“There was no war in Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023. There was a group of Armenians who were first besieged by hunger and then thrown out by fear. Those are two forms of genocide. It is not a genocide like the one in 1915. It does not have the number of deaths, but it is still a genocide. Everyone knows it, and everyone plays dumb not to say it”, he added.

He also called Armenians to participate and share the campaign to denounce Azerbaijan’s crimes ahead of the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku using these hashtags: #COP29 #StopGreenwashGenocide #FreeArmenianHostages #FreePoliticalPrisoners #COP29Exposed #COPout29 #COP29Azerbaijan #FreeArmenianHostages

IAGS also recommends “sanctions against those who are responsible” and the “commencement of proceedings against Azerbaijan in the International Court of Justice under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the Convention Against Torture”.

“Activists have pointed to Azerbaijan’s record on human rights and its recently concluded war with Armenia. More than 100,000 people were displaced in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region after Azerbaijan launched an offensive last September. A peace agreement was reached in late December but human rights campaigners say Azerbaijan still holds hundreds of political prisoners”.

“From November 11-22, Azerbaijan will host the UN Climate Change Conference, or COP29, the most important gathering of world leaders to address climate change. While Azerbaijan will use the conference to try to polish its image and showcase itself as a leader in the region, the human rights community sees an opportunity to finally shine a spotlight on Azerbaijan’s extraordinarily odious regime, which continues to project aggression toward Armenia and abuse its own people”.

Article by Thomas Becker in The National Interest.

For the lawyers “the deportation of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh bears all the hallmarks of a crime against humanity”.

“Racist stereotypes in Turkey had often depicted Armenians as rapacious hoarders (ignoring the fact that many were very poor). It didn’t take long for people to speculate that Armenians fleeing the genocide had buried their valuables, in the hope that they would one day return. Scholarly opinion varies as to how widespread the practice actually was, but experts generally agree that whatever treasure was buried was probably found shortly after the genocide”, said the article by Erin O’Brien. “Sometimes the pursuit of riches is harmless. But the frenzied digging taking place in Armenian churches and graveyards is destroying the country’s historical fabric. Artefacts are siphoned off to private dealers, and the hunters’ crude methods cause irrevocable damage to archaeological sites”.

“I saw the memorial a few months ago, and wondered why it was in Ealing — and now understand that the British Armenian Community of Ealing is the largest Armenian community in all London. A previous memorial was planted on Ealing Green—an apricot tree, which symbolizes longevity, hope, and perseverance. The scientific name of the Apricot is Prunus Armeniaca, which is also appropriate. Now, it’s been joined by a stylised flame that is also a representation of the Xachqar (Armenian cross). The memorial, carved from Armenian basalt (red tuff stone), was created by the sculptor Varazdat Hambardzumyan, who is considered one of Armenia’s leading stone carvers”.

“Meanwhile Azerbaijan’s autocratic president Ilham Aliyev, who replaced his late father in 2003, has frequently used anti-Armenian rhetoric. In a speech in December 2022, he said Armenia – referred to as ‘Western Azerbaijan’ – ‘was never present in this region before’ and ‘present-day Armenia is our land'”.

Report by Narbeh Minassian in Sky News.

The Goddess Anahit was one of the principal deities in ancient Armenia, revered as the goddess of fertility, wisdom, and motherhood. Her worship was deeply rooted in the culture, and her golden statue, once housed in a grand temple in Yeriza, was looted by Roman forces in 34 B.C., with fragments of it now preserved in the British Museum.