Several American Armenians joined the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA, Inc.) for a lunch reception with Baroness Caroline Cox and the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust on Sunday, Nov. 5th, at St. Mary’s Armenian Church in Washington DC.
She was greeted by Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, the Ecumenical Directo and Diocesan Legate of the Armenian Church in Washington DC, Armenia’s Defence Attaché in U.S. Col. Arman Mkrtchyan, the Armenian Assembly of America’s leaders including AAA, Inc. Board Member Annie Simonian Totah, AAA, Inc. Executive Director Bryan Ardouny and AAA, Inc. supporters at the St. Mary Armenian Church hall.
Lady Caroline Cox, the Baroness Cox of Queensbury and a senior member of the United Kingdom’s House of Lords is on a tour in Eastern U.S. and Europe to advocate for the Defence of Armenia’s Democracy and Sovereignty; Artsakh’s Right to Exist. She was accompanied by Revd. David Thomas, Projects and Logistics Coordinator, Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust.
In an answer to a question by Appo Jabarian of USA Armenian Life, Lady Cox also underlined the urgency of holding Azerbaijan’s dictator Pres. Ilham Aliyev “accountable for War Crimes, Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide.”
Lady Cox delivered an empathic speech and urged American Diaspora Armenians and American friends of Armenia/Artsakh to advocate hard and bring the message of the forcibly deported indigenous Armenian Christian population of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) to Washington DC and other important capitals. Revd. David Thomas emphacized that Pres. Aliyev is not only the nemy of Armenians but also the nemy of Azerbaijan’s own population.
Back on September 15, 2023, just before the September 19 genocidal unprovoked aggression of Artsakh by Azerbaijan, Lady Caroline Cox had forewarned the international community about the increasing possibility of ethnic cleansing from their historical lands.
“And yet no nation has responded to requests for peace from the Armenian people. Not the United Nations, not the OSCE, not the United States, not NATO, not Russia, not
the CSTO. Not one nation has resisted Baku’s territorial claims over Stepanakert. The question therefore arises: who among the international community would resist Baku’s territorial claims over Yerevan, or Lake Sevan or Zangezur?” she said.
Lady Caroline Cox had also warned that “Azerbaijan’s political leadership has made no secret of their strategic objectives to seize your homeland. If Artsakh falls, there is a risk that Armenia will fall. I and many others are deeply saddened by the actions of international actors who continue to apply pressure on the Republic of Armenia to accept Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Artsakh.”
USA Armenian Life Magazine Managing Editor and USA Armenian Life TV host Appo Jabarian held an interview with Baroness Cox in Washington DC. More details to follow.