The Honorable Antony Blinken…
The Honorable Antony Blinken
U.S. Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Blinken,
I am writing to you on behalf of Azerbaijan Society of America, the first Azerbaijani diaspora organization established in the United States in 1957.
As Azerbaijani-Americans, we are proud that Azerbaijan is hosting the United Nation’s annual climate change conference COP29. This shows Azerbaijan’s strategic role in the sphere of international relations is growing. Azerbaijan has become a country that actively influences international process, launches new and successful initiatives, and has a significant voice on the international stage.
The first challenge to a scientist wishing to discover the truth about how the world works is a common human condition we can call "first version loyalty". We hear a story; it sounds plausible, sensible, even logical, but it is not true and when we discover the truth, we can't help but resist that, because of first version loyalty. We've all heard over and over again the Armenian claims to genocide; the first claim refers to 1915 and Ottoman Turkish leaders' actions during a time of war. Bernard Lewis, highly respected historian specializing in this region and era, among numerous other neutral (not Azeris, not Turks) experts in this area, refutes those claims, available to listen and watch on YouTube. There is not one shred of evidence that can support the allegation of ethnic cleansing / genocide of ethnic Armenians living in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. In reality, not a single ethnic Armenian was molested or harmed in any way by Azerbaijani forces as they were under strict orders not to do any harm to local citizens.
We are not making any allegations; we are responding to false allegations made against us. This must be crystal clear from the outset. The Azerbaijani officials were upfront and forthright when they repeatedly announced that whoever lived in the Karabakh region was welcome to stay or to return to their homes and their human rights / civil rights would be respected and their safety guaranteed. Why don't they return? Because they would be forced to become Azerbaijani citizens and be subject to the laws and authority of official Azerbaijan, and that is, apparently, intolerable for those who left, about 100,000, according to the most credible, independent sources. No one is permitted to trespass or squat in their homes.
It is often said that truth and facts are the first casualties of all wars. They are also the casualties of smear campaigns as the purveyors of misinformation cling to the hope that with enough propaganda, they can once again lay claim to their coveted lands. Did you know that the Constitution of Armenia lays claim to Karabakh, internationally recognized territory belonging to Azerbaijan? Is there another country that has such a claim written in their constitution? Armenia is one of the most mono-ethnic countries in the world; there's a reason for that. Azerbaijan, in stark contrast, is the proud host of a wide variety of ethnicities and religious affiliations, with popular and government support for the institutions of those groups.
One read of Cristopher Panico's book Nagorno Karabakh - Seven Years of Conflict, working for Human Rights Watch Helsinki, published in December 1994, only months after the ceasefire of the first Karabakh war that escalated when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, when the Armenians, supported by Russia, took advantage of the chaos in Azerbaijan and seized the territory of Karabakh and the seven surrounding districts which they admitted they have no claim over, but did so to create a buffer zone between Karabakh and the rest of Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, there were about 700,000 Azerbaijanis who lived there and became refugees / IDPs (internally displaced persons). Those who managed to survive the massacres intended to induce terror in the local population so they would evacuate the land. They cannot return home yet owing to the hundreds of thousands of land mines, which Armenia refuses to supply the maps of their locations. There are no homes left; all is rubble, and the aerial photons remind us of the devastation of cities of postwar Germany and Japan.
Secretary Blinken,
Azerbaijanis liberated their militarily occupied U.N. / internationally recognized land - even by Armenia - and that not a single Karabakh Armenian was harmed during their entirely voluntary evacuation, ignoring the official and repeated entreaties by the Azerbaijani authorities to stay and their rights, both human rights and cultural rights, will be respected. Castigating Azerbaijan for human rights violations against ethnic Armenians (which never took place); 11% of our Congress; a small minority, but nevertheless they have compromised their ethics to lay blame where it does not exist. Such claims would never survive in a court of law, and it would be interesting to see such a development.
Respectfully,
Tomris Azeri
Azerbaijan Society of America
