Over the past four days and counting, the government of Azerbaijan has ratcheted up its campaign to intimidate and target the Armenians of Artsakh in its ongoing effort to depopulate the centuries-old Armenian enclave and resolve its “Armenian Question.”
Cynically orchestrating a blockade of the Berdzor (Lachin) Corridor by fake government-paid environmental “activists,” Azerbaijan has effectively isolated 120,000 Artsakh men, women and children from the rest of the world and facilitated conditions in Azerbaijan to inflame ethnic tension and hatred against Armenians.
Azerbaijan has chosen this reckless strategy because it has chosen to deny a path to freedom, safety and security for Artsakh’s Armenians. Nor have the world’s governments sufficiently challenged Azerbaijan to stop its past and ongoing human rights crimes against Artsakh’s Armenians.
As long as Azerbaijan can target the Armenians of Artsakh as it is today – by cutting natural gas access in the dead of winter and eliminating safe passage of people, food, and medicine through the Berdzor Corridor between Armenia and Artsakh – the Armenians of Artsakh can expect a repeat of Azerbaijan’s genocidal pogroms that occurred against Armenians in Sumgait and Kirovabad in 1988 and Baku in 1990.
All who have a role to play in stopping Azerbaijan’s crimes will be held accountable for the fate of the Armenians of Artsakh who continue to fight for self-determination, safety and security in the face of threatened genocide by the Aliyev regime.
We thank those US officials who are already working to stop Azerbaijan’s dangerous actions and calling on the US government to protect the freedom-loving Armenians of Artsakh who find themselves at the mercy of an Azerbaijan regime that claims them as citizens even as it moves to eradicate their presence from their indigenous lands.
We call on those who have not yet spoken out to condemn Azerbaijan’s brutal actions and join their colleagues to work toward a just resolution to the long plight of Artsakh’s Armenians.
Finally, we call on our Armenian-American community and allies to contact their elected officials to help resolve this evolving and worsening crisis, follow all action alerts, and be prepared to take additional action to protect our brothers and sisters in Artsakh.
December 16, 2022
Signed:
Armenian Assembly of America
Armenian Democratic Liberal Party, Eastern District USA
Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU)
Armenian National Committee of America, Eastern USA
Armenian Network of America – Greater New York
Armenian Relief Society of Eastern USA, Inc.
Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Eastern USA
Armenian Student Associations United
Armenian Youth Federation–Youth Organization of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (AYF-YOARF)
Eastern USA Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church (Eastern)
Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society, Eastern USA
Homenetmen Eastern USA
Knights of Vartan
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
Tekeyan Cultural Association of USA and Canada
