LA Armenians Protest Against Azerbaijan
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July 23, 2020
A protest was held in West Los Angeles on Tuesday, against the Azerbaijani army’s actions in Armenia on July 12. Demonstrators were asked to wear face-coverings.
In the 1920s, Joseph Stalin redrew the USSR map and gave the region of Nagorno – Karabakh, or Artsakh as Armenians call it, to Soviet Azerbaijan, despite the fact that most of its population were Armenian.
From 1991 to 1994, there was full-scale warfare, between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, which resulted in thousands of lives lost on both sides.
A ceasefire was declared in 1994, which left ethnic Armenians in control of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Over the years many skirmishes have broken out, the deadliest being in April 2016.
Armenia claims that on July 12, 2020, “Azerbaijan attacked the actual sovereign territory of Armenia.”
“The latest was a manifestation of Azerbaijani claims against Artsakh and Armenia, they decided to take the opportunity of a global pandemic, attentions are somewhere else and they wanted to take advantage of a situation and capture land from Armenia. Which they failed at,” said Armen Sahakyan, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America West Region.
Los Angeles is home to the largest Armenian community outside of Armenia. Each year on April 24 in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, thousands take to the streets in a massive march.
"If this conflict blows into a full-scale war it will engage the audience as I mentioned. Russia, Iran, Turkey, U.S. and other major powers that have vested interest. This can very quickly spin out of control — not to mention the recent threats made by Azerbaijan to strike the nuclear power station which can have absolutely catastrophic consequences in the region if not the entire world. Everyone needs to pay close attention. Things can get out of control very quickly,” Sahakyan added.
On Monday night, The U.S. House passed the Pallone Amendment, requiring a closer Congressional oversight of a U.S. military aid program under which Azerbaijan has received more than $100 million.
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