The world woke up last Saturday morning to the drumbeats of war from a large-scale assault by Azerbaijan on tiny Artsakh (Karabagh).<\/p>\n
This was not a surprise attack! For many years, Azerbaijan\u2019s President Ilham Aliyev has had the nasty habit of launching military attacks on the Republics of Armenia and Artsakh whenever international peace talks or Summit Meetings were being held.<\/p>\n
Even a casual observer of this long-running conflict could have guessed that Azerbaijan would launch yet another attack during last weekend\u2019s Nuclear Security Summit hosted by Pres. Obama and attended by 50 heads of state, including Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Some observers were surprised by the large scale of the Azeri attack which involved tanks, helicopters, missiles, and drones. In fact, the scope of the assault should not have come as a surprise, given Azerbaijan\u2019s technological escalation of aggression in recent years. Aliyev\u2019s sinister practice of timing military attacks with peace talks or international conferences reflects his intensive efforts to keep the Artsakh conflict as a burning issue at all cost.<\/p>\n
Certainly, Pres. Aliyev is increasingly frustrated by his inability to intimidate Armenians into giving up the territory of Artsakh despite Azerbaijan\u2019s purchase of multi-billion dollars of modern weaponry. Aliyev is also distressed by his failure to use his country\u2019s vast oil and gas resources as an inducement to pressure world leaders into supporting Azerbaijan in the Artsakh conflict. As a result, the Baku dictator has wasted huge amounts of his country\u2019s wealth to bribe foreign officials and purchase expensive but ineffective weapons.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, as Azerbaijan\u2019s father and son Presidential Dynasty, the Aliyevs have persistently threatened to attack and \u201cliberate the occupied territories of Karabagh\u201d for over 20 years. Since they have cried wolf for far too long, very few Azeris take their president\u2019s bravado talk too seriously. Consequently, Aliyev has been desperate to take any and all measures, no matter how reckless, to save face at home and abroad!<\/p>\n
It is important to understand the timing and motive of Aliyev\u2019s aggressive behavior so that other countries are not blamed for instigating these attacks which would only serve to shift attention from the only guilty party — Azerbaijan! However, there are other countries that have a share of the blame: First among these is Erdogan\u2019s Turkey for its direct participation and support of Azerbaijan\u2019s military misadventures. The Minsk Group of mediators (France, Russia, and United States) are also guilty for remaining silent during previous Azeri aggressions and blaming both sides each time Azerbaijan attacked Armenia or Artsakh. The international community\u2019s shameful silence and doubletalk routinely equated the victimizer with the victim, thereby emboldening the warmongering Aliyev!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One particularly horrifying episode during this latest attack validated the concern of all those who have been warning for years about the risk of genocide threatening Artsakh\u2019s Armenians. Over the weekend, when Azeri soldiers temporarily took over the Talish village, just inside Artsakh\u2019s border, they not only executed an elderly Armenian couple, but barbarically cut off their ears as souvenirs! Such savagery, at a minimum, is a war crime under international law! Just imagine what these brutal Azeri soldiers would have done if they had overrun the entire population of Artsakh. It would have been a bloodbath of immense proportion — a second Armenian Genocide!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Three firm conclusions should be drawn from the latest massive Azeri aggression:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1) Artsakh Armenians can never go back to live under the despotic rule of Azerbaijan, no matter how many times Aliyev threatens or attacks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2) Armenians should not just repel the Azeri forces, but inflict such massive destruction that Aliyev would never again think of another attack. Already, thousands of volunteers from all over Armenia have rushed to Artsakh\u2019s defense. Azerbaijan is aware that its multi-billion dollar oil fields and pipelines are in easy reach of Armenia\u2019s long-range missiles!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
3) It is time to declare Artsakh an inseparable part of the Republic of Armenia. On April 4, Pres. Sargsyan told foreign ambassadors in Yerevan that if the hostilities continued and escalated, Armenia would \u201crecognize Karabagh\u2019s independence.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The brave people of Artsakh desperately need everyone\u2019s moral, political and material support! The Armenia Artsakh Fund of Glendale, California, gratefully welcomes your contributions to be able to ship urgently-needed millions of dollars of medicines and medical supplies the Fund has already collected. Please send your tax-deductible donations to: Armenia Artsakh Fund, 1101 N. Pacific Ave., #204, Glendale, CA 91202. Email: sassoun@pacbell.net; phone: 818-241-8900.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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