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ANCA Calls On Clinton To Condemn Azeri Attacks

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  • ANCA Calls On Clinton To Condemn Azeri Attacks

    ANCA CALLS ON CLINTON TO CONDEMN AZERI ATTACKS

    Armenian Weekly
    June 4, 2012

    WASHINGTON-The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), this
    morning, dispatched an urgent letter urging U.S. Secretary of State
    Hillary Clinton to forcefully condemn a fatal Azerbaijani attack into
    the Tavush region of Armenia, a brazen assault launched by Baku to
    coincide with her arrival for a three day visit to the Caucasus.

    The attack, which occurred near the Berdavan and Chinari villages
    of Tavush, represents the most recent in an escalating series of
    Azerbaijani assaults on both Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. The Armenian
    Ministry of Defense has reported that three Armenian soldiers were
    killed and another five wounded in the attack.

    "Azerbaijan's aggression, on the very day of your arrival in the
    Caucasus, represents, in addition, of course, to a painful human
    tragedy for those young men who were killed and injured, a brazen
    attack upon the prospects for a fair and lasting peace in this
    region," said ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian in his letter to Secretary
    Clinton. "It is long past time that the Obama Administration abandon
    its practice of artificial equivalence-a failed policy whose only
    response to Azerbaijani aggression and threats of renewed war has been
    to issue generically-formulated and transparently toothless calls on
    all parties to refrain from violence."

    In response to a question from Yerkir Media during a press conference
    with Armenia Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian, Secretary Clinton
    refrained from properly condemning Azerbaijan's attack. She will have
    an opportunity to revisit the issue in Baku on June 6.

    Following her meetings with civil society leaders, Foreign Minister
    Nalbandyan and President Sargsyan, Secretary Clinton departed Yerevan
    for meetings in Batoumi, Georgia on Tuesday, June 5.

    ***

    FULL TEXT OF ANCA LETTER TO SECRETARY CLINTON

    June 4, 2012

    The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton

    Secretary of State

    U.S. Department of State

    2201 C Street N.W.

    Washington, DC 20520

    Dear Secretary Clinton:

    I am writing today, only hours after an Azerbaijani cross-border attack
    into the Tavush region of Armenia killed three Armenian soldiers,
    to call upon you to clearly, publicly and unequivocally condemn this
    aggression, and, more broadly, to stake out a strong American stand
    against Baku's open threats and escalating acts of belligerence
    against both Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

    Azerbaijan's aggression, on the very day of your arrival in the
    Caucasus, represents, in addition, of course, to a painful human
    tragedy for those young men who were killed and injured, a brazen
    attack upon the prospects for a fair and lasting peace in this region.

    It is long past time that the Obama Administration abandon its practice
    of artificial equivalence - a failed policy whose only response to
    Azerbaijani aggression and threats of renewed war has been to issue
    generically-formulated and transparently toothless calls on all
    parties to refrain from violence.

    It is in this spirit that we call upon you to forcefully criticize
    Azerbaijan's aggression during your upcoming visit with President
    Ilham Aliyev in Baku. We ask, as well, that you give substance to
    our nation's condemnation of Baku's march toward war by suspending
    all proposed, pending, or future sales or transfers to Azerbaijan of
    military equipment and dual-use items (including the proposed sale of
    advanced helicopter-based surveillance equipment - DDTC 12-002). We
    also request that the Administration immediately enforce Section 907
    of the FREEDOM Support Act, and decline to waive this provision of
    law until Azerbaijan has stopped its threats of war, ceased all acts
    of aggression, and demonstrated a commitment to a lasting peace with
    Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh through solely non-violent means.

    Please accept our thanks for your urgent attention to Azerbaijan's act
    of aggression and the potential it holds for even greater violence and
    regional instability. We remain ready to work with you on this matter,
    and on all the many issues of special concern to Armenian Americans,
    and invite you, once again, to meet with the collective leadership
    of our community to discuss these matters in greater detail.

    Sincerely,

    [signed]

    Kenneth V. Hachikian

    Chairman

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