Call To Action
Dear and all USTN members,
This is USTN’s first grassroots advocacy campaign this year. The tragedy of Khojaly happened 17 years ago before the eyes of many of us. Today, the perpetrators of this single largest massacre of the Karabakh war, are leading the Republic of Armenia, namely former president Kocharyan and current president Sarkisyan. Others, like ASALA terrorist Monte Melkonian, are worshipped as national heroes.
For the second year in the row, USTN is commemorating the victims and their families by doing what it can — spreading the message, informing the US policy- and decision-makers, as well as media, about this horrible tragedy, and demanding action. This is a critical time — with the new Congress and Administration, it is important that they ALL hear us loud and clear, that more articles about Khojaly appear in US press, that more Congressmen make speeches for the record, join our Caucus, and pressure Armenia to end its occupation, and appologize to the victims and their families.
Please do your part — take one minute to send this free email and fax to your media and officials via USTN. The sooner we start, the more chances we have to properly remember, honor, and recognize the victims of Khojaly. And the more impact we will in anticipation of the unprecedented efforts by the Armenian lobby to pass its anti-Turkic resolutions.
USTN Board of Directors
A grave crime was committed against innocent Azerbaijani civilians by the Armenian army, on February 26, 1992, which became and remains the largest massacre of modern times in the region of South Caucasus and Caspian Basin. On that day, the military units of Armenia, seized the town of Khojaly, in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, and committed a massacre, which was the culmination of the Armenian aggression and occupation of Azerbaijan. On that day, the Armenian government’s efforts to rid Nagorno-Karabakh of its ethnically Azerbaijani population, resulted in almost 2,000 of innocent civilians, mostly women, children, and elderly, being killed, wounded, or taken hostage by the Armenian military forces.
The crime against peaceful residents of Khojaly was condemned worldwide, including by the U.S. government, and broadly covered by national newspapers and magazines. Some of the American and Western journalists and groups who eye-witnessed or extensively covered the Khojaly massacre, were: Hugh Pope, Thomas Goltz, Tom DeWaal, and Human Rights Watch. Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN), a Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, had the following appeal: “This is not the ringing condemnation that the survivors of Khojaly deserve, but it is an important first step by an international community that has too long been silent on this issue. Congress should take the next step and I hope my colleagues will join me in standing with Azerbaijanis as they commemorate the tragedy of Khojaly. The world should know and remember.”
February 26, 2009, is a Memorial Day for the people of Azerbaijan. All Azerbaijani people will forever remember where they were on February 26, 1992, like all Americans will forever remember where they were on the tragic morning of September 11, 2001. Having experienced terror firsthand, Azerbaijan has become a staunch ally of the United States in the War on Terror and a member of the Coalition, with Azerbaijani battle-ready peacekeepers serving side-by-side with Americans in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.
In the wake of the 17th year anniversary of Khojali massacre, all Turkic-Americans join in calling upon Congress to properly recognize and commemorate this tragedy (on the floor of the Congress, in the Congressional Record, and by attending a vigil), and to pressure the Armenian government to accept its responsibility for this massacre and withdraw its troops from the occupied regions of Azerbaijan.
More about the Khojaly Massacre: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=117709366&title=Khojaly_Massacre
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