The Turkish and Azeri War on Armenian People
Bellow, we’ve republished a social media post. There are many others just like it from Armenians all over the world these days. This one was written fittingly on Indigenous People’s Day or Oct 12th.
By Eric Mirzaian
On this Indigenous People’s Day, I want to bring your attention to a developing event unfolding in the Southern Caucuses that directly affects your local Armenian American communities and threatens the survival of the Armenian peoples.
This is not a post about the Armenian Genocide carried out by Ottoman Turkey a century ago while the world was distracted by World War I. Nor is it about the Anti-Armenian hatred being sown in Azerbaijan and Turkey that has led, in our local community alone, to 3 recent hate crimes involving vandalism, arson, and a shooting at an Armenian church and school here in San Francisco. (https://www.sfchronicle.com/…/3-incidents-at-S-F…)
This is about a war Azerbaijan started 2 weeks ago, with the full backing of Turkey, against Nagorno Karabagh (known to Armenians as “Artsakh”) while the world is distracted by Covid, and the US, by the upcoming election.
Azerbaijan’s surprise military strike on Nagorno Karabagh, a small piece of landlocked mountainous terrain Armenians have been living on for centuries, has serious regional consequences. You can find a brief summary of the on-going conflict in this 7 min video by PBS: https://www.pbs.org/…/why-fighting-between-armenia….
Turkey’s Recep Erdogan has openly declared its support for Azerbaijan and has rebuffed international calls to stop pouring gasoline on a raging war. https://www.nytimes.com/…/turkey-azerbaijan-armenia-war….
In addition to providing military arsenal and weaponry (including F-16s), Turkey months prior to the attack, recruited Syrian mercenaries to be sent to Azerbaijan to fight the Armenians. https://www.theguardian.com/…/syrian-rebel-fighters…
There is growing evidence of Turkish and Azeri war crimes. Despite Azerbaijan not allowing foreign journalist into the country to cover the war, Amnesty International has been able to confirm Azerbaijan’s use of cluster bombs against the civilian population of Artsakh’s capital. (https://www.amnesty.org/…/armenia-azerbaijan-civilians…/.)
Trump, who personally has strong financial interests in Turkey (https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-business-ties…) and Azerbaijan (https://www.newyorker.com/…/03/13/donald-trumps-worst-deal), has chosen not to speak up against the Azeri and Turkish aggression.
The bodies of innocent civilians are piling up daily. The peoples of Artsakh, Armenia, and its global diaspora, are concerned for their very survival.
Total Armenian population of Artsakh: 150,000 (more than 50% of the population has already been displaced in the last 2 weeks)
Total population of Azerbaijan and Turkey: 92 million.
To help this on-going humanitarian crisis, I’m asking you to:
1) Donate here: https://www.himnadram.org/en
2) Stay informed, and spread the word.
