The scale and ferocity of the current Azeri-Turkey offensive, including raining Israeli-made cluster bombs down on innocent civilians even as they sheltered in church buildings, has intensified the justifiable concern among Armenian Christians of a rising threat of ethnic cleansing from their historic Christian land.
On 1 November, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that the indiscriminate attacks on densely populated areas in the region, with associated loss of civilian life and destruction of infrastructure, “contravenes international humanitarian law” and “could be a war crime”.
Recent reports shared with Barnabas indicate large supplies of Israeli-built weapons, including devastating “kamikaze drones” and Hermes Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), have been supplied to Azerbaijan and deployed against Christian civilians.
It is reported that some 90,000 Armenians, more than half the region’s population of around 144,000, have fled the conflict in Nargono-Karabakh to take refuge in Armenia since the latest fighting began in September.
We ask that Barnabas supporters take prayerful action now to raise awareness across all networks, and also write to the Israeli government and Israeli ambassadors worldwide, asking for:
- Any sales of military weapons to Azerbaijan, which are used against Christians in Nagorno-Karabakh, to cease immediately;
- Guarantees that Israeli technology is not used in the conflict, including lethal drone strikes;
- Efforts to bring an end to hostilities and the implementation of a ceasefire, and
- Recognition by the Israeli government of the Armenian Genocide a century ago.
From Barnabas Fund contacts and other sources
