The indigenous people of Nagorno-Karabakh are AGAIN being forced out of their homes and off their land by Azerbaijan's continued ethnic cleansing mission, as Russian peacekeepers have announced plans to leave the villages of Aghavno and Berdzor, located within the only corridor connecting disputed Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia (it's only existing lifeline) by August 25, 2022. 

Ongoing threats by the Azerbaijani government and a legacy of war crimes since the 2020 war ensure that no Armenian will be safe once the peacekeepers leave. Immediate intervention is needed to save lives. 

Current peacekeepers must extend their mission to protect Aghavno and Berdzor, or be replaced by a peacekeeping force from another OSCE country until residents of the affected villages have an alternative connection to Armenia and other security guarantors.

Background: In September 2020, Azerbaijan, with direct support from Turkey and foreign mercenary groups, attacked the de-facto Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). The war lasted 44 days and took the lives of thousands of young soldiers. It ended on November 9, 2020, when a ceasefire statement brokered by Russian President Vladimir Putin was signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia. Pursuant to the agreement, the Russian peacekeeping force was to be deployed for five years, until 2025. Now the Russian peacekeepers are pulling out early, and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev has announced his intent to send soldiers into the Armenian-populated area. His army will torture, kidnap, and murder Armenians - as they have been doing since the war (and before).

Azerbaijan today is ruled by autocrat Aliyev, descendent of a kleptocratic family dynasty dating back the mid-1990s. Considered one of the world’s most corrupt dictators, Aliyev has made clear his intent to ethnically cleanse Nagorno-Karabakh of all Armenians using force, gross violations of human rights and terror. Aliyev has used fossil fuel revenues to weaponize the country against Armenians and assuage the west as a so-called reliable partner on oil and gas. Aliyev's hope is that the U.S. and Europe will set aside their core principles of protecting human rights and democracy while Azerbaijan’s despotic regime goes unchecked to fulfill its goal to ethnically cleanse Nagorno-Karabakh of all Armenians.