Month: December 2023

Senate Foreign Relations Chair Ben Cardin is upping pressure on Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a new letter urging that the Secretary get tougher on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev over Baku’s “brazen campaign of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh,” POLITICO reports.

The letter sent Wednesday marks the first time Cardin, known for human rights advocacy, is publicly confronting Blinken since he took over the gavel from Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) in September. The Maryland Democrat will not seek reelection at the end of his third term in 2024 and may be in a unique position to criticize the Biden administration.

The new letter comes amid diplomatic friction between Washington and Baku after U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien criticized Azerbaijan’s actions in the Karabakh region during congressional testimony this month.

In a Monday call with Aliyev, Blinken agreed to lift a ban on senior Azerbaijani officials visiting the United States. But Aliyev also warned Blinken in that conversation that U.S. diplomatic support for Armenia is risking the U.S.-Azerbaijani relationship.

Cardin said it’s Aliyev who should be on the backfoot after his seizure last month of the largely ethnic Armenian-populated breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Cardin made clear he wanted repercussions since Baku’s assault “reportedly involved heinous atrocities,” while killing and wounding Armenian civilians, and driving 100,000 Armenians from their homes — all in breach of a November 2020 ceasefire.

Cardin voiced fears Nagorno-Karabakh may erupt again, echoing warnings from civil society leaders.

National Endowment for Democracy CEO Damon ilson argued Cardin’s letter is not a clash with Blinken, but leverage for him to address those concerns. Not only are there still Azerbaijani troops on Armenian territory but Baku is, internally, cracking down on its critics.

“That’s an important factor when we want to see Azerbaijan not overplay its hand and encroach on Armenian sovereignty and stand down,” Wilson said of Cardin’s letter. “Those are things that Baku has to hear directly from Washington on.”

The Israeli military announced an end to the truce with Hamas, blaming it for violating the terms of the deal after a rocket was reportedly launched from Gaza and intercepted by Israel, the BBC reports.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who’s currently on a visit to the Middle East, said yesterday that Israeli officials had told him they intended to resume military operations at some point.

But in doing so, Blinken urged Israel to do put into place “humanitarian civilian protection plans” before going back to war, avoid “further significant displacement of civilians,” avoid damaging critical infrastructure – hospitals, power stations and water facilities.

The truce was initially set to last for four days and extended twice.

As of Thursday, 110 hostages held in Gaza have been released since the truce started on 24 November, while Israel has released 240 Palestinian prisoners.

The Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October killed 1,200 people. Since then, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says more than 14,800 people have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory campaign, including about 6,000 children.

Avalanche in west Iran kills 5 mountain climbers and injures another 4  The Associated Press

Parliament of Azerbaijan makes statement on European …  Trend News Agency

St. Louis nonprofit’s grant program boosts region’s startup ecosystem  The Business Journals

President Ilham Aliyev receives Secretary-General of Organization …  REPORT.az

Newspaper: Armenia national air carrier suspending flights  news.am

Armenia, mediators are to blame for military aggression against …  news.am

India is facing growing international criticism and pressure over its alleged involvement in a series of assassination attempts against Sikh separatist leaders in the West.

The latest incident occurred on November 15, 2023, when Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a prominent Sikh activist and lawyer based in the U.S., survived a shooting attack outside his home in New York. Pannun is the legal adviser of Sikhs for Justice, a banned group that advocates for the creation of Khalistan, a separate homeland for Sikhs in India.

The U.S. authorities said they had arrested two suspects, who confessed to being hired by the Indian intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), to kill Pannun. The U.S. State Department said it had raised concerns with India about the reports of the assassination plot and urged it to respect human rights and the rule of law.

This was not the first time that India was accused of targeting Sikh separatists in the West. In June 2023, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Sikh activist and Canadian citizen, was gunned down outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that Indian agents were behind the killing and demanded an apology from India.

India has also cracked down on the supporters of Khalistan within the country, banning several groups and arresting dozens of activists on charges of sedition and terrorism. India has also sought the extradition of some Sikh leaders from the West, but has faced legal and diplomatic hurdles.

The issue of Sikh separatism has strained India’s relations with some of its key allies, such as the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., where large Sikh diaspora communities reside. The Sikh activists have also used the platforms of these countries to voice their grievances and demands, and to mobilize support for their cause.

The tension between India and the Sikh separatists has also sparked fears of a resurgence of violence in Punjab, which has been relatively peaceful in recent years. Some analysts have warned that India’s heavy-handed approach could alienate the Sikh population and fuel radicalization among the youth.

The Sikh separatists, on the other hand, have vowed to continue their struggle for self-determination and justice, and to expose India’s alleged human rights violations and atrocities against the Sikh community.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi is calling on the world’s leaders to resume dialogue with Iran on the country’s nuclear program, Azernews ​reports, citing TASS.