| ANC UK Newsletter November 2023 |
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1. Ethnic cleansing of Artsakh: Write to your MP campaign and sign the petition to stop BP from funding Genocide
2. UK Parliamentarians raising the issues of Armenia and Artsakh
3. The APPG for Armenia elects new officers
4. The Armenian Genocide memorial in Ealing was desecrated
5. Recent developments
6. Interviews, articles and reports covering the situation in Armenia and Artsakh |
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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 certain British humanitarian and ecological organisations to put further pressure on the UK government in the future. We are trying to expand our network within the UK.
We have also written two letters to the Foreign Secretary – one, regarding the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and the other exclusively regarding the Armenian captives, POWs and abduction of officials from Artsakh and Hakari bridge.
Photo: David Ghahramanyan
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| 1. Ethnic cleansing of Artsakh: Write to your MP campaign |
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By writing to your MP you are spreading awareness of the situation regarding Artsakh in the Parliament. Your MP has to 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 – see below the recent responses received from Dr Rupa Huq, Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton.
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Sign the petition to stop BP from funding Genocide
Sign the petition to demand British Petroleum (BP) to stop funding Genocide against the Armenian population of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and speak out against Azerbaijan’s atrocities.
To join the ”No Business with Genocide” campaign, please click here.
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2. 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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3. The APPG for Armenia elects new officers
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| On 14th of November the All Party Parliamentary Group had their Annual General meeting and elected the following officers:
Tim Loughton (Con) Chairman
Baroness Cox (Peer) Vice Chair
Jessica Morden (Labour) Vice Chair
Chris Law (SNP) Vice Chair
Annette Moskofian Secretariat.
According to the new APPG regulations only 4 officers are allowed to be elected for each APPG.
During the AGM the Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan gave an overview of the challenges facing Armenia and people of Artsakh. The Ambassador of Armenia to the UK Varuzhan Nersesyan congratulated the newly elected officers and thanked them for their efforts. |
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4. The Armenian Genocide memorial in Ealing was desecrated
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| The Armenian Genocide memorial in Ealing was desecrated after 10 days of its inauguration on 23 September. During that day, a group of masked extremists waving Turkish flags and doing the Grey Wolves gesture arrived at the scene to terrorize the Armenian community.
“The Grey Wolves gesture is the moral equivalent of a Nazi salute,” said Annette Moskofian, Chairperson of the Armenian National Committee of United Kingdom. “To me personally, history is repeating itself. The idea of one nation, two states between Turkey and Azerbaijan means the Azerbaijani regime wants to finish what the Ottomans started in 1915, and that there are people in the UK who share these ideas makes us feel under attack,” she declared.
“Within 10 days of the inauguration ceremony, the memorial was desecrated by bright yellow paint, and the word Genocide on the plaque was scratched as if someone was trying to erase that specific word,” Moskofian explained. Fortunately, the memorial is under CCTV camera surveillance, and the police are actively investigating the incident as a “hate crime”. Moskofian says she is “confident that the perpetrators will be brought to justice and serve as an example”.
Read the complete story by Georgia Gilholy in the Catholic Herald here: https://catholicherald.co.uk/british-armenians-fear-a-repeat-of-history-as-genocide-memorial-vandalised/ |
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| During the latest military attacks of Azerbaijan against the Armenian population of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), more than 200 people were killed (9 civilians and 3 children), more than 300 were wounded (80 civilians) and 14 were tortured according to the Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan. The data is updated as of October 30 and is preliminary. |
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| The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention issued a Red Flag Alert on October 31 “due to the alarming potential for an invasion of Armenia by Azerbaijan in the coming days and weeks”.
“Azerbaijan has long coveted Armenia’s southern Syunik Province, which has been discussed in the recent past as the site of an Azerbaijani-controlled ‘Zangezur Corridor’ to Nakhichevan. Considering recent political developments in the region—including the Azerbaijani invasion of Artsakh on September 19, 2023 and the ensuing seizure of the territory—and well-established genocidal Armenophobia endemic in Türkiye and Azerbaijan, an Azerbaijani invasion runs a dangerously high risk of devolving into genocide”.
Read the entire alert here: https://www.lemkininstitute.com/red-flag-alerts/red-flag-alert-for-genocide—azerbaijan-in-armenia |
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| The UK Government has donated vital medical equipment for the rehabilitation and treatment of burn patients to the National Centre for Burns and Dermatology under the Ministry of Health of Armenia.
UK Ambassador John Gallagher and Chris Perkins, the Head of the Political and Press Section of the Embassy, personally delivered these crucial materials to the Director of the Burns Centre, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, and Armen Melkonyan, the Head of the International Relations Department of the Ministry of Health.
This donation follows the vital assistance provided by UK-Med‘s Emergency Medical Team to burn patients injured in the devastating explosion at the fuel storage facility in Nagorno Karabakh on 25 September. These dedicated medical professionals tirelessly performed surgeries and rehabilitation therapy at Mikaelyan Hospital in Yerevan from 11 to 28 October.
Complete article: https://en.armradio.am/2023/11/06/uk-government-donates-vital-medical-equipment-to-armenias-national-centre-for-burns/ |
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| The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan issued a statement on November 7 demanding Armenia to hand over “8 occupied Azerbaijani villages” from Tavush and Ararat provinces.
The threatening statement from Azerbaijan came after Primer Minister Nikol Pashinyan unilaterally recognized Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity covering 86,600 square kilometers, including those enclaves.
According to the cartographer Ruben Galichyan, Azerbaijan stated in its independence declaration that it is the successor of the 1918-1920 Azerbaijan, and back then no enclaves existed. “If Azerbaijan intends to sign any treaty, it must first of all return to Armenia the territories that it captured since 2021, which include around 240 square kilometers”, added Galichyan. |
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| Following a sham court case in Baku, Azerbaijan sentenced Vagif Khachatryan, an elderly ethnic Armenian from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) who was kidnapped by Azeri border guards during his ICRC-mediated medical evacuation on July 29, to 15 years in prison on fabricated war crime charges. |
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| The G7 Foreign Ministers of the United Kingdom (James Cleverly), Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union issued a statement on November 8: “We are gravely concerned over the humanitarian consequences of the displacement of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh after the military operation conducted by Azerbaijan. We urge Azerbaijan to fully comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law and welcome international efforts to address urgent humanitarian needs for those who have been displaced. We underline our support for advancing a sustainable and lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on the principles of non-use of force, respect for sovereignty, the inviolability of borders, and territorial integrity”.
Complete statement: https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/newsroom/news/g7-japan-2023-foreign-ministers-statement/2629894 |
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| The Senate of the United States approved a measure blocking US military aid to Azerbaijan on November 16, a long-standing Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) policy priority.
Ambassador James O’Brien, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, told House Foreign Affairs Committee members that “nothing will be normal with Azerbaijan after the events of September 19 until we see progress on the peace track. We canceled a number of high-level visits and condemned the actions”.
Aram Hamparian, ANCA Executive Director, said: “Having armed, emboldened, and actively abetted Azerbaijan’s genocide of Artsakh – the U.S.-backed ethnic cleansing of Armenians from yet more of our indigenous homeland – President Biden will need to do far more than send signals about his willingness to enforce an existing U.S. statute. He can, for example – if he is serious and not just engaged in electoral damage control – lead a UN Security Council resolution establishing an international mandate providing security for the safe and sustainable return of Armenians to Artsakh.” |
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| Former Prime Minister David Cameron was appointed Foreign Secretary ok UK on November 13. We wish him success in his new role and look forward to continuing to work with the FCDO to defend the interests of the British-Armenian community |
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We would like to congratulate the current member of APPG Bishop of Coventry Dr Christopher Cocksworth for his appointment to the Deanery of The King’s Free Chapel of St George, Windsor Castle, in succession to The Right Reverend David Conner following his retirement. Dr. Cocksworth went to Armenia last year with the Parliamentary delegation and is a good friend of the Armenian people. He will be responsible to the King Sovereign.
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| UK Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty, visited Armenia on November 20, the first stop of his trip to the South Caucasus.
“The South Caucasus faces significant security challenges, both internally and from its neighbours which threaten to destabilise the region. In a volatile region, the UK is a reliable partner for reform, peace and stability”, said Docherty ahead of the visit. |
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6. Interviews, articles and reports covering the situation in Armenia and Artsakh
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| The Guardian published an article on November 8 citing the Global Witness NGO which claimed that “BP’s fossil fuel projects in Azerbaijan have helped fund the military aggression against Karabakh Armenians though the transfer to billions of dollars to the Azerbaijan government since 2020”.
“Analysis by the NGO suggested that Azerbaijan’s economic reliance on BP, its largest foreign investor, had indirectly helped to fund Azerbaijan’s military aggression against ethnic Armenians in the contested region, which has forced more than 100,000 people to flee the territory since early September”.
Read the complete analysis here: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/08/bp-projects-have-helped-fund-azerbaijan-military-aggession-say-campaigners
ANC UK is collaborating with Global Witness
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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
Please give today to help our campaigns
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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