Armenian Central Council: Do not allow a second 1915

The Central Council of Armenians in Germany demands that Germany not abandon the Armenians as it did during the genocide of 1915 and pressure must be exerted on Azerbaijan and Turkey, including the suspension of arms exports.

Due to the attack by the Azerbaijani army with the support of Turkey and its Islamist mercenaries sent from Syria, the Armenian civilian population in the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) has been exposed to an existential threat for over a month.

The Central Council of Armenians (ZAD, Zentralrat der Armenier in Deutschland), an association registered in Frankfurt/Main released a press statement demanding that Germany not abandon the Armenians as it did during the genocide of 1915.

The statement said; "This destructive war, which was imposed on the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, has already caused thousands of victims and much suffering on both sides. It is long since time to stop this. To do so, we must speak plainly and name the obvious aggressor, in this case Azerbaijan and Turkey, by name. In this case neutrality means supporting the oppressor. Economic leverage must be used: This includes stopping German arms supplies or the promotion of production of weapons in Turkey that are used against the civilian population in Nagorno-Karabakh."

Appeal to Members of the German Parliament

The ZAD appealed to members of the German Parliament: "As laid down in the German Constitution, the German people are 'committed to inviolable and inalienable human rights as the basis of every human community, of peace and justice in the world'. As representatives of German civil society and as German citizens with Armenian roots, we are proud of these values. We are convinced that you, as members of the German Parliament, can make a great contribution to preventing another tragedy from happening on both the Armenian and the Azerbaijani side. We therefore ask you to raise your voice and play an active role in this process.”

Turkish support for Azerbaijan

The Turkish government supports Azerbaijan both militarily and politically, the ZAD said and continued: "With the help of Turkey (80 million inhabitants, second largest NATO army), Azerbaijan (9.9 million inhabitants) deploys more than a thousand Islamist mercenaries against the native Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh (150,000 inhabitants). This has been confirmed by French President Emmanuel Macron and international media such as The Guardian, among others".

Armenians threatened with complete expulsion from Artsakh

The ZAD assumes that the capture of Artsakh by Azerbaijan "would lead to the complete expulsion of the indigenous Armenian population and to massive war crimes”.

“Principles of international law such as territorial integrity have not been introduced to justify or support a genocide policy currently being carried out by Azerbaijan and Turkey. The Armenian people of Artsakh want to live in peace, security and dignity in their homeland and the international community has the duty to protect the civilian population.”

As in the case of the Kosovo-Albanians, the ZAD said that the realization of the right to self-determination was a matter of course: "The right to self-determination is one of the three basic principles of the OSCE Minsk Group.”

Impending genocide and war crimes

In its statement, the ZAD refers to a study by the US organization Genocide Watch on the imminent danger of a new genocide against the Armenians and lists some of the war crimes committed by Azerbaijan in Artsakh since 27 September 2010. For example, cluster bombs were used against the civilian population, Armenian prisoners of war were executed, the cathedral in Shushi was bombed twice, and on October 28, an Azerbaijani air strike severely damaged the maternity clinic and the children's health center in the capital Stepanakert.