The Postage Stamp that Could Tank a Ceasefire and Why Angelenos Should Care

When the Republic of Azerbaijan unveiled a state-issued postage stamp at the end of 2020, commemorating the country’s fight against COVID-19 and what it sees as its military heroes of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, it took the first step in undermining the November 10 peace agreement it signed with the Republic of Armenia, and the Armenian-supported breakaway Republic of Artsakh, nestled within Azerbaijan’s borders. But with the stamp arrived something more sinister: 

A graphic displayed on Azerbaijan state-issued stamp sheets and postcards depicts an Azerbaijani official, in full hazmat suit, fumigating a ”contagion” or infestation inside the Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh region -- an area containing a large ethnic majority of Armenians. 

The Republic of Azerbaijan apparently believes something is in bad need of eradication in Artsakh. What it is can no longer be left to interpretation. 

Double meanings obfuscate the truth. But double meanings, by their very duplicity, point to clear motives. There is no double interpretation to the message behind what is pictured on the postcard and stamp -- state-approved ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian majority, not the eradication of a virus. This “commemorative” stamp --  this postal atrocity -- attempts to put a happy face on an evil, a morally bereft assault on innocent civilians merely because they are Armenian. 

The Armenian-American community of Los Angeles is rightly outraged. I stand with them and share their outrage. 

Los Angeles City Council District 13 is home to Little Armenia, an ethnically Armenian neighborhood tucked inside East Hollywood. I am a resident of CD13 and President of the Rampart Village Neighborhood Council. On October 20, I introduced, and my Board of Directors passed, the Resolution in Solidarity with Armenian-Americans in the Face of Violent Attacks by Azerbaijan & Turkey in Armenia and Artsakh. 

Like everyone else in the District, for six and a half weeks, I saw the red, blue, and orange flags of Armenia and Artsakh stream from car windows, decals plastered onto back windows: “#Defend Armenia” and “#ArtsakhStrong.” Unlike most non-Armenian residents of CD13, I can point to a map and tell you exactly where Artsakh is, and why it needs to be strong. 

I am one of a handful of transgender public office holders in the country. I know what it is to be isolated. And I know it is often necessary to be strong. My experience as a transgender person is one of the reasons I chose to run for the LA City Council seat in CD13 in the coming 2022 municipal elections. 

I stand in solidarity with the Armenian people. I stand with all people who face the threat of empire and boots of oppression -- from Los Angeles to Nagorno-Karabakh. Every resident of CD13 and Los Angeles needs to stand with them against ethnic cleansing by the Republic of Azerbaijan, and its military ally Turkey. 

The peace agreement, brokered by the Kremlin, and signed by the republics of Armenia, Artsakh, and Azerbaijan, means just that -- ceased hostilities. But the information war goes on. Hostile words lead to hostile acts. A postcard showing the eradication and extermination of a people leads to boots on the ground, drones in the air, and missiles that kill thousands of innocent civilians, including many women and children. 

At a rally last November, I saw an unpublished photo of what an illegal phosphorous chemical weapon had done to a 6-year-old Armenian boy. It broke my heart. I wanted to vomit. 

Words have consequences. If a picture is worth a thousand of them, Azerbaijan’s commemorative postcard and stamp came with a message: “We will be back.” 

With an estimated 1.5 million people in the U.S. identifying as Armenian, or of Armenian descent -- most of them right here in the Los Angeles area -- we in CD13 have a unique opportunity to effect change on a global level. 

And so, with the express desire to defuse the possibility of a larger, and more disastrous proxy war, I stand, as President of the Rampart Village Neighborhood Council, with full support of our Board of Directors, to call on Los Angeles City Hall and non-Armenian people of conscience to stand with our Armenian-American neighbors and apply real pressure to Turkey to end their support of Azerbaijan and the Nagorno-Karabakh War. Armenians deserve to self-realize as a free people and to live in peace. Most of all, they deserve to be free from further ethnic cleansing. 

Last October, the Armenian-American community asked the Trump Administration to declare the Republic of Azerbaijan a terrorist state for its repeated violent aggressions against Artsakh and Nagorno-Karabakh. Such a declaration would isolate Azerbaijan from the international community and allow the U.S. to penalize Azerbaijan with economic sanctions as a way of curtailing further aggression. The declaration would have applied pressure to Turkey to cease its military support of Azerbaijan. The Trump Administration denied the request. 

I overheard one Armenian-American say to a group of friends about the November peace agreement: “Trump blew it!” 

Yes, he did. 

Los Angeles now has a renewed opportunity to stand with the Armenian-American community of Little Armenia to pressure Los Angeles’ City Hall and the Biden Administration to declare the Republic of Azerbaijan a terrorist state. Not to take this opportunity may be to subject Armenia, Artsakh, and Little Armenia to the further trauma of ethnic cleansing. 

The opportunity is in our collective hands to advocate for peace. 

My fellow Angelenos, I ask you send President Biden, Mayor Garcetti, and LA City Hall a postcard. 

You know the one I’m thinking of. . . 

(Rachael Rose Luckey is a Transgender and Housing Rights Activist, living in Los Angeles. As President of the Rampart Village Neighborhood Council, she is one of only a couple of dozen openly transgender elected public officials in the country. In December 2020, Rachael Rose announced her run for Los Angeles City Council District 13 in the municipal elections in 2022. For more information go to www.rachaelroseforla.com.) Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.