Breaking
France to Provide an Extra €15 Million in Emergency Aid for Armenia
Azerbaijani President Aliyev Plans to Settle 140,000 People in Occupied Nagorno-Karabakh Territories by 2026
The Azerbaijani dictator’s ambition to settle individuals on lands to whom they do not historically belong requires the international community’s attention to the recent war crimes and genocide that was committed by Azerbaijan against the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh from 2020 to 2023.
U.S. Congress
Chair Cardin Presses Administration to Hold Azerbaijan Accountable for Violations in Nagorno-Karabakh
U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chair of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony
Blinken urging him to remain focused on holding the Aliyev regime accountable for ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and to continue the United States’ support for Armenians who were forced to flee the region.
Cardin encouraged Secretary Blinken to continue to work with international partners and organizations to support accountability for the Aliyev regime’s actions. Specifically, he asked what steps the Secretary has taken and plan to take regarding the following:
- Supporting efforts to substantiate and collect evidence regarding the Aliyev regime’s potential commission of war crimes and other atrocities.
- Holding Azerbaijani officials accountable for any such acts, including the application of potential sanctions and visa restrictions.
- Urging appropriate international justice tribunals to pursue accountability for Azerbaijani officials.
Making clear to Azerbaijan that aggression against its neighbors is unacceptable. - Supporting Armenians displaced in the September 2023 assault.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer Condemns Azerbaijan’s Attacks Against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh
“I condemn Azerbaijan’s deadly and deliberate attacks against Armenians in Artsakh. I will continue to call on the Admin. to cut aid to Azerbaijan and push for critical humanitarian assistance to those suffering,” Gottheimer wrote in his X account.
Rep. Anna G. Eshoo: Armenia Urgently Needs U.S. Aid to Defend its Democracy and Alleviate the Humanitarian Crisis Caused by Azerbaijani Ethnic Cleansing
“With Senator Alex Padilla I lead 60 Members in requesting military and humanitarian aid for Armenia in the upcoming national security bill. Armenia urgently needs U.S. aid to defend its democracy and alleviate the
humanitarian crisis caused by Azerbaijani aggression & ethnic cleansing,” Eshoo wrote in her X account.
Congresswoman Susie Lee: The US-Armenia Security Partnership is More Important than Ever as Azerbaijan’s Unprovoked Aggression Puts Innocent Lives at Risk
“The US-Armenia security partnership is more important than ever as Azerbaijan’s unprovoked aggression puts innocent lives at risk. I joined my colleagues in demanding supplemental funds to strengthen these ties and address the ongoing humanitarian crisis,” Lee wrote in her X account.
World Leaders, NGOs Condemn Azerbaijan’s Ethnic Cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh
Over 150 Global Humanitarian, Business, Political Leaders Demand Freedom of ‘Armenian Prisoners’ in Azerbaijan
Nobel Prize laureates, business leaders, former heads of state, and humanitarians are among the more than 150 global figures who have signed a letter calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the “Armenian Prisoners,” which includes eight Armenian political prisoners, who are former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh’s government illegally detained following Azerbaijan’s invasion and seizure of the region in September. More than a dozen other prisoners of war arrested during the conflict also remain in custody.
French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs Condemns Azerbaijan’s Crimes Against Armenians
“By blocking the Lachin Corridor for more than nine months, then deciding to use force unilaterally on 19 September 2023, Azerbaijan deliberately planned and organized the exodus of more than 100,000 Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, under the complicit gaze of Russia. These are crimes that cannot go unanswered. In the face of this new tragedy, France is resolutely committed alongside the Armenian population of Nagorno- Karabakh and in support of Armenia,”- the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs to several written questions in the Senate.
HART Delegation Advocates for Ethnic Cleansing Victims from Nagorno-Karabakh in Washington D.C.
Christian Solidarity International Condemns German Parliament’s Hosting of Azerbaijani Speaker Two Months After Nagorno-Karabakh Ethnic Cleansing
In a letter to Bärbel Bas, the president of the German parliament, CSI condemns the uncritical reception accorded to the Azerbaijani politician. CSI says it is “incomprehensible and outrageous” that Germany would welcome Gafarova, a leading member of Azerbaijan’s ruling party, just two months after Azerbaijan drove 120,000 Christians out of Nagorno Karabakh. In doing so, Germany is showing support for Azerbaijan’s genocidal actions. “We call on you not only to distance yourself from Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Nagorno Karabakh, but to condemn it,” CSI writes. Germany must not to give Azerbaijan a free pass for its aggression against the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian people.
Cultural Genocide Against Christian Sites in Nagorno- Karabakh
By Brian Brivati
- 500 Christian sites housing approximately 6,000
monuments in the wider Artsakh region are now under full Azerbaijani control. - The invasion put at risk the Amaras, Gandzasar, and
Dadivank monasteries, as well as the “We Are Our Mountains” statue. - The expectation is that the systematic destruction of Christian sites in the autonomous Nakhichevan region of Azerbaijan, that took place between 1997 and 2011, will be repeated.
- Cornell University’s Caucasus Heritage Watch reported on 11 November that Azerbaijan had already destroyed an Armenian church in Hadrut and removed crosses from
the domes of the Armenian Holy Mother of God Cathedral in Stepanakert.
PEN International’s Writers for Peace Committee Condemns Azerbaijan’s Ethnic Cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh
- Condemns Azerbaijan’s military attack on Nagorno-Karabakh, recognized by the European Parliament as tantamount to ethnic cleansing.
- Expresses concern over the continued severe curtailment of freedom of expression in Azerbaijan through censorship, intimidation, and acts of violence.
- Highlights the detrimental impact of evasions, half-truths, selective history, and propaganda on the lives of the people.
- Calls for neighboring countries to refrain from exacerbating grievances, advocates for the facilitation of free and accurate reporting, and urges the implementation of measures for peace and reconstruction.
- Urges Azerbaijan’s authorities to promptly provide concrete guarantees ensuring the full protection of human rights for ethnic Armenians choosing to return to Artsakh/Nagorno- Karabakh.
- Calls upon the Azerbaijan’s authorities to safeguard, rather than damage or destroy, Armenian cultural and religious heritage. Any instances of the destruction or alteration of cultural heritage should be immediately addressed by the international community.
Statement on Behalf of PEN International’s Writers for Peace Committee
Driven by Fear from Nagorno-Karabakh
The US Ambassador Handed Over the Aid Intended for Forcibly Displaced People from Nagorno-Karabakh to the Governor of Lori
Karabakh Refugees in Armenia Face Uncertainty and Poverty in Exile
Living in a Disused Library and Haunted by Historic Massacres
Masis, an otherwise sleepy town of 20,000 where Mount Ararat, sacred to Armenians, is clearly visible beyond the closed border with Turkey, has since September hosted around 8,000 refugees from Karabakh.
The memory of mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War One, which all but eliminated Turkey’s Armenian population, is deeply rooted in many Armenians’ folk memory. Many refugees fear they may yet have to move again:
“Turkey is very close to us here in Masis. Where can we run to next? Where can we go? What can we do? Will this ever end?”
Hotel Metsamor ‒ A Temporary Home
Karine and Zhorik moved to Hotel Metsamor, Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh a few days after the war broke out, on 19 September 2023.
“My husband lost his leg during the First Karabakh War, in 1992,”
Karine said. “We were afraid that once the Turkish border guards
started questioning us, they would realize that Zhorik was a war veteran and wouldn’t allow him to cross the border. We thought it would be right for him to drive the car past the military outpost on the Hakari Bridge and thus go unnoticed. That’s what happened. We were told to walk, while my husband crossed the bridge by car. I covered his legs with a jacket so that they wouldn’t notice anything and ask questions. There were fears that men who had participated in the war would not be allowed out of Nagorno-Karabakh, so we were lucky.”
From Karabakh to Kramatorsk: The Karabakh Conflict Instigated Multi-Stage Forced Resettlement of Armenians
Anthropologist Eviya Hovhannisyan shares the stories of people who have endured numerous displacements to escape from pogroms against Armenians in Azerbaijan and multiple wars throughout their lives:
“We’ve already moved three times. First in 1990 from the village of Zurnabad (Azerbaijan), in the Khanlar region, to Hadrut, Nagorno-Karabakh. Then in 2020 from Hadrut to Stepanakert. Now, we’re a bit lost on where to go next.”
Testimonies from Nagorno-Karabakh that the World Ignored
“We just don’t feel safe living with Azerbaijanis”, says Lilit Sargsyan, a single mother forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh.
Thousands of Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh Remain Unemployed More than Two Months after Azerbaijan’s Ethnic Cleansing
Photos of the week
A young refugee girl from Nagorno- Karabakh receives sugar as humanitarian aid, allowing her to savor a sweet cup of tea after enduring a blockade.
Photo courtesy of Dmitrii Moskovskii
Artist and sculptor Arnold Meliketyan is trying to save his works with his friend, artist Artsiv Lalayan, before forcible displacement from Nagorno- Karabakh.
Photo courtesy of Siranush Sargsyan
Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh walk through the disused library where they temporarily live in the town of Masis, Armenia.
Photo courtesy of Irakli Gedenidze
Security
Lemkin Institute Calls on Global Allies to Safeguard Armenian Heritage in East Jerusalem
- Urges the United States and allied nations of Israel to
proactively ensure due process for the Armenian community
in the ongoing land dispute in East Jerusalem. - Stands in solidarity with the Armenian community as they
persistently resist land development through peaceful demonstrations and steadfast refusal to vacate the premises. - Highlights the poignant loss of a significant historical community in Artsakh/Nagorno- Karabakh this year, emphasizing the critical importance of preventing a similar tragedy for the Armenian community in East Jerusalem.
Lemkin Institute Statement on Significance of the Armenian Quarter in East Jerusalem
EU to Increase Monitoring Mission in Armenia to 209
Observers from 138
The European Union’s top diplomat said the bloc will increase the number of observers for its mission in Armenia to 209 from 138. EU policy chief Josep Borrell on December 11 said that “so many things are happening in the whole region. It is important to continue to pay attention to them and, in particular, to Armenia, which has been in a very difficult situation and still is.”
Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem Visits the Barricaded Cows’ Garden
His Beatitude Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, on Friday made a surprise visit to the barricaded Cows’ Garden in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem to stand in solidarity with the members of the Save The ArQ Movement. Before his departure, the Patriarch vehemently stated: “All that is Armenian, will remain Armenian.”
Russia Calls Pashinian’s Criticism Of Moscow Over Situation In Nagorno-Karabakh ‘Unacceptable’
Armenian PM warned that Baku and Russian peacekeepers will be fully responsible for “ethnic cleansing”. Russia’s Foreign Ministry in a statement rejected Pashinian’s remarks, calling them “an attempt to evade responsibility for failures in domestic and foreign policies” and blaming Armenian leadership of “steps to give Armenia’s development a new, Western direction.”
Armenian Speaker of Parliament Accuses Azerbaijan of Attempting to Artificially Delay Peace Treaty Signing by Introducing Unrelated Agenda Items
In a Controversial Move, Oil-Reliant Azerbaijan Chosen to Host Cop29 Climate Talks
Human Rights Watch Blasts Decision
Azerbaijan gets two-thirds of its revenue from oil and gas, one of the highest percentages of any country in the world.
The country has been ruled for 20 years by Ilham Aliyev, who took over as president from his father. According to Human Rights Watch, the government had at least 30 political dissidents in its prisons in 2022. Last year, the government of Azerbaijan hired a British public relations firm to publicise their accusations that the government of Armenia had damaged the environment of Nagorno-Karabakh. Experts told that these claims were misleading, as the forests were depleted faster after Azerbaijan took charge, and that they had an “element of propaganda” to them.
Economy
Soviet Mainframes To Silicon Mountains: Armenia As A Tech Powerhouse – Forbes
Armenia has emerged as a tech powerhouse with the presence of
global players and a vibrant startup ecosystem. And while the
country remains politically close to Russia and Iran as a
counterbalance to hostile neighbors on the west (Turkey) and the east (Azerbaijan), its private sector remains firmly fixed on the West, particularly the United States with its near million-strong Armenian diaspora.
opinion
Armenian Christians Battle Developer to Keep Control of their Corner of Jerusalem
By David I. Klein
Amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, another battle is playing out in Jerusalem in the city’s small but storied Armenian Christian community involving the community’s patriarch and an Australian Israeli businessman who is said to be set on taking over land in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City.
Samantha Power and the Politics of Genocide
By Stephan Pechdimaldji
There is a major disconnect between what Power says as a private citizen and her actions as a public official. Take the Armenian
Genocide, for example. In her most recent book, “The Education of an Idealist,” Power dedicates significant time to the topic, where she essentially apologized for not doing enough to pressure the Obama administration to recognize the Armenian genocide while yielding to Turkey’s ongoing campaign of denial. Soon after her book came out, she went on an apology tour arguing that she tried to strike the right balance between idealism and realism, and in the end, concluded that the politics of genocide was too complicated.
Armenia Under the Gun
By Olesya Vartanyan
Azerbaijan’s Territorial Ambitions Extend Beyond Nagorno-Karabakh
Observers fear that Azerbaijan might be preparing another offensive, with the goal of securing a route to its own exclave of Nakhichevan—a region of around 100,000 people that is separated from Azerbaijan by a sliver of Armenian territory. An aggressive Azerbaijani military action to establish this corridor could lead to the partition of Armenia, creating hundreds of thousands of new refugees in the process.
Do not Forget Armenia
By Brian Brivati
Why has an act of blatant ethnic cleansing been widely ignored?
“Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”
— Adolf Hitler, 22 August 1939
The Little-Known Conflict Causing a Ruckus in the Caucasus
By William Gourlay
Nonetheless, Azerbaijan has likely overplayed its hand. Some European diplomats are rethinking how they deal with Baku. Armenia, for its part, is developing closer relations with France and, attempting to extract itself from Russia’s embrace, has sent its first aid package to Ukraine. Armenia is also inclined to enhance its relations with neighbouring Iran—a move that won’t be applauded by Israel, which counts Azerbaijan as an ally and, indeed, supplied much of the weaponry that made its campaign in Nagorno-Karabakh possible.