NEWS PROVIDED BY
Anglican Office of International and Government Affairs
Jan. 25, 2023

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2023 /Christian Newswire/ -- In response to mounting Azerbaijani aggression against the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh, a group of diverse NGOs and activists will gather at the US Capitol House Press Triangle at 10:00am to announce the launch of the Save Karabakh Coalition this Friday, January 27.

The Announcement will include members of Congress, representatives of the Armenian community, NGO and religious leaders who are working together to save the Amerindian Christian community in Nagoro Karabakh, a historic Armenian community now claimed my Azerbaijan.

For over 40 days – since December 12 – the government of Azerbaijan has been blocking the Lachin Corridor, the only road linking Nagorno Karabakh and its 120,000 Armenian Christian residents to the Republic of Armenia, and to the outside world.

The members of the Save Karabakh Coalition pledge their solidarity with the besieged people of Nagorno Karabakh, and commit to working together to mobilize media attention and political support for their cause.
 
The Coalition is directed by a central committee composed of the Anglican Office of International and Government Affairs, Christian Solidarity International, the Baroness Cox of Queensbury, Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, the Vulnerable Peoples Project, and the Armenian National Committee of America.

Under the blockade, supplies of food and medicine are dwindling, and local authorities have been forced to begin strict rationing of meager supplies. Azerbaijan has also cut natural gas, electricity, and telecommunications to the region, leaving large parts of the population in the cold and dark in freezing winter temperatures. USAID director Samantha Power has warned of a "significant humanitarian crisis" if the blockade is not lifted.

Nagorno Karabakh is governed by the Republic of Artsakh, a democratic state that is unrecognized, but which has been de facto independent since the early 1990s. The dictatorship of Azerbaijan has vowed to conquer the territory, and launched a major attack on it in 2020, killing thousands and expelling tens of thousands of Armenians from their homeland.

The Coalition is calling on the U.S. government to take all necessary measures to safeguard the Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh, to apply economic pressure on Azerbaijan - including the suspension of military and economic aid - to pressure it to lift the blockade, and to work within the framework of the UN Security Council to provide for adequate peacekeeping in the region to protect the people of Nagorno Karabakh.

A protest at the Embassy of Azerbaijan will follow in the afternoon at 2:00pm

SOURCE Anglican Office of International and Government Affairs

CONTACT: Justin Murff, info@aogia.org