ENCINO, CA – On Wednesday, November 13, 2024, approximately 500 students from Southern California’s Armenian schools—Ferrahian High School, Rose & Alex Pilibos Armenian School, Armenian Mesrobian School, and AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School—will participate in a walkathon from Holy Martyrs Armenian Apostolic Church in Encino to St. Peter Armenian Apostolic Church in Van Nuys. This student-led demonstration will protest COP29, the upcoming climate summit scheduled to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, highlighting serious human rights concerns linked to Azerbaijan’s policies toward Armenians.
The event, starting at 10:00 AM PST and concluding around 1:30 PM PST, is a call to action from Armenian-American students in response to what they view as the international community’s tacit approval of Azerbaijan’s recent actions against the ethnic Armenian population of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). The march will draw attention to the forced displacement of 120,000 Armenians from their ancestral lands following an extended blockade that led to a humanitarian crisis. In addition, participants will demand the right of return for those displaced.
Archbishop Kegham Khatcherian and Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, alongside clergy members and student council leaders, are set to address the crowd at St. Peter Armenian Apostolic Church. Their remarks will underscore the broader issues surrounding Azerbaijan’s human rights record, including the ongoing captivity of Armenian hostages and the regime’s dependence on fossil fuels, which stands in stark contrast to the climate action goals COP29 aims to promote.
While COP29 purports to focus on clean energy and climate resilience, the decision to hold the summit in Azerbaijan has raised widespread concern. “The hosting of COP29 in Baku not only contradicts Azerbaijan’s fossil fuel-heavy policies but also enables the regime to greenwash its ongoing human rights abuses,” said one student leader. The march serves as a reminder of the Armenian diaspora’s commitment to justice and a protest against what they view as an international platform enabling Azerbaijan’s oppressive actions.
The students aim to amplify the voice of the Armenian-American community in denouncing Azerbaijan’s treatment of Armenians in Artsakh and to demand accountability on the global stage.
