Petition to Stop Azerbaijan’s Military Aggression Toward Armenians

Since September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, has been attacking Nagorno-Karabakh. As scholars of Armenian descent, we strongly condemn Azerbaijan’s military attacks. The aggression is marked by Azerbaijan’s complete disregard for international humanitarian law and the norms of armed conflict. Cities, villages, and civilian infrastructures have been shelled and destroyed. Azerbaijan is actively targeting the civilian population, as recently demonstrated by the attacks on Stepanakert, Hadrut, and other cities, towns, and villages of Nagorno-Karabakh. Numerous Armenian civilians have been killed, including elderly and children. Azerbaijan is supplementing its military with Syrian mercenaries, recruited and backed by Turkey. The war is also finding its manifestation directly in the Republic of Armenia, with Azerbaijan bombing the Armenian town of Vardenis.

Azerbaijan’s military aggression toward Armenians and the involvement of Turkey, as well as mercenaries from Syria, pose a direct existential threat to Armenians. With the full potential to quickly escalate into a major war in the South Caucasus region, draw in other neighboring countries, and cause vast humanitarian damage, Azerbaijan’s military aggression has to stop immediately. This war takes place a few short months after another military aggression on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, as part of which Azerbaijan threatened to bomb the Armenian nuclear power plant.

We urge that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemn Turkey-backed Azerbaijan’s atrocities against Armenians that started on September 27, that he call upon Turkey to exclude itself from the conflict, and that he take actionable steps to help stop Azerbaijan’s military operations against Armenians.

October 8, 2020

Gregory Aftandilian; Lecturer; Middle East Affairs; Boston University

Victor Agadjanian; Professor; Sociology; UCLA

Sos Agaian; Distinguished Professor; Computer Science Department; CSI and Graduate Center of CUNY

Alen Alexanderian; Assistant Professor; Mathematics; North Carolina State University
Moskov Amaryan; Professor; Nuclear and Particle Physics; Old Dominion University

Jora Amirkhanian; Lecturer; Civil Engineering; California State University, Northridge (CSUN)

Ani Aprahamian; Freimann Professor of Physics; Nuclear Physics; University of Notre Dame

Alvard Arazyan; Senior Lecturer; Mathematics and Statistics; Boston University
Jesse S. Arlen; Armenian Studies; UCLA

Raffi Aroian; Professor; Biomedical Research; University of Massachusetts Medical School

Mihran Aroian; Professor; Management; The University of Texas at Austin

Carolina Arroyo; Teaching Professor; Department of Political Science; University of Notre Dame

Arlene Voski Avakian; Professor Emeritus; Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies; University of Massachusetts Amherst

Tamara Babaian; Professor; Computer Information Systems; Bentley University

Kathryn Babayan; Professor; Early Modern Persianate History; University Michigan

Aram Balagyozyan; Associate Professor; Economics; The University of Scranton

Hasmig Baran; Lecturer; Armenian Studies Program; California State University, Northridge

Kevork Bardakjian; Professor Emeritus; Armenian Studies; University of Michigan

Yelena Bisharyan; Director; Life Sciences Technology Development; Harvard University

Patricia Blanchette; Professor; Philosophy; University of Notre Dame

Samuel Danagoulian; Emeritus Professor; Nuclear Physics; North Carolina A&T State University

Areg Danagoulian; Associate Professor; Nuclear Science and Engineering; MIT

Shooshan Danagoulian; Assistant Professor; Economics; Wayne State University

Mary R. D’Angelo; Associate Professor (Emerita); Religious Studies; University of Notre Dame

Asya Darbinyan; Visiting Research Scholar; History; Clark University

Davit Davtyan; Assistant Professor; Marketing; University of North Carolina, Asheville

Armen Der Kiureghian; Taisei Professor of Civil Engineering Emeritus; Structural Engineering; University of California, Berkeley

Bedross Der Matossian; Associate Professor; History; University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Nazaredt Dermendjian; Professor; Civil Engineering; California State University,

Northridge Margaret Dobrowolska; Professor; Physics; University of Notre Dame

Nikolay V. Dokholyan; G. Thomas Passananti Professor; Pharmacology, Biochemistry &

Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering; Pennsylvania State University

Myrna Douzjian; Lecturer; Armenian Literature; University of California, Berkeley

Ani Eloyan; Assistant Professor; Biostatistics; Brown University

Anna Geltzer; Assistant Director; Science Studies; University of Notre Dame

Aram Goudsouzian; Professor; History; University of Memphis

Karen Graubart; Associate Professor; History; University of Notre Dame

Talinn Grigor; Professor and Chair; Art History; University of California

Viktor Grigoryan; Associate Professor; Mathematics; Simmons University

Hrant Hakobyan; Associate Professor; Mathematics; Kansas State University

Davit Harutyunyan; Assistant Professor; Mathematics; University of California Santa Barbara

Armen Hovakimian; Professor; Finance; Baruch College, City University of New York

Gayane Hovakimian; Associate Professor; Finance; Fordham University

Naira Hovakimyan; W. Grafton and Lillian B. Wilkins Professor; Mechanical Science and Engineering; University of Illinois

Richard G. Hovannisian; History; Professor Emeritus, UCLA and Presidential Fellow, Chapman University

Carina Karapetian Giorgi; Assistant Professor; Sociology; Antelope Valley College

Barkev Mihran Kassarjian; Professor of Management, Babson College, and Professor of Strategy & Organization, Emeritus, IMD Int’l., Lausanne, Switzerland; Strategic Change in Organizations

Lori Khatchadourian; Associate Professor; Near Eastern Studies; Cornell University

Davit Khachatryan; Associate Professor; Statistics and Analytics; Babson College

Mariana Khachatryan; Post Doctoral Associate; Physics; Florida International University

Nerses Kopalyan; Assistant Profess-in-Residence; Political Science; University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Asbed Kotchikian; Senior Lecturer; Political Science; Bentley University

Hagop Kouloujian; Continuing Lecturer; Armenian Studies; UCLA

Dickran Kouymjian; Full professor, first Haig Berberian Endowed Professor of Armenian Studies, Emeritus; Armenian History and Art, Near Eastern History & Art; California State University, Fresno

Stephen Lancaster; Associate Professor of the Practice; Music; University of Notre Dame

Marc A. Mamigonian; Academic Director; Armenian Studies; National Association for

Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)

Christina Maranci; Professor; Art History; Tufts University Kristine Martirosyan-

Olshansky; Researcher; Archaeology; UCLA

Sarkis Mazmanian; Professor of Microbiology; Microbiology, Immunology, Neuroscience; California Institute of Technology

Sarah McKibben; Associate Professor; Irish Language and Literature; University of Notre Dame