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
1 comment
Let us not forget that Israel has supplied Azerbaijan with billions of dollars worth of advanced weapons, including drones, that are now being used against Armenia and Artsakh.
Moreover, Israel has never acknowledged the Armenian Genocide.
This puts Israel squarely in bed with the jihadist terrorists now in Azerbaijan.