In Jerusalem, Armenians Protest Israeli Weapons Sales to Azerbaijan

The Armenian community in Jerusalem today protested Israel’s sale of weapons to Azerbaijan, which are reportedly being used against Armenians in the disputed Nagorno Karabakh region, albawaba.com reports. 

Nasser Atta, a producer for ABC News in the Middle East, tweeted some photos and videos from the demonstration, which occurred in front of the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.  

“Israel supports Azerbaijan’s state terror,” read one sign being held aloft by a protester.

There was a separate protest by Armenian residents of Israel last week at Jerusalem’s Monument of the Armenian Genocide, according to the Armenian news agency Mediamax. 

The region of Nagorno-Karabakh has been disputed between Armenia and Azerbaijan for decades. The region is within the borders of Azerbaijan but the majority of the region’s inhabitants are ethnically Armenian. A war there in the 1990s displaced over 1 million people. 

The area has been quiet for years, but recent weeks have seen an uptick in violence, with more than 130 people reported killed since early April. Video recently-surfaced by the Washington Post appears to show Azerbaijani forces using Israeli-manufactured “suicide drones” against Armenians. 

In the past, Russia has lent its support to the majority-Christian Armenians, while Turkey has supported the majority-Muslim Azeris. Turkey and Russia are on opposite sides of the war in Syria.