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Letters

I refer to the letter “Why China must not stay neutral as Armenia and Azerbaijan clash again” (October 13). The Armenian community of Hong Kong was very disappointed with the omission of some key facts.
 
Nagorno-Karabakh has been populated by Armenians for centuries, as evidenced by the hundreds of churches and monasteries in the region, with some dating from the seventh century.
 
The recent dispute over control of the region dates from 1921. Soviet leader Josef Stalin, as part of his “divide-and-rule” policy throughout the Soviet Union, placed Nagorno-Karabakh, largely populated by Christian Armenians, within Soviet Azerbaijan, populated by Muslim Azeris.
Armenia and Azerbaijan agree to declare ‘humanitarian truce’
Nagorno-Karabakh became an autonomous region within Soviet Azerbaijan, given a fair degree of self-rule. Over the next 70 years the people of Nagorno-Karabakh publicly and peacefully requested to be taken out of the Azerbaijani borders. Petitions were sent to Moscow in 1964, 1965, and 1987.  
Before the Soviet Union collapsed – before the modern Republic of Azerbaijan even existed – a public referendum, which was allowed in the Soviet Constitution, was held in Nagorno-Karabakh, with more than 99 per cent of votes cast in favour of independence.
  
Azerbaijan objected to recognising the referendum results, and this led to a brutal war from 1992-1994, when a ceasefire was signed.


Negotiations led by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group had begun looking at ways to peacefully resolve the situation, aiming to balance the territorial sovereignty of Azerbaijan and the rights and protections of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians.
For nearly three decades since then, Nagorno-Karabakh has been home to a thriving community with a democratically elected government, free press and civil society. 
This was the status of the situation until the coordinated attacks from Azerbaijan, supported by Turkey, on September 27. It is also now well documented that Syrian mercenaries are being sent to fight against Armenians. These attacks have also complicated the security of the entire region.
Armenia is not trying to invite third parties, including China, to take sides. Rather, it calls on the whole international community to support the mandated international format of negotiations: the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group.
The Armenian and Chinese nations have had an excellent relationship for centuries and this has only increased in strength in recent years.
The author of the letter cited is entitled to her opinion but it is important to offer the complete historical picture.
Henri Arslanian, president, The Armenian Community of Hong Kong and China


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War and conflict

Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict does not require China to take sides

A man in the yard of his apartment building, destroyed by shelling by Azerbaijan’s artillery, in Stepanakert, in Nagorno-Karabakh, on October 10. Photo: AP

Russia hosts Armenia, Azerbaijan peace talks as Nagorno-Karabakh fighting rages on

People take refuge in a bomb shelter in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh. Photo: AP

Local residents walk in a street after it was hit by a missile in Gandja, Azerbaijan, on October 8, 2020, near the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh province's capital Stepanakert as fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces spilled over ahead of a first meeting of international mediators in Geneva. - Armenia accused Azerbaijan on October 8, 2020, of shelling a historic cathedral in Nagorno-Karabakh while international mediators seeking to halt escalating fighting over the disputed region were expected to meet in Geneva. (Photo by BULENT KILIC / AFP)

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict offers insight into the new art of war

A police officer stands in front of a residential building that was supposedly damaged by shelling in Nagorno-Karabakh’s main city of Stepanakert. Photo: AFP

A damaged truck, which according to the Azeri militaries was seized in the fighting with ethnic Armenian forces over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, is seen in undisclosed location, Azerbaijan October 3, 2020. REUTERS/Aziz Karimov

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of breaking latest ceasefire

A woman stands near her destroyed house in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh. Photo: AP

An Azeri soldier stands in the city of Jabrayil, where Azeri forces regained control during the fighting with Armenia over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh on October 16, 2020. - Fresh explosions rocked the capital of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region on October 16 as Azerbaijan claimed fresh advances in nearly three weeks of fighting that have claimed more than 700 dead. (Photo by Bulent Kilic / AFP)

Azerbaijan’s president vows revenge after missile strike in Ganja kills at least 12 civilians

Men look at the ruins of a house following shelling in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Photo: Reuters

An Azerbaijan's policeman, left, speaks to a man siting at his destroyed house in a residential area that was hit by rocket fire overnight by Armenian forces, early Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020, in Ganja, Azerbaijan's second largest city, near the border with Armenia. (AP Photo/Aziz Karimov)

Women take refuge in a bomb shelter during a military conflict in Stepanakert, the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Friday, Oct. 16, 2020. The latest outburst of fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces began Sept. 27 and marked the biggest escalation of the decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. The region lies in Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the end of a separatist war in 1994. (AP Photo)

Opinion


Armenia calls on the international community to support the mandated international format of negotiations: the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group



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Diplomacy

Belt and Road Initiative

.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Letters | Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict does not require China to take sides

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Armenia calls on the international community to support the mandated international format of negotiations: the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group

Letters | Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict does not require China to take sides

Armenia calls on the international community to support the mandated international format of negotiations: the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group