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RESOLUTION NO. _________
RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GLENDALE,
CALIFORNIA CONDEMNING THE ETHNIC CLEANSING AND GENOCIDE
OF THE ARMENIAN PEOPLE IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH
WHEREAS, Artsakh, formerly referred to as Nagorno Karabakh, is the ancestral homeland of the Armenian people and has been a center of Armenian language, culture, and religion, having maintained its autonomy for over two millennia; and
WHEREAS, despite Artsakh’s distinctly Armenian identity, it was arbitrarily and illegally separated from Armenia by the Soviet Union at the direction of Joseph Stalin in 1921 and placed under the administrative control of Soviet Azerbaijan; and WHEREAS, in response to escalating anti-Armenian violence, the Armenians of Artsakh exercised their right to self-determination and declared their independence on September 2, 1991; and
WHEREAS, Azerbaijan shortly thereafter launched a war of aggression against Armenia and Artsakh that saw Azerbaijan lay siege to Armenian towns and cities, and perpetrate human rights violations, which ended in Armenian victory with a ceasefire brokered by Russia; and WHEREAS, for the next 25 years, the Armenians of Artsakh consolidated a free and democratic society; and
WHEREAS, in September 2020, Azerbaijan abandoned decades of multilateral diplomacy and launched a war of territorial expansion against the Armenians of Artsakh that resulted in the ethnic cleansing of over 70 percent of Artsakh territory and perpetrated widely documented human rights abuses, including the unlawful targeting of schools, homes, hospitals, and churches with prohibited weapons, the execution of Armenian civilians, and torture of Armenian prisoners of war; and
WHEREAS, following a trilateral ceasefire statement signed in November 2020, Azerbaijan’s aggression continued, including routine incursions in Artsakh’s territory and the continuous invasions and occupation of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia since May 2021; and
WHEREAS, Azerbaijan maintained a total blockade of Artsakh beginning on December 12, 2022, completely severing Artsakh’s only humanitarian lifeline to Armenia, preventing the transport of food, fuel, medicine, and other vital humanitarian supplies to the region, and leaving Artsakh’s 120,000 Armenians facing critical shortages of life-sustaining goods; and WHEREAS, in late September 2023, Azerbaijan militarily overwhelmed Artsakh, and completely cleansed Artsakh of all Armenians and committed an act of genocide; and 2 1
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WHEREAS, the City of Glendale is home to the largest Armenian American population in the United States; and
WHEREAS, the City of Glendale has been at the forefront of efforts to raise awareness of the plight of its indigenous Armenian population amidst Azerbaijan’s relentless aggression; and WHEREAS, the United States acknowledged the threat Azerbaijan has posed to the Armenians of Artsakh with the passage of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act in 1992, which prohibited the provision of United States assistance to Azerbaijan until the time it ceases all blockades and the offensive use of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh; and WHEREAS, beginning in September 2020 and ending in September 2023, Azerbaijan abandoned all civilized values and executed a Genocide which culminated in the complete ethnic cleansing of this millennia old Armenian homeland displacing its entire population of 120,000 Christian Armenians and seizing many of the most sacred churches and sites in Armenian Christendom.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA, that he City Council hereby finds the leaders of Azerbaijan responsible for the international crime of Genocide and implores the United States of America to act in accordance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention to use all its power to punish and prevent the ongoing effects of this genocide by insuring the immediate safe return of the Artsakh people to their lands and punish those responsible in conformance with international law.
Adopted this day of , 2024.
Mayor
ATTEST:
City Clerk
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STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
SS )
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES )
I, Suzie Abajian, Ph.D., Clerk to the Glendale City Council, certify that the foregoing Resolution No. was adopted by the City Council of the City of Glendale on the day of , 2024, and that same was adopted by the following vote:
Ayes:
Noes:
Absent:
Abstain: