Newsletter No 18

Write to the Standards Commissioner in Parliament

Dear Members of the Armenian community in the United Kingdom,

Thank you for your continued support of ANC UK in our efforts to influence and guide UK policy on the issue of Artsakh and welcome to those of you who have recently signed up to our newsletter.

Campaign to write to the Commissioner of Standards in Parliament – Please Take Action Now!

Last week, ANC UK launched a campaign asking our followers to write to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Stone OBE, regarding the possible misconduct of Bob Blackman MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Azerbaijan. The admission came in a podcast where Bob Blackman MP said that “On a regular basis [he puts] down positions on behalf of our good friends in Azerbaijan”.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/bob-blackman-azerbaijan-lobbying-javanshir-feyziyev/

If you have not already, please write to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, so that Bob Blackman MP’s conduct can be investigated in light of the MPs’ Code of Conduct and its supporting rules.

If you have not sent the letter, please do so here:

Take Action!

You can view the letter here.

If you would like to read more about Blackman MP’s misconduct and his possible unlawful action on behalf of the Government of Azerbaijan, please follow the link below – this issue was highly exposed in an openDemocracy report, which you can find here:

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/bob-blackman-azerbaijan-lobbying-javanshir-feyziyev/?saved#cookies-form

In order to further examine this misconduct, we have also sent our concerns regarding Mr. Blackman to the Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss and the Chairman of the Conservative Party, Oliver Dowden.

Holocaust Memorial Day

Feryal Clark MP urges the UK Government to recognise the Armenian Genocide:

Feryal Clark Labour MP and Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Armenia made a strong speech on the Holocaust Memorial Day in the House of Commons, urging the UK government to recognise the Armenian Genocide.

You can watch her speech here: https://youtu.be/vPRdUnzbXHk

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s Holocaust Memorial Day Speech and our letter to the Mayor of London

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan omitted to mention the Armenian Genocide, among others, in his speech on the Holocaust Memorial Day. We have written a formal letter addressing this omission, and have received the following response:

“Going forward we can look at including the Armenian Genocide in our future Holocaust ceremonies.”

We welcome this response and urge our followers to write to the Mayor and tell him why inclusion of the Armenian Genocide going forward is important to you and to those surrounding you in our community.

Please write to the Mayor of London: mayor@london.gov.uk

Leader of Liberal Democrats Sir Edward Davey MP’s support of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the UK

Sir Edward Davey MP, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has stated that he together with other Liberal Democrat MPs support the UK recognition of the Armenian Genocide. This is a result of our continuous grass root activism and the support we have received from the Armenian community members who have written to their MPs urging them to call on the UK Government to recognise the Armenian Genocide, which we are very thankful for.

Please write to your MP and tell them your story, explaining why this issue is important for you, using the following link: https://ancuk.org.uk/take-action/write-to-your-mp/

Baroness Cox spoke in the House of Lords about Armenians displaced in Artsakh

Baroness Cox spoke in the House of Lords about Armenians displaced in Artsakh, urging for the UK to “ensure the provision of urgent humanitarian assistance to the thousands of Armenians displaced by war”. She also noted that “perpetrators have carried out atrocities with impunity” and that “there has been no justice or support for victims and their families”.

You can read her full speech here:
https://hansard.parliament.uk//Lords/2022-01-06/debates/4e1417c8-a6ac-4b7d-baaf-b7c5f83ad9d9/LordsChamber#contribution-47606620-8FBA-4E94-9AA3-970F8B57D3B7

Once again, we ask you to take action in writing to the Standards Commissioner to investigate Bob Blackman MP’s conduct. Take action by clicking the button below!

Take Action!

Please give today to help our campaigns

ANC UK has so far worked in volunteering capacity, campaigning on behalf of the Armenian community, continuously pushing the UK government on the issues of Artsakh and the Armenian Genocide, helping remove pro-Azeri propaganda in London, and providing direct assistance to the officers and members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Armenia.

As we move into the next phase of our campaigning, we need our community’s help to ensure we can gain the support of more parliamentarians. This means supporting the campaign by contacting your MPs and donating to ANC UK to help us hire a much-needed permanent staff member.

With everything that we’ve all been through and all that lies ahead, we need your faith, your friendship, and financial generosity more than ever before

Donate Now

Our mailing address is:
7 Bell Yard, London WC2A 2JR

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