Friday, August 11 2023 10:50

ArmInfo. AGBU President Berge Setrakian has addressed a letter to U.S. Secretary of State  Antony Blinken. 

The letter reads: 

"Dear Secretary Blinken:

"Time has run out for diplomatic statements, public denouncements,  lofty resolutions, negotiations, and talking points. A 21st century  Armenian Genocide is imminent and the free world's continued inaction  will allow the perpetrator, Azerbaijan, to complete the mission.  

"As president of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), the  world's largest Armenian non- profit organization, I am compelled to  sound the alarm on behalf of the millions of Armenian Americans  living in the United States who are concerned for their brothers and   sisters in our ancestral homeland.  

"Azerbaijan obviously does not understand words without actions. It  does not comprehend the language of reason, peace, and humanity.   This has been strikingly demonstrated by its protracted blockade of  the only road that connects the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to the  outside world, halting the delivery of food, fuel, medication, and  other necessities to sustain life.  

"This week, Luis Moreno Ocampo, one of the world's leading protectors  of human rights, called it like it is:  the abominable acts by  Azerbaijan against innocent Armenians fit the very definition of  genocide.  "The esteemed Ocampo--who cemented his reputation when he  helped to liberate his native Argentina of military dictatorship,  later served as the International Criminal Court's first prosecutor,  and brought some of the worst despots to justice--issued an explosive  new report making one very dire prediction: Unless we act, and  quickly, we may very soon witness another Armenian genocide.  

"Ocampo's report argues that Azerbaijan's actions against the  Armenians have much in common with some of history's most monstrous  mass killings, from the extermination of the Armenians themselves in  1915 to the Nazi systemic starvation of Jews in 1939 to similar  tactics applied in Srebrenica in 1993 and 1994.  

"This doesn't come as news to AGBU.  

"Given our 117 years in operation, with a mission to save and improve  Armenian lives across the globe, AGBU was among the first hand  witnesses to genocide in 1915. Over 1.5 million Armenian subjects of  Ottoman Turkey perished through systematic massacres and barbaric  killings, starvation, and forced death marches in the Syrian desert.   At the time, our pleas to the international community proved futile,  despite many eyewitness accounts of international diplomats and  numerous news reports and graphic documentary photographs by foreign  journalists stationed in Turkey. The world watched in horror back  then but did not act decisively and collectively to stop the Ottoman  leaders from executing their genocidal aims.  The meme "starving  Armenians" became widespread and, ironically, the Azeri blockade of  Nagorno-Karabakh, now in its eighth month, is literally starving out  the 120,000 Armenian civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Today, these  innocent Armenian families are isolated in a death trap so that even  humanitarian relief groups, including AGBU, cannot intervene to  alleviate the widespread starvation that has descended like a plague  upon multiple generations. 

"Azerbaijan has apparently misinterpreted the tepid international  response to its gross violations of international law as tacit  permission to use any means necessary to eliminate a Christian  community with ancient roots in the land and the region. We must  prove Azerbaijan wrong and not a moment too soon.  

"While there's no shortage of global conflict vying for resources and  attention, Ocampo's report on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is an  urgent wake-up call from a major moral voice that deserves your  attention and action. Therefore, I have taken the liberty of sharing  the full report.  "We trust that these alarming findings will compel  you to rush immediate relief, directly through the U.N.  or via  airlift, with a clear message to the Aliyev regime to open the Lachin  Corridor immediately, "ensuring the unimpeded movement of persons,  vehicles, and cargo in both directions." Azerbaijan should also be  advised that failure to comply will result in its being held  accountable by the world community and subjected to legal  consequences. 

"This is the critical hour to prevent another crime against humanity  before it is too late. 

"Thank you in advance for your immediate attention to this extremely   time-sensitive appeal.  

"Sincerely, 

"Berge Setrakian

"AGBU President."