Reuters: Armenian diaspora rushes to Karabakh to back troops

PanARMENIAN.Net - Violence in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone has seen Armenia's vast global diaspora spring into action and rush to Karabakh to back the troops, Reuters says in a fresh article.

Armenians across the world have lobbied their governments for stronger support for Armenia in the conflict, while others have donated time and money to support the ethnic Armenian soldiers fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, the feature says.

Around 10,000 people volunteered to take up arms on the first day of fighting, according to the Armenian Defence Ministry.

Defence ministry official Artsrun Hovhannisyan said on Thursday, October 8 that tens of thousands of people had applied to volunteer.

Alexander Bagdasaryan was one of those people. He was visiting family in Nagorno-Karabakh from Moscow when, on the morning of September 27, he was jolted awake by the sound of shelling. He said he immediately volunteered to fight at the front and is waiting to be called.

Piruza Harutjunjan, an international business developer focusing on IT who lives in Estonia, was on a long-awaited vacation in Armenia when the fighting erupted. Her vacation was quickly transformed into a mission to collect donations and purchase supplies such as sleeping bags, medication and generators.

Another diaspora Armenian named Maria, a 27-year-old PhD student from the United States, will travel the 11,240 kilometres to Yerevan to bring donations she collected to purchase supplies for soldiers leaving for the front.

Azerbaijan, with help from Turkey, launched a large-scale offensive against Karabakh (Artsakh) in the morning of September 27, shelling Armenian positions and civilian settlements with large caliber weapons and rocket systems. Armenia and Karabakh have introduced martial law and total mobilization. The Armenian side has reported deaths and injuries both among the civilian population and the military. International and local journalists too have been injured in Azeri shelling of towns and villages, as well as the iconic Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi.

Donations can be made to Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, which has launched a fundraising campaign to support Karabakh amid Azerbaijan's aggression.