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Commentators say international intervention is needed immediately to allow food and necessities to get to the Armenians trapped in Nagorno-Karabakh.
More than 120,000 Christian Armenians are currently trapped, without food or medicine, behind a blockade of the Nagorno-Karabakh region maintained by the Muslim-majority nation of Azerbaijan.
Former ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom Sam Brownback, who recently returned from a fact-finding mission to Armenia, said Azerbaijan is “strangling” the Christians in the region and that the blockade is the regime’s latest attempt at “religious cleansing.”
“They’re working to make it unlivable so that the region’s Armenian-Christian population is forced to leave, that’s what’s happening on the ground,” Brownback said in June.
Why is Armenia At War With Azerbaijan?
Since 1988, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, or “Artsakh,” as the Armenians call it.
Though some see the conflict as strictly one over borders, experts have emphasized that religion also plays a central part in the war between Christian Armenia and Muslim Azerbaijan. Armenia wants to retain its hold on Artsakh, while Azerbaijan wants to expel the Armenian Christian population to solidify its hold on the region, according to Brownback.
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
More than 120,000 Christian Armenians are currently trapped, without food or medicine, behind a blockade of the Nagorno-Karabakh region maintained by the Muslim-majority nation of Azerbaijan.
Former ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom Sam Brownback, who recently returned from a fact-finding mission to Armenia, said Azerbaijan is “strangling” the Christians in the region and that the blockade is the regime’s latest attempt at “religious cleansing.”
“They’re working to make it unlivable so that the region’s Armenian-Christian population is forced to leave, that’s what’s happening on the ground,” Brownback said in June.
Why is Armenia At War With Azerbaijan?
Since 1988, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, or “Artsakh,” as the Armenians call it.
Though some see the conflict as strictly one over borders, experts have emphasized that religion also plays a central part in the war between Christian Armenia and Muslim Azerbaijan. Armenia wants to retain its hold on Artsakh, while Azerbaijan wants to expel the Armenian Christian population to solidify its hold on the region, according to Brownback.
Continued below.
Armenian Christians Trapped and Facing Genocide: An Explainer
Commentators say international intervention is needed immediately to allow food and necessities to get to the Armenians trapped in Nagorno-Karabakh.
