Breaking

Resolution Calls for Sanctions against Azerbaijan and International Presence in Nagorno-Karabakh

Head of European Parliament calls Baku Unreliable Partner and Europe Should Stop Buying its Natural Gas’

1 Dead, 2 Wounded as a Result of Fire from Azerbaijani Armed Forces in Direction of a Food Vehicle

Despite Threats from Moscow, Armenian Lawmakers Ratify ICC’s Rome Statute

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After Committing Genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan Refused to Participate in EU Peace Negotiations with Armenia

Ilham Aliyev again rejected peace by snubbing EU leaders and pulling out of a scheduled peace summit in Granada.

“It is a shame that Azerbaijan is not here and that Turkey, the main country that supports Azerbaijan, is not here,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, told reporters.

 
Aliyev’s decision not to attend the summit was down to an “anti-Azerbaijani atmosphere”, an Azerbaijani official told AFP. The summit comes just two weeks after the country’s forces launched a lightning-quick military offensive to regain control of Nagorno-Karabakh, prompting a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians from the enclave and fuelling fears of ethnic cleansing. The EU condemned Azerbaijan’s offensive with Michel telling earlier that he was “extremely disappointed” by the Azeri decision. He called for negotiations to “pin down commitments from both sides,” stressing, however, that “there is a great responsibility on the side of Azerbaijan, which launched this military operation.” Read More Here

Armenia Requests ICJ Take Measures Against Azerbaijan to Preserve and Protect Rights Enshrined in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

Calls on Azerbaijan to Release POWs and Others Kidnapped by Aliyev

Demands Azerbaijan Not Destroy Armenian Religious and Cultural Sites

ICJ schedules hearings on October 12.

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U.S. Congress

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin Calls for Support to Armenia, Halt of Security Assistance to Azerbaijan

‘We must stand in solidarity with the Armenian people, particularly as Azerbaijan and Turkey eye the potential Zangezur corridor.’

Read the Full Statement

96 Senate and House Members Call on Biden Administration to Impose Global Magnitsky Sanctions on Azerbaijani Leaders

​U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and U.S. Representatives Seth Magaziner (D-RI-02), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12), and Frank Pallone (D-NJ-06) called for sanctions on individuals in the government of Azerbaijan who are associated with the military attacks against and brutal blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh in a bipartisan, bicameral letter to the Department of State and Treasury.

“After over nine months of trying to starve out the ethnic Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani military launched a full-scale assault on the region on September 19, resulting in a ceasefire and the capitulation of the local government on September 20,” added the lawmakers. “This attack has exacerbated concerns about the worsening of the humanitarian crisis, and statements from the government of Azerbaijan about ‘re-integration’ raise the specter of ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide,” continued the members.

“America is a world leader on international human rights and must continue to serve as a mediating force and supporter of peace in the region,” concluded the members.

Peters Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Remove Executive Branch Waiver to Provide U.S. aid to Azerbaijan

Peters’ Armenian Protection Act would end U.S. assistance to the Azerbaijani government that is currently allowed under a waiver to Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act. Although the Freedom Support

Act generally prohibits most bilateral assistance to Azerbaijan, following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, waiver authority was added to Section 907 granting additional discretion to the President to provide aid to Azerbaijan.

 

Members of Congress Call on Blinken, Power to Prevent Another Azerbaijani Invasion of Armenia

“The opportunity to prevent further aggression by Azerbaijani forces and an all-out war in the South Caucasus is running out,” stated the U.S. Representatives in an October 4th letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and USAID Administrator Samantha Power.

Rep. Eshoo, Former Speaker Pelosi Lead Bipartisan Congressional Call to Sanction Azerbaijan 75 U.S. Representatives Press President Biden to Hold Azerbaijan Accountable

Nagorno-Karabakh

UNICEF: Refugee Children Arriving in Armenia Showing Signs of Severe Psychological Distress Over 26,000 children forcibly deported from Nagorno-Karabakh and need urgent humanitarian assistance. Read More Here

Azerbaijan Reissues Nagorno-Karabakh Map with Street Named After Turkish Leader of 1915 Armenian Genocide

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CNN Report: Armenia Refugee Crisis has Devastated Putin’s Reputation in Region

‘Michael says he lost 5 members of his family in the chaotic evacuation of Nagorno-Karabakh. ‘But no one seems to care,’ he told me. ‘When it comes to us, I think the world must be blind.’

Yerevan Slams UN Mission To Karabakh​ The UN mission said it “saw no damage to civilian public infrastructure” in Stepanakert. It noted that it did not get access to rural areas. ‘The so-called UN mission in Nagorno-Karabakh did their best to legitimize the ethnic cleansing, arbitrary detentions, destruction of civilian infrastructure and other crimes committed by Azerbaijan,’ charged an Armenian ambassador-at-large. Read More Here

UN Expert: Azerbaijan Must Respect and Protect the Lives of Ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh

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Armenia Protests Arrests of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Leaders

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Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad on ‘Crime Against Humanity’ Taking Place in Nagorno-Karabakh

In written comments Nadia Murad said that ‘as with all forms of violence, prevention is better than intervention, and intervention is infinitely better than turning away.’

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German FM: Children and Men are so Frightened in Nagorno- Karabakh for Their Lives that They See No Other Choice than to Leave and Cross into Armenia

Baerbock also noted that in order to ensure transparency on the ground Germany is working towards sending monitors as soon as possible.

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HRW: Azerbaijan Must Commit to Respecting, Protecting, and Implementing the Right to Return of Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno- Karabakh

EU: Azerbaijan Bears the Responsibility to Ensure the Rights and Security of the Karabakh Armenians

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Amnesty International: Azerbaijan Must Allow Safe Passage to those Fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh and Seeking Safety in Armenia, whilst Guaranteeing the Right of Ethnic Armenians to Return to Their Homes

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Photos of the week

An abandoned car left by ethnic Armenians fleeing Nagorno-Karbakh lies on the side of a road near the Lachin Corridor.

Children share a meal in a house in the town of Goris that is accommodating five ethnic Armenian families who fled Nagorno- Karabakh.

UNHCR Seeking Urgent Support for Humanitarian Emergency in Armenia

‘UNHCR teams have been on the ground and at the border since day one when the first groups of refugees arrived exhausted, frightened and apprehensive about the future. They are anxious about what will happen to them now and worry about whether their children will be able to access education. Most arrived with very few belongings and require urgent emergency assistance, including blankets, bedding materials, medical and psychosocial support and shelter in the immediate term.’

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World Food Programme Responds to Humanitarian Crisis as Thousands of People Flee into Armenia

OSCE Chairman-in-Office Calls for Increased International Support for Karabakh Armenians

Security

In the past week, Azerbaijan has violated the ceasefire in Armenia more than 3 times, including cases of opening gunfire at a vehicle transporting provisions for the personnel stationed at Armenian combat outposts. There is 1 casualty and 2 wounded on the Armenian side.
After the Ethnic Cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan is Eyeing Armenia Itself by Neil Hauer The question now is what comes next..Azerbaijani officials also regularly refer to all of Armenia as ‘Western Azerbaijan,’ with Mr. Aliyev repeatedly stating that these are Azerbaijan’s ‘historic lands’ and that ‘we will return there.’ International alarm from the U.S., France, Canada and others has underscored the seriousness of a new war. Read More Here

France Agrees to Deliver Military Equipment to Armenia

French FM Visits Armenia to Reaffirm Support Amid Nagorno-Karabakh Crisis

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on a visit to Armenia that Paris agreed to deliver military equipment to the small South Caucasus nation.

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Russia’s Lukoil Lends Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company $1.5 Billion

The deal will give Lukoil another customer in close proximity to Russian ports after most European refiners stopped importing its crude to comply with European Union sanctions imposed after Moscow launched what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine in 2022. Turkey has not imposed sanctions on Russia and continues to import Russian oil and gas.

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Opinion

Power Failure: Biden Official Turns Blind Eye to Genocide

By Michael Rubin


Biden recognized the Armenian genocide, he balanced that by continuing military assistance to Azerbaijan. Power was silent as Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev broke every pledge he made and agreement he signed. On the day she traveled from Armenia to Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani officials captured Ruben Vardanyan, a former state minister in Nagorno-Karabakh’s now-defunct Republic of Artsakh. I had written about Vardanyan earlier this year to counter the calumny that he was a Kremlin puppet. Azerbaijani authorities will likely torture Vardanyan and seek to humiliate him — no matter that he committed no crime against Azerbaijan other than advocating Nagorno-Karabakh’s self-determination. Here is where Power’s cynicism comes front and center. After leaving the Obama administration, she joined the prize selection committee for the Aurora Foundation, founded by Vardanyan and Noubar Afeyan with former Brown University President Vartan Gregorian to reward people working against genocide. Here is Power praising Vardanyan’s initiative.
‘As an Azerbaijani, I Have to Speak out About my Country’s Ethnic Cleansing of Armenians’

By Ruslan Javadov

Aliyev would have you believe that the Armenians are leaving Nagorno-Karabakh of their own free will – a lie. The Armenians know well what sorry destiny awaits them if they stay. This process is, of course, ethnic cleansing.

‘I’m Alive but I Feel Dead’: Inside an Exodus Decades in the Making

by Ann M. Simmons

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Armenia and Israel, the Middle East’s last Judeo-Christian Nations

By Sam Brownback

If Armenia had the security backing of the world’s greatest power, the United States, it could begin to wean itself off its dependence on Iran. Similarly, the United States is the only nation influential enough to persuade Israel to lessen its dependence on Azerbaijan. It is a tragedy to see these two nations, sister nations, divided and torn apart by the existential threats of the region. The United States is the only nation capable of uniting the Middle East’s last two democratic Judeo-Christian nations.

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Joe Biden Must Act: Don’t Let Azerbaijan’s Regime Get Away With Murder By Michael Rubin
Aliyev is riding high. He has conquered Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory Azerbaijan has never truly controlled, and expelled the indigenous Armenian population. He has called the American bluff without consequence. He believes, quite literally, that he can get away with murder. Quite simply, Aliyev is out of control. Words are not enough. The Biden administration needs to act now to stop Azerbaijan from taking its repression on the road, right into the heart of America.
Israeli Arms Quietly Helped Azerbaijan Retake Nagorno- Karabakh, to the Dismay of Region’s Armenians By Isabel DeBre In March, an investigation by the Haaretz newspaper said it had
counted 92 Azerbaijani military cargo flights to Ovda airport from 2016-2020. Sudden surges of flights coincided with upticks of fighting in Nagorno-Karabkh, it found. ‘During the 2020 war, we saw flights every other day and now, again, we see this intensity of flights leading up to the current conflict,’ said Akopian, the Armenian ambassador. ‘It is clear to us what’s happening.’

Responsibility to Protect the Armenian Population of Nagorno- Karabakh
By Alfred de Zayas

As former UN Independent Expert, and because of the gravity of the Azeri offensive of September 2023, I have proposed to the President of the UN Human Rights Council, Ambassador Vaclav Balek, and to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk to convene a Special Session of the Human Rights Council to stop the egregious violations of human rights committed by Azerbaijan and provide immediate humanitarian assistance to the Armenian population, victim, among other things of an illegal siege and blockade which have caused deaths by hunger and a massive exodus toward Armenia.

Western Inaction on Nagorno-Karabakh: Is It Impotence or Indifference?

By Dan Perry

I do not think the world wanted to appear so impotent. I don’t think the West wants governments to blatantly ignore the International Court of Justice. I don’t think the U.S. wants a world without rules. So why did the world ignore Ocampo? Does Azerbaijan’s natural gas and oil explain all? Read More Here