Category: 2020

The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday called a special session to discuss Azerbaijan’s unprovoked attacks along the entire border of Artsakh, expressing concern that the most recent clashed could “spiral into all-out war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

The 15-member security council held a close-door discussion on the matter and emerged with a strong condemnation of “use of force.”

“Security Council members voiced support for the call by the Secretary General on the sides to immediately stop fighting, de-escalate tensions and return to meaningful negotiations without delay,” the council said in a statement.

The meting was held at the request of Estonia, a permanent member of the Council. What the meeting did not do is condemn Azerbaijan for its aggression, nor did it address Turkey’s intervention in the conflict, which threatens the stability of the region.

Ahead of Tuesday’s security council meeting, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who pointed to Turkey’s “direct destabilizing” involvement in Azerbaijan’s latest attacks.

Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan sent a letter to Guterres on Monday detailing Azerbaijan’s latest aggression in Artsakh, including the deliberate targeting of the civilian population and infrastructures using heavy artillery and force/
“The aggression was pre-planned, and the statements of the Azerbaijani side on the alleged counter-attack are absolutely falsified. Azerbaijan has never concealed its strategic goal of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by the use of force, while continuously maintaining tension along the line of contact and the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border,” said Mnatsakanyan in his letter.

The foreign minister also expressed Yerevan’s concern over Turkey’s unconditional and unilateral support to Azerbaijan and its aggression. Strongly condemning Azerbaijan’s aggression, Mnatsakanyan emphasized that Azerbaijan’s attacks, which violate the ceasefire, are not only a gross violation of international humanitarian law, but also pose the risk of escalating into a full-scale regional war.

Mnatsakanyan criticized Azerbaijan’s attacks pointing out that they directly oppose Guterres’ calls for a global ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic. He stressed that the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan bears full responsibility for the aggression.

Mnatsakanyan told the U.N. leader that Armenia, as the guarantor of the security of the people of Artsakh, will take all necessary measures to protect the inalienable rights of the people of Artsakh and will give an adequate response to the Azerbaijani aggression.

“The right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination is an integral part of the conflict resolution, and by virtue of this right the people of Artsakh must be able to determine its status without any limitation,” Mnatsakanyan said in the letter, reiterating Armenia’s commitment to a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Krekorian sponsored a resolution today through which the City of Los Angeles has condemned the brutal and unprovoked invasion launched over the weekend by Azerbaijan against the Republic of Artsakh. The resolution, which was co-sponsored by Council President Nury Martinez, demands that the Trump Administration and the Congress “utilize all diplomatic, economic and political means to compel Azerbaijan to engage meaningfully in the peace process.”

Krekorian’s resolution emphasizes that support for Artsakh is essential to US interests and core American principles.  “Because our country is based on and committed to the values of democracy, liberty and the right of self-determination, the United States has a moral obligation to stand up and speak out on behalf of the people of the Republic of Artsakh, who have earned their right of self-governance and have flourished as a free, democratic and sovereign nation for almost 30 years,” the resolution states.

“The world community must condemn Azerbaijan for renewing warfare, violating its ceasefire agreement with Armenia, and causing death and destruction to the Armenian population that it so detests,” Krekorian added.  “Its corrupt and autocratic regime is using brute force against civilians in a misguided attempt to reimpose Stalin-era oppression over the indigenous Armenian people of Artsakh in their own ancient homeland.”

In co-sponsoring the resolution, City Council President Nury Martinez said, “Since Saturday, the people of Artsakh have been under attack by Azerbaijan’s military, who have violently and recklessly attacked children and families, causing the loss of innocent lives.  The City of Los Angeles stands with the Armenian people and the Republic of Artsakh and denounces Azerbaijan for these vicious attacks and violating a cease-fire that is in place. Today, I joined Councilmember Krekorian and my colleagues in issuing a resolution calling on the White House, Secretary of State and Congress to denounce this attack and work to end it immediately.”

Krekorian noted the strong ties between the City of Los Angeles and the Republic of Artsakh. Through Krekorian’s prior work, Los Angeles recognized Artsakh’s sovereignty in 2014, laying the groundwork for California and other states and cities to follow LA’s lead.  In 2012, Krekorian led Los Angeles to establish a historic formal Friendship City relationship with Shushi.  More recently, the government of Azerbaijan unsuccessfully attempted to stop Krekorian from hosting Armenian President Pashinyan at Los Angeles City Hall.  “The City of Los Angeles has always stood in strong solidarity with the people of Artsakh, recognizing the sovereignty of its people and the democratic values of its government,” Krekorian said.

Krekorian was quick to condemn Azerbaijan on Sunday and provide succinct information about the latest Azerbaijani aggression in a letter to constituents and community members.

Asbarez obtained the letter and is providing in full below.

Yet again, Azerbaijan’s military forces have launched a deadly and unprovoked attack against its Armenian neighbors.  Yet again, Azerbaijan’s recklessness puts innocent civilian lives and fundamental United States interests at risk.  And yet again, the Armenian people face a genuine threat of the continuation of Turkish efforts to annihilate us.

As you know, last night, Azeri tanks, helicopters and artillery attacked Artsakh, including Stepanakert.  This invasion follows the deadly attacks Azerbaijan launched just two months ago against rural villages in Armenia.  During a time when the UN has called for ceasefire around the world due to the COVID pandemic, Azerbaijan instead is renewing warfare, violating its ceasefire agreement with Armenia, and causing death and destruction to the Armenian population that it so detests.

This reckless invasion is a direct threat not only to the Armenian population of the region, but also to regional stability.  Already, Turkish dictator Erdogan is threatening Armenia and offering full support to the Azeri invasion.  It is not hard to imagine that a full scale war against a country that borders on Turkey, Russia and Iran presents a grave danger to the world.  Azerbaijan’s actions create an immediate danger of escalation that would enflame a tinderbox and severely damage US strategic interests in the region.

The corrupt Baku regime’s outrageous warmongering and racist hatred of Armenians seems to know no limits.  This attack is just the latest in a consistent record of Azeri barbarity directed at Armenians who just want to go about their lives in peace.  The Azeris targeted Armenian civilians with mass murder in the pogroms of 1988 and 1990.  They targeted Armenian civilians with indiscriminate shelling during Artsakh’s war of independence.  Twenty years ago they destroyed a thousand year old Armenian cemetery at Julfa, ignoring the pleas of UNESCO and desecrating tens of thousands of graves.  They celebrated as a hero and rewarded the Azeri soldier who beheaded an Armenian with an axe during a NATO “Partnership for Peace” program in 2004.  They targeted Armenian civilian villages and committed shocking war crimes during their 2016 invasion of Artsakh.  And now they are engaging in the same kinds of ruthless violence and abomination yet again.

If that were not enough, the bellicose Azerbaijan government recently threatened to launch a missile attack on a nuclear power plant, releasing massive amounts of radiation only 20 miles from Yerevan.  The spokesperson for the Azerbaijan Defense Ministry today bragged about their capability of hitting the power plant, which would, as he put it, “lead to a great disaster for Armenia.”  This rhetoric is a continuation of Azerbaijan’s repeated threats, including from its famously corrupt and dictatorial president, to destroy and conquer all Armenian lands.
This outrageous and consistent pattern of aggression completely shreds all international norms and notions of human decency.  Worse, Azeri violence and threats carry with them the echoes of generations of pan-Turkish commitment to erasing the Armenian population and culture from the world.

The most dramatic manifestation of this lust for ethnic cleansing, of course, was the Armenian Genocide — but the actions, statements and active preparations of Azerbaijan and its enabler Turkey make clear that genocide is a genuine threat in our time as well.

The United States, France and Russia, as co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, have attempted for years to mediate a sustainable negotiated peace, but those efforts have utterly failed.  Azerbaijan has consistently violated the ceasefire with scores of attacks across the border, resulting in both civilian and military deaths in both Armenia and Artsakh.  The United States nonetheless still refuses to state clearly that there is only one perpetrator that continues to be responsible for the violence, bloodshed and instability in the region, and that is Azerbaijan.  Any statement of moral equivalence in the face of continued massive violence, aggression and genocidal threats by the government of Azerbaijan is entirely unacceptable. Our government has an obligation to hold Baku accountable for Azerbaijan’s destruction of the peace process and its ongoing crimes and threats.

Unless Azerbaijan immediately faces meaningful consequences and international condemnation, there is little chance of achieving lasting peace.  The interests of the United States will be harmed by instability in this vital region, and our reputation in the international community will be irreparably damaged by our failure to stand up and speak out on behalf of the victims of this inexcusable and continuing record of Azeri aggression and violence.  And if another genocide of Armenians comes, the nations who failed to stop it will have no excuse for their complicity.

I therefore have called upon the United States government to condemn Azerbaijan unequivocally for its latest violation of the ceasefire, and to demand an immediate and permanent cessation of all Azeri hostile action.  I further have called upon the Trump Administration and the United States Congress to take immediate action to cease all military support and cooperation with Azerbaijan, including suspending all arms shipments to Azerbaijan.

Finally, I have called upon the United States Department of State to utilize all diplomatic, economic and political means to compel Azerbaijan to engage meaningfully in the peace process, through the Minsk Group or otherwise, to achieve a sustainable, lasting peace that ensures the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Artsakh.

In solidarity with the people of Artsakh, I remain

Protesters Condemned Ankara’s Criminal Intervention in Armenia

Thousands of Los Angeles Armenians gathered in front of the Azerbaijani Consulate building to protest Azerbaijan’s latest attacks along the entire border of Artsakh. The protesters also raised their angry voice in condemnation of Turkey’s brazen and criminal intervention in the Karabakh conflict.

The busy section of Wilshire Boulevard in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles was closed throughout the entire protest, which was organized by the Armenian Youth Federation and drew a crowd representing a cross-section of the community.

Unlike a similar protest in July, when a group of Azerbaijani disrupted the event by instigating violence and threatening demonstrators, Wednesday’s protest was peaceful and the cowardly Azerbaijanis did not show up.

The short programmed included a moving speech by AYF member Hratch Avedissian, who articulated the demands for justice of the Armenian people. He highlighted Azerbaijan’s ongoing efforts to military threaten the lives of innocent Armenians in Artsakh, who have expressed their fundamental right to self-determination.

He also pointed out Turkey indiscriminate intervention in the Karabakh conflict, pointing out that during the most recent attacks that began on Sunday, Ankara has inserted itself in the conflict. This behavior, he said, threatens the stability and security of the entire region. Avedissian also accused Turkey of advancing the same genocidal policies that guided the Ottoman Empire in committing the Armenian Genocide.

The AYF leader called on the international community to condemn Azerbaijan for its continued attacks on Artsakh and Armenia, and urge Turkey to stop its interventionist policies.

However, the protest was also an opportunity for Armenians in Los Angeles to gather and honor the valiant soldiers who have been guarding the borders of Armenia and Artsakh and protecting the Armenian Nation. Avedissian said that as long as there is a war, all Armenians are united in solidarity with the heroic Armed Forces of Artsakh and Armenia.

The hashtag

WE WILL WIN.