***MEDIA ADVISORY*** Demonstration Against Representatives of Human Rights Violator Azerbaijan in Sacramento

March 11, 2013

***MEDIA ADVISORY*** Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region 104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200 Glendale, California 91206 Phone: 818.500.1918 media@ancawr.org www.ancawr.org

***MEDIA ADVISORY***

For Immediate Release: March 11, 2013

Contact: William Bairamian Tel: 818-839-1918

Demonstration Against Representatives of Human Rights Violator Azerbaijan in Sacramento

WHAT: Demonstration

WHEN: Monday, March 11, 2013 5:30 – 7:30 PM

WHERE: Sutter Club 1220 9th St. Sacramento, CA 95814

WHO: Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), Armenian Youth Federation (AYF)

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

On March 11, 2013 a delegation from Azerbaijan will be received in the California State Capitol building. By doing so, our government is blatantly ignoring the long list of human rights violations of Azerbaijan. In 1988, Armenians living in Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan voted for secession with an overwhelming majority. Following massacres of ethnic Armenians in Baku, Sumgait, and Kirovabad, war erupted between the Armenians and Azerbaijan, who refused to allow the secession.

In 2008, during a NATO Partnership for Peace English-language training program in Hungary, Azerbaijani soldier, Ramil Safarov, crept into the room of an Armenian lieuetenant, Gurgen Margaryan, and brutally murdered him with an axe while he was sleeping. After being sentenced to life in prison, Safarov was suddenly released from prison and extradited to Azerbaijan. Upon his arrival there, the country celebrated his release and his actions by regarding him as a national hero and promoting him to the rank of major with a new apartment and eight years of back pay.

The human rights violations committed by the Azerbaijan government do not end there. President Aliyev has labeled Armenians as the “number one enemy” of Azerbaijan. More recently, a pro-government party offered a bounty for the ear of prominent Azerbaijani author, Akram Aylisli, who wrote about Azerbaijani aggression toward Armenians in Baku in 1990.The government went a step further, as the president stripped Aylisli of his “People’s Author” in Azerbaijan, which is the highest praise for an author in Azerbaijan.

As a result of these continuous human rights violations by the government of Azerbaijan, a peaceful demonstration will take place in Sacramento, the state capital, in order to bring attention to these current issues.

For interviews, contact William Bairamian at 818-839-1918 or at William@anca.org.

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

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For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Elen Asatryan
Email / Tel: (818) 500-1918
Armenian National Committee of America
Western Region
104 N. Belmont, Suite 200, Glendale, CA 91206 * Tel. (818) 500-1918