Stay tuned for details for an urgent special edition of \u201cConnections With Msgr. Peter\u201d on CNEWA\u2019s response on Thursday, 28 September. Time to be announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19 September 2023<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAzerbaijan Launches a Military Offensive<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nNagorno-Karabakh: Another Ethnic Cleansing in the Works?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cRight now \u2014 in real time \u2014 the images on social media from the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in the southern Caucasus remind us of the resurgence of \u2018might over right\u2019: Thousands of weary families, trapped in their mountainous enclave, are seeking refuge at the airport in their besieged capital of Stepanakert as they attempt to flee the forced integration of their homeland into a hostile Azeri state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Renewed Fighting Between Azerbaijan and Armenia Raising Fears of Ethnic Cleansing<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAzerbaijan and Armenian forces reached a cease-fire agreement on 20 September to end two days of fighting in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region, officials on both sides said. Azerbaijani authorities said they halted the military operation launched a day earlier once separatist officials announced laying down arms.\u201d \u201cDespite warnings to remain in bombs shelters, ethnic Armenians have been gathering at the airport in Stepanakert, seeking to flee the region. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said his government was not involved in the cease-fire negotiation. On 19 September he accused Azerbaijan of \u2018ethnic cleansing\u2019 in Nagorno-Karabakh.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/230303-ONE-Recognizing-Women-banner-copy-1024x717.jpg\")
Residents of Nagorno-Karabakh fled to Stepanakert airport, where Russian peacekeepers are based, following Azerbaijan’s strikes on Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday, 19 September. (photo: Public Domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nDecember 2022<\/strong> \u2013<\/strong> September 2023<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAzerbaijan Blockade of the Lachin Corridor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nNagorno-Karabakh Blockade Tightens, Crisis Intensifies<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThe enclave\u2019s isolation had been mitigated by the Lachin corridor, through which runs a road that has connected the region to Armenia proper. Since December 2022, however, Azerbaijani activists blockaded the route, in effect severing Nagorno-Karabakh and its ethnic Armenian residents from the outside world, with the exception of the International Committee of the Red Cross (I.C.R.C.) and Russian peacekeepers, who the combatants agreed could provide humanitarian support to the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis blockade tightened on 15 June when all traffic on the lifeline, including the I.C.R.C. and Russian peacekeepers, was blocked. The I.C.R.C. \u2018carried out transportation of medical patients and a very small amount of medicine \u2026 several times,\u2019 after this ban, but on 11 July, Azerbaijan accused the I.C.R.C. of \u2018smuggling\u2019 through the corridor and restricted its movement entirely, according to Siranush Sargsyan, a reporter based in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh. The shortage of supplies for the region\u2019s population of 120,000 is acute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ancient Christian Enclave Faces \u2018Genocide by Starvation,\u2019 Says Armenian Catholic Bishop<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAn Armenian Catholic bishop is calling for prayer and action as some 120,000 ethnic Armenians face what he and other experts call \u2018genocide by starvation.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c \u2018It is a violation of every kind of law,\u2019 Bishop Mikael A. Mouradian of the California-based Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg told OSV News.\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith the area surrounded by Muslim-majority Azerbaijan, the blockade amounts to an \u2018ethnic cleansing of Christians,\u2019 since \u2018the sole Christian people in the Caucasus are now the Armenians,\u2019 who are \u2018not new in the region,\u2019 said Bishop Mouradian.\u201d \u201c \u2018Armenians have been living on that land for more than 3,000 years,\u2019 he said, \u2018There are a lot of churches there from the fourth, eighth, 10th centuries. It\u2019s not a new thing for Armenians.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2e3b6e40-ce13-4080-b599-5d1a4bc7336c-1024x576.jpg\")
The supermarkets in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh, are near empty amid a regional food shortage, resulting from the blockade in the Lachin corridor. (photo: Siranush Sargsyan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n27 September 2020 \u2013 10 November 2020<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe Second Nagorno-Karabakh War<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nArmenia at War<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cIn parts of central Asia, time has stood still since Sunday, 27 September. As the world has been fighting the coronavirus pandemic, and gearing up for perhaps a second and more disastrous wave, some three million Armenians have been waging another war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Armenians in Flight<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThe first casualties among civilians were reported at 10:17 a.m. \u2014 one woman and a child. Soon after, Armenians received word that 16 men died, then another 15, then 28. By the end of November, [Armenian or Artsakh] government reports put the number of Armenian deaths between 1,172 and 2,425, although up to 4,000 may be dead. Azerbaijan has not issued an official count of casualties or deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAccording to initial estimates, some 90,000 residents of Artsakh, primarily women, children and the elderly, fled their homes. Mrs. Poghosyan was among them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Destroyed](\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/20201008T1015-NAGORNO-KARABAKH-MINASSIAN-1006737-1024x715.jpg\")
In this image from 8 October, damaged pews lie amid rubble inside Holy Savior Cathedral in Shusha, Nagorno-Karabakh, after shelling during a military conflict. (photo: CNS\/David Ghahramanyan, NKR InfoCenter\/PAN handout via Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nA Contested Region<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Nagorno-Karabakh: Another Ethnic Cleansing in the Works?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRight now \u2014 in real time \u2014 the images on social media from the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in the southern Caucasus remind us of the resurgence of \u2018might over right\u2019: Thousands of weary families, trapped in their mountainous enclave, are seeking refuge at the airport in their besieged capital of Stepanakert as they attempt to flee the forced integration of their homeland into a hostile Azeri state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Renewed Fighting Between Azerbaijan and Armenia Raising Fears of Ethnic Cleansing<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAzerbaijan and Armenian forces reached a cease-fire agreement on 20 September to end two days of fighting in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region, officials on both sides said. Azerbaijani authorities said they halted the military operation launched a day earlier once separatist officials announced laying down arms.\u201d \u201cDespite warnings to remain in bombs shelters, ethnic Armenians have been gathering at the airport in Stepanakert, seeking to flee the region. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said his government was not involved in the cease-fire negotiation. On 19 September he accused Azerbaijan of \u2018ethnic cleansing\u2019 in Nagorno-Karabakh.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nagorno-Karabakh Blockade Tightens, Crisis Intensifies<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe enclave\u2019s isolation had been mitigated by the Lachin corridor, through which runs a road that has connected the region to Armenia proper. Since December 2022, however, Azerbaijani activists blockaded the route, in effect severing Nagorno-Karabakh and its ethnic Armenian residents from the outside world, with the exception of the International Committee of the Red Cross (I.C.R.C.) and Russian peacekeepers, who the combatants agreed could provide humanitarian support to the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis blockade tightened on 15 June when all traffic on the lifeline, including the I.C.R.C. and Russian peacekeepers, was blocked. The I.C.R.C. \u2018carried out transportation of medical patients and a very small amount of medicine \u2026 several times,\u2019 after this ban, but on 11 July, Azerbaijan accused the I.C.R.C. of \u2018smuggling\u2019 through the corridor and restricted its movement entirely, according to Siranush Sargsyan, a reporter based in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh. The shortage of supplies for the region\u2019s population of 120,000 is acute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ancient Christian Enclave Faces \u2018Genocide by Starvation,\u2019 Says Armenian Catholic Bishop<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAn Armenian Catholic bishop is calling for prayer and action as some 120,000 ethnic Armenians face what he and other experts call \u2018genocide by starvation.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c \u2018It is a violation of every kind of law,\u2019 Bishop Mikael A. Mouradian of the California-based Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg told OSV News.\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith the area surrounded by Muslim-majority Azerbaijan, the blockade amounts to an \u2018ethnic cleansing of Christians,\u2019 since \u2018the sole Christian people in the Caucasus are now the Armenians,\u2019 who are \u2018not new in the region,\u2019 said Bishop Mouradian.\u201d \u201c \u2018Armenians have been living on that land for more than 3,000 years,\u2019 he said, \u2018There are a lot of churches there from the fourth, eighth, 10th centuries. It\u2019s not a new thing for Armenians.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Armenia at War<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn parts of central Asia, time has stood still since Sunday, 27 September. As the world has been fighting the coronavirus pandemic, and gearing up for perhaps a second and more disastrous wave, some three million Armenians have been waging another war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Armenians in Flight<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe first casualties among civilians were reported at 10:17 a.m. \u2014 one woman and a child. Soon after, Armenians received word that 16 men died, then another 15, then 28. By the end of November, [Armenian or Artsakh] government reports put the number of Armenian deaths between 1,172 and 2,425, although up to 4,000 may be dead. Azerbaijan has not issued an official count of casualties or deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAccording to initial estimates, some 90,000 residents of Artsakh, primarily women, children and the elderly, fled their homes. Mrs. Poghosyan was among them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nDecember 2022<\/strong> \u2013<\/strong> September 2023<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Azerbaijan Blockade of the Lachin Corridor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
27 September 2020 \u2013 10 November 2020<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Contested Region<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n