Ethnographer Lusine Kharatyan has launched a petition, in Armenian, on change.org addressed to the U.N. Secretary General, NATO, the Council of Europe, the EU and the Minsk Group Co-Chairs regarding the fighting along the Artsakh-Azerbaijan border.

The petition, in part, reads:

Early in the morning of September 27, during the COVID-19 epidemic, completely ignoring the UN Secretary General's call for a general ceasefire, Aliyev’s Azerbaijan, with the support of Erdogan's Turkey, launched a large-scale offensive along the Artsakh contact line using heavy artillery, tanks and air power and missiles.

There are already more than a hundred wounded and dozens of civilians, including at least one child, among the military and civilians.

This attack is unprecedented in the amount of military equipment used. It is clear that in order to be engaged along the entire frontline, it was necessary to take premeditated steps - strategic movement of the armed forces and heavy equipment, which implies that this could not be a response to Armenian aggression.

This is obviously a large-scale attack by Azerbaijan, fueled/encouraged by the belligerent rhetoric of Turkey's top political leadership and the cautious stance of the international community, which resolutely does not pursue the demand to continue negotiations.

In addition, Azerbaijan uses the lack of available information to create the impression through the media propaganda that the Armenian side has attacked. There is some evidence that Turkey has transferred terrorists from Syria and Libya to Azerbaijan to help it in the war. It also supports Azerbaijan with weapons and Turkish drones.

We call on the UN Secretary-General to properly protect human rights and security.

We call on the Council of Europe to act in defense of human rights.

We call on NATO to publicly condemn the actions of its member state, Turkey, and to take immediate steps to stop it.

We call on the European Union to stand up for the peace and stability of Europe's neighbor.

We call on the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to take urgent and effective measures to end the aggression of the Azerbaijani regime with the support of Turkey and to resume peace talks.

Top photo shows Armenians taking shelter in Stepanakert