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Today, the protest actions, which started yesterday in Yerevan demanding the immediate unblocking of #Artsakh continued.

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Today, the protest actions, which started yesterday in Yerevan demanding the immediate unblocking of Artsakh continued.

Protesters participating in the informative demonstration assembled in front of the Embassy of France and remained engaged in their cause. Subsequently, they proceeded to march from the Embassy of France to the US Embassy in Yerevan. Notably, the protest also included Artsakh children who had been displaced from their homes in Hadrut due to Azerbaijani aggression. The protests are being coordinated by the Operational Headquarters of the Government of the Republic of Artsakh.

Grigory Karasin Russian Federation Council Committee responds to accusations against Russia from Azerbaijan

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Grigory Karasin, Chair of the Russian Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, reacted to the “unfriendly” expressions of Azerbaijani MP Hudrat Hasanguliev.

In response to the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry on July 15, Hasanguliev claimed that “Russia does not want peace in the South Caucasus and is interested in the continuation of the bloody conflict between the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples.”

The Azerbaijani MP even allowed himself to call Russia “unreliable and bloodthirsty,” and demanded the withdrawal of the Russian peacekeeping contingent from Nagorno-Karabakh, EaDaily wrote.

“I hope that such anti-Russian attacks do not reflect the official position of Baku. It would be important to evaluate them in the Azerbaijani parliament as well,” said Karasin.

“I would like to remind the [aforesaid] MP that in all phases of the Karabakh conflict, it was mostly with the efforts of the Russian Federation that it was possible to stop the hostilities, bring the parties to the negotiating table, and reach compromises.

“In the fall of 2020, the bloodshed in the region was stopped with the personal mediation of [Russian] President V. V. Putin. With the participation of Moscow, tripartite agreements were developed at a high level, which form the basis of the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement.

“The Russian peacekeepers deployed [in Nagorno-Karabakh] by the decision of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia have brought peace to Karabakh, they are helping to solve priority humanitarian and socioeconomic issues. I will mention only one fact: since November 2020, the [Russian peacekeeping] contingent [in Karabakh] has demined more than 2.5 thousand hectares of land, including about 700 kilometers of roads. Our peacekeepers have given Karabakh Armenians and Azerbaijanis a chance to talk about a peace agenda. We consider the demands to withdraw the Russian contingent as completely irresponsible.

“And in general, H. Hasanguliyev’s statement completely contradicts the spirit and content of the declaration of allied cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan of February 22, 2022, and does not correspond to the high level of relations between Baku and Moscow, including on the parliamentary line. We at the [Russian] Federation Council are ready to continue the constructive dialogue with our Azerbaijani colleagues, who, as we know, are absolute majority,” Karasin added.

Turkish Consul in Los Angeles Lobbies Elected Officials to Ignore Armenian-American Concerns

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In late June 2023, Turkish Consul General in Los Angeles, Sinan Kuzum, disseminated a letter to California lawmakers in an attempt to highlight “positive developments in the Turkish and Armenian relationship,” referring to the ongoing negotiations between Armenia and Turkey, and the participation of Armenia’s Prime Minister in the inauguration of Turkey’s President. In his inflammatory letter, Kuzum accused the Armenian Diaspora in Los Angeles of attempting to hamper the goodwill and spirit of peaceful negotiations between Armenia and Turkey, urging lawmakers to be mindful of the ongoing negotiations before they speak on matters concerning Armenian-Turkish relations.

The Turkish Consul General’s letter is just the latest example of the Turkish government’s efforts to silence the Armenian diaspora’s voice and effectiveness in advocating for a just US foreign policy in the region. Furthermore, the consul general’s letter is indicative of a larger problem that should be of grave concern to Americans and policymakers alike–a foreign principal actively engaged in efforts to bend local, state, and federal policymakers to the will of a foreign country, in direct conflict with their constituents’ interests and needs.

The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region responded to the Turkish Consul General’s letter, condemning their deception and distortion of facts. The Turkish government has a long history of denying the Armenian Genocide and, more recently, supplied Azerbaijan with weaponry and personnel during the 2020 Artsakh War. 

“The Turkish Consul General’s letter is a desperate attempt to deflect attention away from the Turkish government’s own obstructionism on the path to normalization of relations,” said ANCA – Western Region Board Chair Nora Hovsepian Esq. “Whitewashing its history of genocide and human rights violations is nothing new for Turkey. We will continue to hold the Turkish government accountable until it fulfills its historical obligations to the Armenian people. The Armenian diaspora will not be silenced, and we will continue to fight for justice for the Armenian Genocide and the crimes Turkey has been actively committing against Armenia, Artsakh, and the Diaspora as a whole. We trust that our elected officials will continue to prioritize the concerns of their own Armenian-American constituents over the shameless lobbying of a foreign government trying to dismiss those legitimate concerns.” 

The Armenian National Committee of America Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian-American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

Punishing blockades, not endless talk, is the path to peace

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by Michael Rubin,

When Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin sought to strangle West Berlin into submission 75 years ago, President Harry Truman stood firm lest dictators’ blockades become the norm. The Berlin Airlift brought temporary relief. After the Bay of Pigs fiasco, Stalin’s successor Nikita Khrushchev concluded President John F. Kennedy was weak and vulnerable. He again turned his sites on Berlin, but Kennedy pushed back hard. West Berlin remained secure, even if divided, until the end of the Cold War.

Credibility matters, but six decades after Kennedy, Western fortitude is in short supply. When dictators challenge democracies, diplomats often counsel dialogue but do nothing else. This has led dictators to embrace blockades and starvation as a policy tool. Less than a year after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received the Nobel Peace Prize, for example, he blockaded his country’s Tigray region to force its political submission. When he saw the West was all talk and no action, he simply tightened the noose. Several hundred thousand people died.

TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY, OR THE MINORITY OF ONE

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev now repeats the process in Nagorno-Karabakh, home to one of the world’s most ancient Christian communities. In December 2022, he violated an agreement to keep a corridor open to allow traffic between the Armenian-populated region and the outside world. Last week, he even cut Red Cross shipments to the region. When Secretary of State Antony Blinken pleaded for dialogue, Aliyev responded with bullets fired at an American factory.

Neither the White House nor the State Department needed to be impotent. More than a quarter-century ago, Congress gave both the tools to tackle those who would use blockades and starvation as tools of statecraft.

The end of the Cold War lifted the lid off a pressure cooker. Long-suppressed local conflicts erupted in Ethiopia, Yugoslavia, and the former Soviet Union. As both Turkey and Azerbaijan blockaded Armenia, American authorities debated how to respond, especially when one recipient of U.S. assistance interfered with the delivery of U.S. assistance elsewhere. The result was the Humanitarian Aid Corridors Act. Initially part of the 1996 Foreign Operations Bill, Congress inserted it as an amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 the next year, enshrining it in U.S. law. 

Specifically, the law declares: “No assistance shall be furnished under this chapter or the Arms Export Control Act [22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.] to any country … [that] prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.”

Frankly, it is common sense. Aid is not an entitlement, and those diverting, blocking, or embezzling American aid should not themselves receive any. Unlike other provisions that Blinken and effete diplomats waive in the false logic that accountability might impede dialogue, there is no waiver to the Humanitarian Aid Corridors Act. If Abiy wants to block aid to Tigray or whatever ethnic minority displeases him, then all American assistance to Ethiopia should immediately cease.

Ditto Azerbaijan. The Humanitarian Aid Corridors Act does not require the formal designation of a blockade, so the State Department cannot weasel its way out with a false determination. Nor does it require that blocked aid be destined for a country. In short, U.S. officials could shrug their shoulders and inform Aliyev they have no choice but to suspend all assistance until he lifts all blockades and stops his ethnic-cleansing efforts.

Too often, administrations seek to reinvent the wheel. Dictators exploit the rotation of democracies’ diplomats and the lack of institutional memory.

It is time the State Department and Congress wake up. Legal mechanisms exist to restore credibility to American diplomacy and fight the growing scourge of blockades and ethnic cleansing. It is time for Congress to invoke the Humanitarian Aid Corridors Act, restore credibility to American diplomacy, and demonstrate that preventing genocide is not a throwaway line to advance a career, but an active goal of American policy.

Michael Rubin (@mrubin1971) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Turkish deputy calls YouTuber “son of Pashinyan” to insult,

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The traitor’s sleazy boot-licking has become so grotesque Turks actually replaced “son of a b*tch” with “son of Pashinyan”.

Deputy Enginyurt, recently elected deputy under the main opposition CHP, has used the expression “Son of Pashinyan” to insult a pro-government social media figure.

A Turkish opposition deputy called a pro-government YouTuber, who earlier in a video praised the government for its natural gas discovery in the Black Sea, “son of Pashinyan” to insult him.

Cemal Enginyurt, the deputy chairman of the center right Democrat Party, ran under the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and was elected deputy on 14 May. He was formerly a member of the far right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

Asked to comment on the recent consumer tax hikes in gasoline and natural gas, Enginyurt said on Monday during a broadcast of Sozcu TV:

“There is that clown who was telling that natural gas is free now. He was making such a fuss, telling people to leave their windows open. What a clown! He had made a fuss over a 25% reduction in natural gas bills, and he gloated, ‘Hey Pashinyan, you saw what happened?’ He was so sardonic.”

Enginyurt went on to call the YouTuber, “son of Pashinyan,” connoting “son of a bitch.” With an apparent intention to insult the YouTuber, he said:

“Now it’s my turn to ask, what happened, son of Pashinyan? Clown! Now the consumer tax on natural gas has been raised by 300%.”

Neither the show’s host Ebru Baki, neither the other guest Ali Haydar Firat reacted to Enginyurt’s remarks, or even showed a change of expression on their faces, as the three went on with their chat on the government’s tax hikes.

The True Meaning of Ataturk’s Legacy | Opinion

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STEPHAN PECHDIMALDJI , PUBLIC RELATIONS PROFESSIONAL 

Later this year, Turkey will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its republic, founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, one of the most revered figures in modern Turkish history.

While there will be much praise and accolades paid to Ataturk as a leader who led Turkey to independence after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and paved the way for democracy, for Armenian American families like mine, it is a stark reminder of how Ataturk continued the genocidal actions of the Young Turks, who were responsible for the 1915 Armenian genocide.

For years, Armenian Americans have fought for recognition of the genocide, when more than 1.5 million Armenians were systematically exterminated by the Ottoman Turks—a crime that Turkey denies to this day. And while Ataturk is credited with turning Turkey into a progressive nation-state, he shared the same hate and animosity toward minority communities including Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians. He saw these groups as a threat to the Turkification and Islamification of Asia Minor and embarked on a campaign to drive these communities out of the country, which culminated in the burning of Smyrna in 1922 by Turkish forces, which destroyed the city and drove its residents—many of whom were Greek and Armenian—into exile.

In many ways, Ataturk tried to finish what the Young Turks started in 1915, and even went a step further to ensure that history would judge him and his country favorably. It is one of the reasons why he founded the Turkish Historical Society as one of his last acts right before he died, which was responsible for guarding and maintaining the state’s official history. It was his way to make sure that Turkey’s role and responsibility in committing these crimes against humanity would somehow be forgotten or swept away into the dustbin of history.

That mentality and mindset has carried on throughout the last 100 years with Turkey still trying to control its narrative and history. It is why the Turkish government spends so much money today on lobbyists to manufacture and shape its image. And it’s also why Turkey’s current authoritarian president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has taken exception to any country that recognizes the Armenian genocide or holds them accountable for human rights violations. The image-conscious leader has even gone as far as rebranding the world’s perception of Turkey by officially changing the country’s name to Türkiye to part ways with any bird comparisons.

Turkey’s anniversary also comes at a very precarious time for the Armenian people. In the fall of 2020, Turkey’s ally, Azerbaijan, launched an unprovoked war against ethnic Armenians living in their ancestral homeland of Nagorno-Karabakh. The war which lasted 44 days, has been followed by a campaign to ethnically cleanse Armenians from the region.

For Armenians around the world, they see what is happening in Nagorno-Karabakh through the lens of their painful history. They see these latest acts of aggression, with the help of Turkey, as a continuation of the Armenian genocide and an existential threat to their very existence.

Ataturk’s legacy and the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh are not mutually exclusive. To a large extent, history is happening again. By disavowing its history, Turkey is essentially giving Azerbaijan a level of confidence that it can say or do anything they want, without consequences.

Supporters of then-Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, now president, hold a poster with his picture (R) and that of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern day Turkey, as they await his arrival at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul on June 6, 2013.OZAN KOSE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

That type of self-assurance allowed Azerbaijan to launch their war against Armenia and has given them license to illegally block the only road linking more than 120,000 Armenians to the outside world for more than seven months without any accountability.

Additionally, the rhetoric stemming from Azerbaijan today harkens back to the final days of the Ottoman Empire and the beginning of the Republic of Turkey, which is rooted in the same type of xenophobia and racism felt toward Armenians.

So, while the messenger might be different, the message is the same. Azerbaijan is taking a page right out of Turkey’s history book and promoting a climate of hate toward Armenians. That hate has manifested itself through words and actions. In recent speeches, we’ve heard Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, unequivocally claim that Armenia is their historical land, while calling Armenia “Western Azerbaijan.”

We have seen this hate carried out through the treatment and torture of Armenian POWs and blatant execution of captured Armenian soldiers. And Azerbaijan continues to plant seeds of hate by enacting a state policy that hatred toward the Armenian people be taught to school children across the country.

Azerbaijan is taking its cues from Turkey and proving once again that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. That is why Turkey should use the upcoming anniversary and festivities as a moment in time to fully reckon with its history and accept and formally acknowledge its role and responsibility in the Armenian genocide, and stop with its genocide denial campaign which started under Ataturk.

They need to put an end to this type of historical whitewashing and revisionism. It’s dangerous and irresponsible, and it’s costing lives. If Turkey is to be the model moderate Muslim-majority country that it wishes to be, it should come to terms with its past.

The Armenian people deserve it.

Stephan Pechdimaldji is a communications strategist who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. He’s a first-generation Armenian American and grandson to survivors of the Armenian genocide.

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/true-meaning-ataturks-legacy-opinion-1813119

Open Letter to the President of the European Council Charles Michel from Armenian of EU

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Dear President Michel,

We, the undersigned citizens and residents of the EU with Armenian ethnic backgrounds, want to express our grave concern regarding the so-called “peace deal” you are mediating between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

European values of democracy, equality, and human rights are of immense importance to every EU citizen and resident, ourselves included, and we think it is our duty to inform you what your actions as a peace mediator will inevitably result in.

By mediating this “peace deal” — which in fact is a “deal at the expense of Armenians” — you are putting the lives of 120 000 people under direct threat of extermination, triggering death, forced displacement, and refugee crisis which will most probably affect the EU directly. Is the EU ready to face a new wave of refugees this time from the Republic of Artsakh and, most probably, Armenia itself?

The Republic of Artsakh has been under a blockade since December 12, 2022. The blockade has deprived the citizens of Artsakh of basic human rights and security. According to a recent report by the human rights defender of the Republic of Artsakh, the citizens of Artsakh were deprived of healthcare, gas and electricity, to name a few of the human rights violations [1]. Any format of negotiations not recognising this difference between the perpetrator and the victim is going to only be satisfying the maximalist demands of the perpetrator.

This inhumane blockade combined with Azerbaijan’s long standing record of unprovoked aggression and hate crimes against Armenians, namely war crimes against Armenian civilians — be that in the course of the war, or against Armenian captives before 2020, clearly demonstrate Azerbaijan’s genocidal intentions and therefore there is no guarantee for the safety of the Armenians in Artsakh under the dictatorial rule of Ilham Aliyev and a peace deal would most likely result in ethnic cleansing. Disregard of the ICJ provisional judgment on Lachin Corridor, delivered in February 2022 [2], is blatantly being violated by Azerbaijan, and that already is proof that any deal not in favor of Azerbaijani demands will have no life. The Lemkin Institute of Genocide Prevention has issued numerous red flag alerts for genocide on Azerbaijan’s actions against Armenia and Artsakh [3]. Additionally, Ilham Aliyev’s recent statements, such as the “border will pass where we say” are not the rhetoric of a leader genuinely preparing for peace [4, 5]. Moreover, according to the ceasefire agreement from November 9, 2020 [6] Azerbaijan was obliged to release the Armenian POWs, which so far has not happened.

We would like to bring to your attention that the Basic Principles for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict which were proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group included the principles of Non-Use of Force, Territorial Integrity, and the Equal Rights and Self-Determination of Peoples [7]. These principles on numerous occasions, including by the Heads of States of France, U.S. and Russia, were recognised as an integrated whole. Azerbaijan is responsible for breaking the principle of Non-Use of Force twice in 2016 and 2020, occupation of the most part of the Republic of Artsakh, ethnic cleansing, and the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in the occupied territories. Even after the ceasefire agreement on November 9, 2020, Azerbaijan forced the residents of Aghavno, Berdzor and Nerkin Sus to leave their homes, thus ethnically cleansing these territories and demolishing all possible traces of Armenian cultural heritage.

Giving in to Azerbaijani demands, supported by its own military power and that of Turkey, to redraw the borders of Armenia proper, you are going to deprive our ethnic homeland of every possibility to defend itself, since Azerbaijan aspires to establish control checkpoints at main highways crisscrossing Armenia. Like the one already installed, by the acquiescence of the Armenian government, in Kapan-Goris highway.

Considering the above-mentioned, the only safety guarantee for Armenians in Artsakh is through self-determination and it can under no circumstances be guaranteed with Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan. The incumbent Armenian Prime Minister’s acquiescence to this is most likely acquired by the threat of the use of force, which shall be voided by such reputable institutions like the EU and your leadership. We are sure you know well that any agreement signed under duress or coercion is not valid [8].

The Republic of Artsakh is a thriving democracy, while Azerbaijan is an authoritarian state where the presidential post is passed from father to son. You are forcing a self-determined democracy into an authoritarian state against its will despite all warnings for total elimination of the Armenian presence in these territories.

We thus urge you to take into consideration the human rights violations Azerbaijan is continuously committing against the people of Artsakh and Armenia, the ethnic cleansing that will take place, if any deal in its current form is signed. We call upon you to refrain from imposing any deal which will result in everything but peace for the Armenian people. 

The people’s will for a free and independent existence must prevail over undemocratic decisions prompted by aggressions. Democracy should not be a double standard. It should be equally applied to all who fight for it.

P.S. This letter has been written before the complete siege of the Republic of Artsakh by Azerbaijani forces. Starting from 15 June 2023 all transportation of humanitarian cargo by the Russian peacekeepers has been prohibited by Azerbaijani military and evacuation of seriously ill patients by the International Committee of the Red Cross is restricted.

Moreover, on June 28 Azerbaijani forces launched an artillery and drone attack on the line of contact in Artsakh, killing four Armenian defenders.

Yours sincerely,

[Signed by 1264 signatories. See the attached .pdf file for the full list]

References

  1. Report on the violations of individual and collective human rights as a result of Azerbaijan’s blockade of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Six months (June 12th 2023). Retrieved from https://artsakhombuds.am/en/document/1028
  2. ICJ decision. 22 February 2023. Retrieved from https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/180/180-20230222-ORD-01-00-EN.pdf
  3. Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention. Red Flag Alert for Genocide[PDF], 13 April 2023. Retrieved from https://www.lemkininstitute.com/_files/ugd/391abe_d1bf084767f64a9eaa6c02adb8009dc9.pdf
  4. “Aliyev openly threatens and is sure that he will get away with it.” Opinion from Yerevan. Jam News, 29 May 2023. Retrieved from https://jam-news.net/opinion-on-aliyevs-statements-in-lachin/
  5. Fabbro, Robin. “Aliyev says Yerevan ‘historically’ Azerbaijani.” OC Media, 25 December Retrieved from: https://oc-media.org/aliyev-says-yerevan-historically-azerbaijani/
  6. Full text of the agreement between the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, 9 November, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.commonspace.eu/news/document-full-text-agreement-between-leaders-russia-armenia-and-azerbaijan
  7. Statement by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries, 10 July 2009, l’Aquila, Italy. Retrieved from https://www.osce.org/mg/51152
  8. Vienna convention of law of treaties (1969). Retrieved from https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/1_1_1969.pdf

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Breaking News: Statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry in connection with the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh

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1429-15-07-2023
In October 2022 and May 2023, at the summits under the auspices of the European Union, Armenia recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the territory of Azerbaijan.

We respect the sovereign decision of the Armenian leadership, however, this radically changed the fundamental conditions under which the Statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of November 9, 2020 was signed, as well as the position of the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed in the region.

We believe that under these conditions, responsibility for the fate of the Armenian population of Karabakh should not be shifted to third countries. It is necessary to immediately start preparing a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan, based on the previously reached agreements.

We proceed from the fact that an integral part of this agreement should be reliable and clear guarantees of the rights and security of the Armenians of Karabakh, as well as the strict implementation of the entire set of trilateral agreements between Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, including the unblocking of transport communications and the launch of the process of delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

In view of the foregoing, the Russian side confirms its intention to actively contribute to the efforts of the international community to restore the normal life of Nagorno-Karabakh. We are ready to organize a trilateral meeting of foreign ministers in Moscow in the near future to discuss ways to implement the agreements at the highest level, including the issue of agreeing on a peace treaty, followed by going to the Russian-Azerbaijani-Armenian summit in Moscow to sign the said document.

It is a matter of concern that today the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh is developing according to a negative scenario. The humanitarian crisis in the area is deepening. The local population is experiencing an acute shortage of food, medicine, basic necessities, and is practically deprived of electricity and gas supply. This may entail the most dramatic consequences for the Karabakh Armenians – ordinary residents of the region.

We strongly urge the Azerbaijani leadership to take urgent measures to immediately unblock the Lachin corridor, resume the unhindered movement of citizens, vehicles and goods in both directions along it, as well as supply energy to the region.

Source: https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1897041/?fbclid=IwAR3us7xtw44RVEFHEhuN6OwTpmu4UZWO5HLZFQgF02hVmD5ixMldbe5caj0