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Azerbaijani Diaspora in US starts annual Shusha campaign

29 April 2011 08:23 (UTC +04:00)

Washington. Isabel Levine â€“ APA. Azerbaijani Diaspora in the US has started its 4th annual Shusha campaign by sending hundreds of letters to the elected officials in order to raise awareness about the Armenian occupation of the city and the Armenian policy of ethnic cleansing on the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, APAâ€™s Washington DC correspondent reports.

â€œOn behalf of 400,000 Azerbaijani-Americans and over 40 million Azerbaijanis worldwide, we urge the UN to start taking serious steps to implement the UN Security Council resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of 1993, the UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/48/114 and other GA resolutions, including one adopted recently in March 2008â€, says the letters, underscoring, these resolutions call for "immediate complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces" of all Armenian military forces from Azerbaijan’s territories.

The Diaspora also raises the question: â€œWhat good is served by adopting UN Security Council Resolutions and UN General Assembly Resolutions if they are not enforced?â€

According to the authors, Armenia has chosen to ignore the resolutions of the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly. â€œHow long must this continue before the US Congress and Administration, and the international community at large, responds effectively and conclusively?â€

May 8 this year will be the 19th anniversary of destruction of the historic and venerated town of Shusha, which was once the centerpiece of a vibrant Azerbaijani classical music scene and home to the first opera in the Middle East.

â€œIt was renowned for its musicians, composers, and singersâ€, the Azeri Diaspora reminds: â€œNow it lays in waste, a victim of Armenian destruction, occupation, and systematic ethnic cleansing. It should be noted that up until 1992, Shusha, the most important and best known city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, was 92% Azerbaijani. The occupation of Shusha followed the massacre of 613 Azerbaijani civilians by Armenian troops in the town of Khojaly just two months earlierâ€, the authors stated.

â€œOn behalf of Azerbaijani-Americans and Azerbaijanis worldwide, we implore you to do whatever is necessary to move this situation along to its rightful resolution within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan to enforce the UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, to stop Armenian occupation, to remove all Armenian military forces illegally stationed in Azerbaijan, to allow the return of Azerbaijani displaced persons back to their homes, to remove the blockade of Nakhichevan, the Azerbaijani exclave region, to return all POWs and MIAâ€, says the letter.

So far, the Diaspora received a response from Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (Democrat, from Maryland) who said she appreciates the Diasporaâ€™s views about enforcing UN resolutions regarding Azerbaijan.

â€œI believe the best ideas come from the people, and they guide our actions here in Washingtonâ€, says the Senator.