In Defense of Christians (IDC) joins with a coalition of partners to condemn Azerbaijan\u2019s ethnic cleansing of Armenians from the Berdzor Valley of Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), and calls for the immediate suspension of all U.S. military and security aid to the Azerbaijani government.
On August 27, 2022, Azerbaijani forces completed the ethnic cleansing of Armenians from the historically Armenian Berdzor Valley. Indigenous Armenians who have inhabited the valley for thousands of years have been killed or sent into exile in the wake of Azerbaijan\u2019s occupation. Azerbaijani settlers have also followed the invading forces, occupying thousands of Armenian homes and converting millennium-old churches into mosques.
The Berdzor Valley is known to Armenians as the Road of Life, as it served as the only viable avenue of land access between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. With the Berdzor Valley now under complete Azerbaijani control, the people of Nagorno Karabakh are cut off from critical logistics and humanitarian support and remain vulnerable to increased Azerbaijani war crimes. Reports indicate that Azerbaijan is installing a military base in the valley, nearly one mile from the Armenian border.
According to In Defense of Christians Executive Director Richard Ghazal, \u201cThe ethnic cleansing of Armenians in the Berdzor Valley is just the latest episode in a century-old Genocide that Azerbaijan and its Turkish sponsors aim to complete. With the citizens of Nagorno Karabakh now physically and strategically isolated, Azerbaijan can now attack with total impunity. Continued U.S. aid to this ongoing atrocity is unacceptable.\u201d
\u201cWe join with our In Defense of Christians partners in calling upon President Biden \u2013 consistent with his own campaign statements \u2013 to stop the flow of U.S. arms and aid to Azerbaijan,\u201d said Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian. \u201cThe oil rich Aliyev regime neither needs nor deserves U.S. taxpayer funded military assistance \u2013 aid that both morally emboldens and materially abets its ethnic-cleansing of Artsakh.\u201d
According to Hellenic American Leadership Council Executive Director Endy Zemenides, \u201cThe international community has betrayed its vow of \u2018never again\u2019 with its silence as Azerbaijan completed the ethnic cleansing of the Berdzor Valley. The Biden Administration cannot pursue human rights and the rule of law and simultaneously allow Azerbaijan to act with impunity.\u201d
\u201cHindu-Americans stand in solidarity with Armenians against their unjust ethnic cleansing from the Berdzor Valley. As Hindus were similarly ethnically cleansed from the Kashmir Valley in India over 30 years ago, we understand their pain and suffering. We urge the Biden administration to immediately cease financial and military aid to Azerbaijan for this gross abuse of human rights,\u201d said Hindu American Foundation Managing Director Samir Kalra.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In Defense of Christians (IDC) joins with a coalition of partners to condemn Azerbaijan\u2019s ethnic cleansing of Armenians from the Berdzor Valley of Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), and calls for the immediate suspension of all U.S. military and security aid to the Azerbaijani government. On August 27, 2022, Azerbaijani forces completed the ethnic cleansing of Armenians […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[133,126,382,480],"class_list":["post-20387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-anc-international","tag-anca","tag-382","tag-480"],"yoast_head":"\n