Keghart“Canada’s Move” initiated an e-mail drive forwarding the below open letter to 3200 professors across Canada and 1800 professionals including 500 journalists. It follows a separate letter sent to all Canadian MPs shortly after Azerbaijan’s aggression against Armenia.
Toronto, 28 July 2020
Dear Friend,
On July 12, 2020 Azerbaijan renewed its military aggression against the Republic of Armenia. This act threatens peace in the Caucuses by potentially involving other states into the region, 
primarily Turkey, Russia and Iran leading to international ramifications.
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is related to the status of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh) which historically has been one of the provinces of Armenia and populated primarily by Armenians. In 1920s Stalin unilaterally redrew the map of Armenia to appease the Republic of Turkey. Two provinces of Armenia, Nakhichevan and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh) were ceded to Azerbaijan as autonomous regions. In early 1990s people of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh) voted for independence from Azerbaijan. It led to military conflict and ultimately a cease-fire was declared in 1994 with an agreement that the matter should be resolved through negotiations under the auspices of OSCE (Organization of Security and Cooperation Europe) Minsk Group.
We would like to highlight the following:
- Republic of Armenia has always agreed to have international monitors along the borders under the auspices of OSCE Minsk group. Azerbaijan has not.
- Armenia has endorsed UN’s global ceasefire appeal during Covid19 pandemic, while Azerbaijan ignored the appeal.
- President Ilham Aliyev slammed the OSCE Minsk Group declaring the negotiations to be pointless and threatened to resolve the conflict militarily.
- Azerbaijan threatened Armenia with international nuclear crime through missile strikes at the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant in Armenia.
- Armenian villages, civilian infrastructure, and PPE Plants were targets of heavy artillery and drone strikes during the recent Azeri aggression.
- The Azeris have internationalized the conflict by attacking Armenian communities around the world: Russia, Europe, UK and USA. 50 Azeris were arrested in Moscow. The federal authorities in USA are investigating as hate crime inscriptions — reminiscent of Nazi slogans against the Jews — written on the walls of an Armenian school and a club in San Francisco.
- 50,000 Azeris protested in Baku calling for war and chanting “Death to Armenians”.
- Organized by Turkey, remnants of ISIS and other Jihadists are recruited as mercenaries for $ 2,000/month to fight on behalf of Azerbaijan against Armenia.
- President Erdogan of Turkey declared, “We will continue to fulfill this mission, which our grandfathers have carried out for centuries, in the Caucasus region.”
- State sponsored Armenophobic propaganda is disseminated in neighbouring countries threatening the physical existence of Armenians. The Turkish organizer of a recent anti-Armenian demonstration in Lebanon took pride in the Genocide of 1915 and called for a repeat of the Genocide.
To illustrate the anti-Armenian genocidal mindset of the Azerbaijani authorities, it’s relevant to mention the pogroms of Armenians in Sumgait and other cities in Azerbaijan in 1988. Thousands of Armenians were massacred and the 215000 strong vibrant Armenian community in Baku ceased to exist. In 2005 the mayor of Baku, capital of Azerbaijan cynically stated to a German municipal delegate, “Our goal is the complete elimination of Armenians. You Nazis already eliminated the Jews in the 30s and 40s, right? You should be able to understand.”
The recent Azeri aggression was condemned by all factions of the French parliament and also President Macron. Law makers in the US Congress condemned the human rights violations committed by Azerbaijan. Andrew Scheer, the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada condemned the aggression.
Dictators Ilham Aliyev’s and Erdogan’s statements and actions should be condemned and called to account. The recent propaganda waged by both countries aim at physically harming Armenians wherever they are, and ultimately commit another Genocide if favourable circumstances evolve to fulfill the old dream of Pan-Turkism, Pan-Turanism.
We ask all peace-loving people, organizations and countries to condemn the aggression committed by Azerbaijan and the anti-Armenian vicious campaign carried by Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Canada’s Move is a network of Armenia expatriates and friends in Canada
Keghart
Keghart
Keghart
