean for the Armenian diaspora and Armenian – Azerbaijani relations. According to the AP, Jeyhun Bayramov, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister, reaffirmed that all ethnic Armenians will be guaranteed full rights and freedoms. While these statements cannot be confirmed, the reality of the situation will become more apparent in the coming weeks. According to Aljazeera, a UN team of approximately a dozen people recently arrived in Nagorno-Karabakh. Although the majority of its citizens have already fled the region, this team will be able to assess the claims of the Azerbaijani government. 

While it is too early to assess the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, should the Azerbaijani government pursue a policy of ethnic cleansing there are various actions the international community could take. First, while Azerbaijan’s oil reserves gives it diplomatic leverage, it also makes its economy very dependent on exports. Should the international community want to retaliate against the Azerbaijani government for any reason, decreasing imports of Azerbaijan oil would greatly undermine Baku’s economy. Also, Azerbaijan relies completely on weapons imports from a few countries. This allows for significant leverage over the state should grave human rights atrocities be committed. 



Third annual Thanksgiving in Syunik hosted for Artsakh families

Vorskanian Yeghisabet
 Garin News 1

For the third consecutive year, I have been blessed with the opportunity to host Thanksgiving dinner in the Syunik province of Armenia. This year I gathered the villagers of Meghri’s Dashdoon, the neighboring village to Lijk where I currently stay. While I had originally intended to host Thanksgiving in the same village every year, to build a custom for the locals in hopes that they would organize the gathering themselves one day, this year I prioritized celebrating Thanksgiving in a village hosting Artsakhtsis, given the mass exodus from Artsakh. 

The village of Dashdoon

In September, the villagers of Dashdoon took it upon themselves to open their doors to those displaced from Artsakh, fixing up abandoned homes and offering them rent free in perpetuity to those willing to resettle in Armenia’s south. Dashdoon, which has less than 100 permanent residents, initially took in 10 families who the locals had met in Goris or had contacted in response to their Facebook posts looking for housing. Eight families totalling over 30 people remain today in Dashdoon and are set on staying in their new homes. The village now plans to reopen their school for the new children and hopes to accept more families in the coming months.

Three years ago, when I first decided to host Thanksgiving dinners in Syunik, my hope was to replicate the Armenian Relief Society Thanksgiving luncheons that I attended for years in Chicago. My first attempt was far from it, as the dinner in Davit Bek was entirely comprised of men, with the exception of one grandmother who washed dishes and her grandson who had come to help. Last year, I held two dinners, one in Ghapan’s southern Dzav village on the border with Artsakh, and one in Artsakh’s Marduni village of Ashan. Both dinners were an improvement, with a significant turnout of women and a handful of children, but it was still far from the family luncheons we enjoy in our community in the United States. 

This year’s Thanksgiving gathering

This year was by far the closest in resemblance to our diasporan Armenian community life and the most fun of all the dinners I have hosted. There were over 80 people in attendance, with all but a handful joining to feast on the local shepherds’ lambs, including all of the children of the village and many of the women and elderly. 

“It’s just jermuk, genats!”

My day began with the slaughtering of the lambs with some of the local men, a mix of Artsakhtsis and locals who had already become close friends over the last two months. For lunch we fried the organs and some of the tmag, or sheep tail, with a few toasts of local vodka before setting up the hall in preparation for dinner. Once everyone had gathered, our local Der Hayr, Der Rafael, led a prayer to start our evening. The hall was soon filled with sounds of joy and laughter as we dined together, only to be interrupted by the occasional genats (toast) to our land, families and soldiers. 

We sang and danced all night

As with every Thanksgiving I have hosted in Syunik, it was raised that this was the first time in many years that the village had gathered for a happy reason rather than for mourning. It did not take much of the local oghi for the villagers to start singing and dancing, creating a beautiful moment of peace and happiness despite the hardships and dark days we are living in. 

A week prior, my friend Shant Charchaf had toured an Artsakhtsi puppet show in Syunik. We hosted one in Dashdoon, where I learned that a few of the children from Artsakh knew how to play the shvi and dhol, but had left their instruments behind. I immediately reached out to my good friend Alek Surenian from Chicago to see if we could raise some funds to purchase instruments and lessons. We succeeded in doing so in one day, and those very instruments were put to good use at our Thanksgiving dinner. 

I want to give a special thank you to Shant and to Alek for investing in the Armenian culture of Dashdoon and to all my friends who contributed to my dinner and gave residents new and old an opportunity to spend a wonderful evening together over a delicious lamb dinner.

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Garin is an alumnus of the AYF Chicago "Ararat" Chapter. He lives in the town of Meghri in Syunik, Armenia.


EU’s Michel welcomes ‘major breakthrough’ after Armenia, Azerbaijan announce prisoner swap

Vorskanian Yeghisabet

 09:57, 8 December 2023

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. President of the European Council, Charles Michel, has welcomed the ‘major breakthrough’ in Armenia-Azerbaijan relations after the sides reached an agreement to release prisoners.

In a post on X, Michel called on the both countries to finalize the peace treaty.

“Delighted to welcome a major break through in Armenia-Azerbaijan relations as they issue a joint statement. Welcome in particular release of detainees and unprecedented opening in political dialogue. Establishing and deepening bilateral dialogue between sides has been a key objective of the EU-led Brussels process: today’s progress is a key step. I now encourage the leaders to finalise the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal ASAP,’ Michel said.

EU shares Armenia’s vision for Crossroads of Peace project, says President Khachaturyan

Vorskanian Yeghisabet

 16:00, 7 December 2023

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. After some time, the number of countries supporting Armenia’s Crossroads of Peace project will grow, President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan has said.

Photos by Hayk Manukyan

In an interview with Armenpress, the President said that currently the EU is like-minded regarding Armenia's vision for the Crossroads of Peace project. 

“I can say that they [EU] are ready [to support]. We only need to carry out specialized work,” he said.

“I think that after a while we will have like-minded supporters who will be willing to contribute and participate in the implementation of this project [Crossroads of Peace],” the president added.

Khachaturyan lauded the New Regional Reality and the Crossroads of Peace forum in Yerevan, which took place recently and was attended by analysts and experts from Iran, India, Georgia and Turkiye.  He said that such initiatives are highly important. “This is how everything starts. You can’t just say ‘I have a good idea, why isn’t anyone listening?’ That’s not how it happens. You have to be able to serve it,” the president said.

President Khachaturyan added that Armenia must be able to envision the continuation of the Crossroads of Peace project towards various directions, which will make the project even more attractive.

AW: “No one did anything”

Vorskanian Yeghisabet
December 6, 2023 Lisa Gulesserian, PhD Opinion, Op-Eds 0

Lisa Gulesserian delivering her powerful remarks at the November 18 protest (Photo courtesy of Zoravik)

Note: This speech was delivered on behalf of Zoravik at the activists’ protest/vigil at the JFK Federal Building in Boston, Massachusetts on November 18, 2023.

We are here today because the international community, including our own United States Congress and State Department, failed to protect the lives and livelihoods of an indigenous people. The state of Massachusetts has failed not only the Massachusett people from whom land and resources were stolen in order for us to stand in front of this Federal Building today; Massachusetts and the United States have now failed the Armenians of Artsakh (also called “Nagorno-Karabakh”).  

While the world watched and did nothing in the South Caucasus, a historically Armenian majority territory with a 4,000-year-old history was blockaded, gutted and depopulated of its indigenous Armenian population by a genocidal, authoritarian regime—Azerbaijan. 

No one did anything when Azerbaijan attacked Armenians in Artsakh and bombed them for 44 days straight in 2020. 

No one did anything while Azerbaijan captured, held and tortured Armenian prisoners of war, many of whom have been held captive for over three years since the end of the war in 2020. 

No one did anything when authoritarian Azerbaijan challenged Armenia’s sovereignty and deployed troops into the fledgling democratic country. 

No one did anything when Azerbaijan imposed an illegal blockade on Nagorno-Karabakh by closing the Lachin Corridor, the region’s lifeline to Armenia. 

No one did anything when, for nine months of blockade, Azerbaijan starved and terrorized Armenians in Artsakh. 

And no one did anything when on September 19 Azerbaijan launched another attack on the tired and malnourished civilian population of Artsakh. Emergency United Nations Security Council meetings did nothing. 

Two separate Congressional hearings with the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission did nothing. Our Congress and State Department did nothing to stop Azerbaijan from seizing Artsakh and ethnically cleansing the region of over 100,000 of its Armenian inhabitants. 100,000 Armenians are now refugees who were forced to leave their ancestral home because they would never be safe under Azerbaijani rule, under the rule of a genocidal regime hellbent on destroying them.

We are horrified by what the world and our government have allowed to happen to the Armenians of Artsakh, despite years of warnings from almost all genocide prevention experts and NGOs who foresaw the disaster taking place amid the willful blindness of the international community. 

World leaders and powerful stakeholders are complicit in Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Artsakh by providing diplomatic cover for and not intervening against Azerbaijan’s violent takeover of a region that had never been under Azerbaijani rule before Stalin placed it there in order to undermine Armenian security, a region that has seen millennia of Armenian culture and history, a region where the Armenian alphabet has been continuously taught since the fifth century.  

Thumbing their noses at human decency, key world leaders traded import of oil and gas from Azerbaijan for complicity in the destruction of the Armenians of Artsakh. They show every sign of doing the same as Azerbaijan now looks to do the same to the Armenian Republic, starting with its southern area.

It is not just that the U.S. Congress and State Department have done nothing to protect Armenians. The United States actively built the military of Azerbaijan over decades with hundreds of millions of dollars in US military aid. The U.S. thus had a direct role in helping  Azerbaijan reach its genocidal goals. 

Three decades ago, the U.S. Congress passed Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, which prohibits military assistance to Azerbaijan because of Azerbaijani aggression toward Armenia and Artsakh. Yet, successive U.S. administrations have used their waiver power to continue the immense military support of Azerbaijan.  

This includes the Trump administration, which did so even as Azerbaijan launched a massive military invasion of Artsakh and Armenia in 2020, and the Biden administration, as Azerbaijan continued military operations against Armenia and Azerbaijan, imposed a military blockade to starve the Armenians of Artsakh out and, when that failed, launched another massive military operation to complete the ethnic cleansing of Armenians.

The U.S. administration and Congress should not stand idly by while Azerbaijan completes its genocidal goals. The United States can and should permanently cease all security assistance and weapons sales to Azerbaijan in light of its human rights violations and repeated hostilities. This is the least we can do, and we demand that our executive and congressional representatives do something: Enforce Section 907 and stop sending money and selling arms to a genocidal regime!

Along with ceasing all monetary and military aid to Azerbaijan, we also call on Congress and the administration to immediately sanction Azerbaijan for its crimes. We have used sanctions against Russia and Russian oligarchs for their aggression against Ukraine. It’s time to use the same strategy against another authoritarian, power-hungry leader and his family and cronies. We demand that our congressional representatives and administration do something: Sanction Ilham Aliyev and his family NOW!

With sanctions against the Aliyev clan and no more aid for Azerbaijan, Armenians might have a future. But the Armenians of Artsakh who fled Azerbaijani persecution need help NOW. The elderly sleeping in the streets and the malnourished children need immediate humanitarian assistance, and the paltry 11.5 million that USAID just promised to send to help ease the plight of Armenians is not enough. We demand that our congressional representatives do more: Send more humanitarian assistance to Armenia NOW! If we could give hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Azerbaijan to help cause this catastrophe, the least we can do is send adequate aid to save the lives of those directly victimized by it.

The U.S. Congress and State Department have the chance to right their wrongs. We demand that our congressional representatives and the administration do something to help the beleaguered Armenians of Artsakh and the besieged country of Armenia.

You can do something too: call your representatives and demand they support bipartisan HR 5686, which calls for sanctions against Azerbaijan and $30 million in humanitarian aid to Armenians. 

Call your representatives to support HR 5683, which authorizes military financing for Armenia and repeals section 907, ending military aid to Azerbaijan.

To learn more ways to support Artsakh Armenians, visit ArtsakhSOS.com.

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Lisa Gulesserian is Preceptor on Armenian at Harvard, where she teaches three levels of Western Armenian and Armenian culture courses. She is the lead editor of Mayda: Echoes of Protest.