Noam Chomsky, Cornel West urge Karabakh self-determination

PanARMENIAN.Net - Prominent intellectuals and scholars from around the world have penned an open letter, calling for a lasting peace and a ceasefire to end the bloodshed and human and cultural carnage taking place since September 27 in Artsakh, Nagorno-Karabakh.

The letter, originally published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, was signed by linguist, philosopher, historian Noam Chomsky, Indian scholar, literary theorist Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Writers Tariq Ali and Viken Berberian, psychiatrist, researcher Judith Herman, philosophers Cornel West and Seyla Benhabib.

The group are calling for an insistence on the preservation of a ceasefire and protection for the Armenian minority in its efforts toward self-determination

"This wholesale destruction is part of the expansive and violent territorial policy of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey to re-establish a version of Ottoman power in the region. We would be closer to a compromise if Azerbaijan had a more open governance structure than Turkey with internal checks and balances. As it stands, we understand that Azerbaijan, supported by Turkey, is cleansing Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), a historically Armenian enclave placed within its Soviet-era boundaries, of its ethnic Armenian population," the letter reads.

"The frontline of the soldiers is reportedly composed not only of mercenaries and rebel fighters from Syria and Libya but also minorities living in Azerbaijan such as Lezgins, the Talysh, Avars, Tats, Udis, the Tsakhur, Ingiloys, Rutuls, and Kurds. We call on these minorities to support rather than oppose the minority struggle of the Armenians."

The signatories also remind that the site of Azerbaijan's bombing includes archaeological sites such as the ancient Armenian city of Tigranakert.

Azerbaijan, with help from Turkey and Syrian and Libyan mercenaries deployed by Ankara, started a war against Karabakh (Artsakh) in the morning of September 27. The Armenian side has reported deaths and injuries both among the civilian population and the military. Foreign and local journalists too have been injured in Azeri shelling of towns and villages.

Donations can be made to Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, which has launched a fundraising campaign to support humanitarian efforts in Karabakh.