| ANC UK Newsletter December 2023 |
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1. ANC UK Holiday message for 2024
2. Ethnic cleansing of Artsakh: Write to your MP
3. UK Parliamentarians raising the issues of Armenia and Artsakh
4. ANC UK met with Global Witness directors and his CEO, Mike Davis, made a statement on Azerbaijan hosting COP29 summit
5. Release of all Armenian captives and POWs jailed in Baku
6. ANC UK attends the 75th Anniversary of the UN Genocide Convention hosted in the State Rooms of Speaker’s House
7. Recent developments
8. Interviews, articles and reports covering the situation in Armenia and Artsakh |
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1. ANC UK Holiday message for 2024
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Շնորհավոր Ամանոր և Սուրբ Ծնունդ!
We wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
We remain committed to supporting the human rights of the population of Artsakh. We wish for resolve and determination to tackle the adversities and difficult times Armenians faced in 2023.
We also welcome the appeal signed by Artsakh’s political parties, public organisations, media outlets, and leaders of the local self-government bodies of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) addressed to the international community on the occasion of the Day of the Referendum on Independence, the Constitution Day of the Republic of Artsakh, and the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We would also like to end the year by reflecting on Armenia’s Declaration of Independence:
Expressing the united will of the Armenian people;
Aware of its historic responsibility for the destiny of the Armenian people engaged in the realization of the aspirations of all Armenians and the restoration of historical justice;
Proceeding from the principles of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the generally recognized norms of international law;
Exercising the right of nations to free self-determination;
Based on the December 1, 1989, joint decision of the Armenian SSR Supreme Council and the Artsakh National Council on the “Reunification of the Armenian SSR and the Mountainous Region of Karabakh;”
Developing the democratic traditions of the independent Republic of Armenia established on May 28, 1918;
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On 19 September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale attack on Artsakh, against the 120,000 indigenous unarmed, besieged and starving Armenians living in Artsakh.
The entire population of Artsakh has been forced to flee their homes after enduring 9 months of Azerbaijani genocidal blockades, hunger and attacks.
The ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, which started in 2020, is continuing today. Under duress, a decree was signed on 28 September 2023 to dissolve the historic Armenian Republic of Artsakh. Such a decree has no legal force and we will, of course, fight for the restoration of the Republic of Artsakh.
We will call upon the UK government and the international community to establish a future status akin to Kosovo for Artsakh, with the aim of our brothers and sisters being able to safely return to their ancestral homeland, Artsakh.
Our demands:
1. clearly and unequivocally condemn Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Armenian population of Nagorno of Karabakh;
2. impose individual targeted sanctions against the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan that has been involved in the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor, ceasefire violations, the attack of 19 September and the ethnic cleansing of the native Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh;
3. use all your leverage to force Azerbaijan to immediately and unconditionally return all the Armenian captives, civilian hostages, prisoners of war since 27 September 2020, as well as the former and current leadership of Nagorno Karabakh abducted and charged since 19 September 2023;
4. contribute to the establishment of tangible international security guarantees so that the indigenous Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh can exercise their inalienable right to return to their own homeland and provide Nagorno Karabakh with an internationally guaranteed status of self-governance that underpins this right:
5. provide Armenia with adequate assistance to help deal with the influx of forcefully displaced Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh.
6. put effective pressure on Azerbaijan to stop the aggression towards the Republic of Armenia and any action that can endanger the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia.
What we have done this month
ANC UK has been collaborating with British non governmental organisations in the UK so jointly we can put pressure on the government. We are trying to expand our network within the UK.
We have also written several letters to the Foreign Secretary regarding the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and two regarding the Armenian captives, POWs and abduction of officials from Artsakh and Hakari bridge.
We continue to work with the APPG for Armenia Parliamentarians to raise awareness of issues important to our cause.
Photo: David Ghahramanyan
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| 2. Ethnic cleansing of Artsakh: Write to your MP |
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By writing to your MP, you are spreading awareness of the situation regarding Artsakh in the Parliament. Your MP should, as a result, write to the Foreign Secretary and raise your concerns. Since we launched this campaign and because of our followers’ involvement, more MPs are raising questions about the UK foreign policy towards Armenian issues.
Please write to your MP to raise their awareness of the situation in Artsakh and to put pressure on the UK Government to take action.
1. Follow the link here to join our campaign.
2. Complete your information and address fields. All areas must be completed.
3. The system will find your MP based on where you live and produce a pre-written letter for you.
4. Send the email to your MP. Let’s amplify our voices!
If you receive responses, please send them to us so we can share them and encourage more people to participate in the campaign.
Writing to your MP can make a real difference.
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3. UK Parliamentarians raising the issues of Armenia and Artsakh
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UK Parliamentarians have continued their important work in raising awareness in relation to Azerbaijan’s war crimes committed against the people of the Republic of Artsakh. Please see below some of these recent developments and issues raised.
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| Lord Alton’s Speech in Prague where he was invited to give the opening address at the Conference of Government Ministers on Article 18 of the UDHR Religious Freedom. |
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4. ANC UK met with Global Witness directors and his CEO, Mike Davis, made a statement on Azerbaijan hosting COP29 summit
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| ANC UK met with Global Witness directors and discussed future cooperation. Global Witness was the organisation that investigated BP’s role in Azerbaijan’s aggression towards Nagorno-Karabakh.
Global Witness said Azerbaijan’s share of two large oil and gas projects operated by the British oil company had earned its government more than four times its military spending since 2020, the year that war broke out in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
This investigation was part of The Guardian article: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/08/bp-projects-have-helped-fund-azerbaijan-military-aggession-say-campaigners
Last week Mike Davis, CEO of Global Witness made a statement on Azerbaijan hosting COP29 summit: |
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‘’UN climate conferences are bouncing from police state to petrostate, while the tidal wave of fossil fuel lobbyists grows, and the negotiations fail to agree on the most basic goal of ending fossil fuels.
Azerbaijan is governed by a repressive dictatorship which relies on oil revenues and just months ago launched a large-scale military conflict against Armenia in Nagorno Karabakh, which the European Parliament has called ethnic cleansing. This regime is bankrolled by BP and its partners, who have transferred $35 billion-worth of oil and gas production to the government since war broke out in 2020.
We cannot expect meaningful results to emerge from climate talks held in petrostates and flooded by oil lobbyists. COP29 should not be hosted in Azerbaijan”. |
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5. Release of all Armenian captives and POWs jailed in Baku
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ANC UK has written two letters to the former and new Foreign Secretary regarding UK’s mediation in the release of all Armenian captives, POWs and all the Artsakh officials who were illegally abducted and jailed in Baku.
The All Party Parliamentary Group members fo Armenia are also putting pressure on the UK government to use all its leverage to see the release of all the prisoners.
Although the 32 who were released is a welcome news, we will not rest until all are released from captivity.
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| In a letter addressed to David Cameron, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, CSI, HART, The Duty Legacy and ANC UK urged him to use all diplomatic means available to ensure the immediate release of the Armenian hostages held captive in Azerbaijan on December 20.
The message was signed by John Eibner, President of Christian Solidarity International (CSI UK), Annette Moskofian, Chairperson of the Armenian National Committee of UK, Sam Mason, CEO of Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) and James Joseph, Director of The Duty Legacy. |
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The Rt Hon. the Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton
Foreign Secretary
House of Lords
London SW1A 0PW
20 December 2023
Dear Lord Cameron,
Following conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, dozens of Armenian hostages remain vulnerable to indefinite imprisonment in Azerbaijan. We urge you to use all diplomatic means available to ensure their immediate release.
Earlier this month, 32 Armenian hostages were released by Azerbaijan – most of whom had been held captive in Baku for nearly three years. They were exchanged for two Azerbaijani soldiers who infiltrated sovereign Armenian territory and killed an Armenian civilian.
The Centre for Truth and Justice has identified an additional 20 Armenian hostages who remain in captivity, including seven civilians (kidnapped from Nagorno Karabakh during the 2020 war, or during the recent nine-month blockade of the Lachin corridor) and eight current or former members of the elected Government of the Republic of Artsakh.
Members of the Government of the Republic of Artsakh
– Ruben Vardanyan – former minister of state
– Arayik Harutyunyan – former president
– Bako Sahakyan – former president
– Arkadi Ghukasyan – former president
– Davit Ishkhanyan – Speaker of the National Assembly
– David Babayan – former foreign minister
– Levon Mnatsakanyan – former minister of defence
– Davit Manukyan – former deputy minister of defence
Civilians
– Vaqif Khachatryan (age 68)
– Rashid Beglaryan (age 61)
– Madat Babayan (age 71)
– Davit Tigran Davtyan (age 30)
– Gevorg Ruben Sujyan (age 34)
– Vicken Euljekjian (age 43)
– Karen Sedraki Petrosyan (age unknown)
Soldiers
– Hambartsumyants, Davit Mikayel (age 22)
– Hovsepyan, Hayk Ararat (age 19)
– Kosrovyan, Alyosha Aramayis (age 56)
– Mkrtchyan, Lyudvig Mkrtich (age 54)
– Yeghiazaryan, Aleksandr (age 34)
Siranush Sahakyan, a human rights attorney acting on behalf of the hostages’ families, believes there may be as many as 80 more Armenian hostages, both soldiers and civilians. We urge you to make representation to the Government of Azerbaijan to ensure their immediate release – and to condemn publicly such flagrant contravention of humanitarian law. There must be no impunity for the most serious international crimes. Detainees should be released and repatriated without further delay.
Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Yours sincerely,
John Eibner
President, Christian Solidarity International (CSI UK)
Annette Moskofian
Chairperson, Armenian National Committee of UK
Sam Mason
CEO, Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART)
James Joseph
Director, The Duty Legacy
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6. ANC UK attends the 75th Anniversary of the UN Genocide Convention hosted in the State Rooms of Speaker’s House
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| We were delighted to be invited to the parliamentary reception to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the UN Genocide Convention hosted in the State Rooms of Speaker’s House. Thank you to Fleur Anderson MP for the invitation and to Sir Lindsay Hoyle for hosting. |
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| On 28 November, the UK Ministry of Defence hosted a delegation of its Armenian counterparts in London to discuss the UK-Armenia Defence Cooperation Plan 2023-2024. David Morgan, UK Ministry of Defense Policy Director for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Levon Ayvazyan, Head of Defence Policy and International Cooperation Department, signed the document which sets out a range of specific bilateral activities. This is the sixth in a series of annual cooperation agreements which include participation by Armenian personnel in prestigious UK educational courses at the UK’s Defence Academy. |
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| The Azerbaijani Army killed Gerasim Avetik Arakelyan, an Armenian serviceman, in the latest attack against Armenian positions in Bardzruni, Vayots Dzor Province, on December 4. |
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| Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, spoke about the displaced population of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) at the 25th EU-NGO Forum for Human Rights on December 4.
“Look for example at what has happened in Azerbaijan and Armenia. A long-frozen conflict that suddenly has been – I would not say solved – but decisively determined by a military intervention that, in one week, made 150,000 people move. In one week. Like this. 150,000 people had to abandon their houses and run. And the international community regretted [it], expressed concern, sent humanitarian support, but it happened [with] the use of force”. |
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| More than 150 parties, public organizations, media outlets and community leaders of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) issued an appeal to the international community on the occasion of the Day of the Referendum on Independence on December 10.
The people of Artsakh outlined their conditions for the return of the Armenian indigenous population to its ancestral lands:
1. No Azerbaijani jurisdiction and the complete withdrawal of the Azerbaijani Army from the territory of Artsakh.
2. Deployment of international UN peacekeeping forces and demilitarization of the zone.
3. UN control of the Lachin Corridor.
4. UN control of the territory of Artsakh to ensure the return of all the refugees and a referendum to confirm the final political status.
5. International Tribunal to investigate every war crime committed by all the actors of the conflict.
For the full text of the appeal please read here:
https://ankakh.com/en/article/145514 |
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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 in Azerbaijan, which includes eight authorities of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) illegally detained following Azerbaijan’s invasion and seizure of the region in September, including businessman and philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan.
The letter is signed by former presidents Mary Robinson, Ernesto Zedillo, Nobel Prize Winners Leymah Gbowee and Oscar Arias, Elisha Wiesel, Chairman of the Board of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Marc Benioff, publisher Ariana Huffington, among others.
The UK figures who signed the letter were: Baroness Caroline Cox, Elena Adamova, Marta Albert, Natalie Antolovich, Sebastian Dovey, Catherine Dovey, Musimbi Kanyoro, Julia Middleton, Richard Ogdon, Michael Obermayer, Paul Polman, Baraa Shaiban, Kiko Thiel, Sam Thomas, Madhuchhanda Banerji, Gautam Banerji, Richard Branson, Adriaan de Mol van Otterloo, Jacques Der Megreditchian, Astghik Aghuzumtsyan, Astghik Aghuzumtsyan, Loussiné Khatchadourian, Mariam Manoyan, Seda Ambartsumian, Hripsime Mkrtchyan, Karapet Mkrtchyan, Samvel Nikoghosyan, Lianna Poghosyan, David Proyan, Varazdat Vasilian, Maria Vardanyan and David Zokhrabyan.
More information here: https://freearmenianprisoners.com/
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An investigation by OpenDemocracy revealed that Oxford University accepted a £10m donation by the “British Foundation for the Study of Azerbaijan and the Caucasus (BFSAC)”, which includes Nargiz Pashayeva, the sister-in-law of Azerbaijan’s autocratic ruler Ilham Aliyev, as one of the board members.
“Records seen by openDemocracy reveal that university bosses have courted authoritarian regimes. […] In one case, Oxford University accepted a mysterious £10m donation that was ‘facilitated’ by the president of Azerbaijan’s sister-in-law. The university is so insistent on keeping the donor out of public scrutiny that it is going to court to block a Freedom of Information request from openDemocracy”, said the article.
“Pashayeva was also co-chair of the Anglo-Azerbaijani Society, which attracted headlines in 2017 when one of its leading figures was caught up in the Azerbaijani Laundromat scandal”, added OpenDemocracy.
Complete article: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/uk-russell-group-universities-secret-donations-millions-lobbying/
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8. Interviews, articles and reports covering the situation in Armenia and Artsakh
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| “While the world focuses on Israel’s war against Hamas, an ongoing conflict threatens a tiny Christian nation at the intersection of Europe and Asia. Armenia is facing a potential genocide at the hands of its militant neighbor, Azerbaijan”.
View the full story from CBN News here: https://youtu.be/yt3zEm-BGvU?si=GiHG7VeOUiD6j97D |
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| The story of Karlen, a 10-year-old child of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) who was deliberately shot by the Army of Azerbaijan while he was riding his bike in Stepanakert trying to get help from the Red Cross for his dying grandfather.
View the story here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0NzkLZKjN4/ |
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| We also demand the release of all government and military personnel of Artsakh, POWs and captives |
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Make your donation
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To continue our ever growing work in lobbying we urgently need funds to have paid staff. All our efforts are done on voluntary basis. Please donate so we can carry on working for the Armenian Cause and raise concerns of the British Armenian community.
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Why Donate?
The Armenian National Committee of the United Kingdom (ANC-UK) is the largest and most influential British-Armenian political grassroots organisation.
Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Britain and affiliated organisations around the world, ANC-UK actively advances the concerns of the British-Armenian community on a broad range of issues.
The work achieved by ANC-UK is currently on a volunteer basis. However, we are hopeful that in the coming years through the financial support of our community, the ANC-UK chapter will have the necessary funds to open a full-time office employing an Executive Director and a part-time Administrative Assistant.
Setting up an ANC-UK office will allow for our organisation’s goals to be achieved as they have been throughout the diaspora in the United States of America, Canada, Australia and Europe.
As a grassroots organisation, we rely upon you, our community and friends for financial assistance to advance our cause. Your donations support our goal of having a full-time office, to advocate on issues important to all British-Armenians and the Armenian cause.
Thank you for your consideration of our request for your support.
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