Up to 100,000 people have fled their homeland of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) in fear of persecution and ethnic cleansing by the hands of Azerbaijan military and government rulers. Already starving from a 10-month blockade, those fleeing are forced to escape through rough, unsafe territory and attacks from Azerbaijan military personnel before arriving in Armenia.
Friday will be the 40th day of the most recent full-scale military conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the landlocked region of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. The mountainous and forested land, historically called Artsakh by its majority ethnic Armenian residents, is a territory of 17,000 square miles — about the size of Delaware.
What do you think of when you see the word “Caucasian?” If you are not of Southwest Asian descent (Middle Eastern), it is probably the now-outmoded usage of referring to white people of European descent.
This is an urgent call of distress. At this moment, the Republic of Armenia — a flourishing democracy of 3 million citizens — is fighting to defend the people of Artsakh against the ongoing full-scale military attacks by Azerbaijan with the backing of Turkey (combined population more than 100 million) and Turkish-sponsored mercenary terrorists transported from Syria. Turkey is using F-16 fighter jets and other American taxpayer-funded technology to assist in this assault that began on September 27 targeting peaceful Armenian settlements and civilian infrastructure.