Today.Az » Politics » Pakistani Council condemns Armenian attack against Azerbaijanis in Los Angeles
05 August 2020 [14:12] - Today.Az


By Azernews

By Akbar Mammadov

The influential US-based Pakistani organization – Council of Pakistan - has issued a statement strongly condemning the violence committed by Armenian nationalists against members of the Azerbaijani community during the rally oustsude of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan on July 21.

“On July 21, hundreds of Armenian Dashnak radicals violently attacked a handful of peaceful Azerbaijani counter-protestors in Los Angeles. As a result, 9 Azerbaijanis were injured, including a woman and 5 were hospitalized. LAPD is investigating the incident as a hate crime,” reads the statement.

The statement also touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and pointed out that the international community has voiced support for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.

“The nation of Armenia refuses to agree with international coalitions and continues to illegally occupy that strip of land [Nagorno-Karabakh]. The US position on this issue is quite clear: it recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity as does the rest of the world,” the statement reads.

The Coucnsil stressed that in America, people have long appreciated the ability to peacefully express their views without being attacked by those with opposing views—until now.

“What we saw on July 21 outside the Azerbaijan consulate was an all-out attack on 50 peaceful protestors by hundreds of Armenians on foot and in cars. What we did not see or hear was an unequivocal denunciation of this violence by elected officials.

“In some instances, some could say that Armenians were exercising their 1st Amendment freedoms. But in too many cases, an unprovoked crossing of the line occurred—from peaceful protest to destructive, demon-inspired hate speech, vulgarity, intimidation and perpetration of violence on innocent people,” the Council said.

The Pakistani Council also questioned how elected officials can remain silent in such a situations and called this attack as barbarism.

The Pakistani Council emphasized the need for leadership to stand up and speak out publicly against Armenian aggression.

“Justice needs to be served on the group of individuals who chose to attack another group just because of their nationality,” reads the statement.

The statement also said that many of the Armenian perpetrators of the violence against Azerbaijanis in Los Angeles were young people and added that true leadership would call for the elders of these two communities to stand together, denounce the violence and teach the young people what it means to be civil, to be an American.

“We cannot stand for this type of foolishness to take over our streets. We must teach the next generations to understand that hatred and violence are detrimental to the integrity of this great nation,” reads the statement. 

The Council urged the authorities to intervene to help find solutions and heal hurts and seek reconciliation. the statement was concluded with the reference to the quote by Dr Martin Luther King. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” 

It should be noted that about 1 million Pakistanis live in the United States and 250,000 in the state of California.

Earlier, starting from July 24, influential Jewish organizations in the United States and the world - The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SVM), the Los Angeles offices of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and Israeli-American Council (IAC) –condemned hate crimes committed by Armenians against Azerbaijanis during a protest held outside of the Azerbaijani Consulate in Los Angeles on July 21.

The Israeli-American Council unites 250,000 Israeli-Americans and the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SVM) with 400,000 members.



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