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Congress Members Charge Aliyev Regime With Karabakh Escalation

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  • Congress Members Charge Aliyev Regime With Karabakh Escalation

    CONGRESS MEMBERS CHARGE ALIYEV REGIME WITH KARABAKH ESCALATION

    Published: Friday August 15, 2014
    http://www.reporter.am/index.cfm?objectid=7CBF01F6-244A-11E4-AF5A00155D008B1E

    Karabakh Defense Army soldier Norayr Kamalyan was wounded on July 31
    as he engaged Azerbaijani army personnel in hand-to-hand combat.

    Razm.info

    WASHINGTON - The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), amid
    growing Congressional opposition to Baku's escalating aggression,
    is calling directly upon the Obama Administration for U.S. leadership
    in stopping Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's march toward war.

    The ANCA's Aram Hamparian and Kate Nahapetian, on August 8th, held a
    frank and open discussion with Ambassador James Warlick, the Department
    of State's mediator for Nagorno Karabakh, to press the U.S.

    government to meaningfully challenge and materially constrain
    ?Azerbaijan's reckless march toward war. During this meeting, the
    Ambassador was given a letter from ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian, which
    noted that "President Aliyev's most recent wave of fatal cross-border
    attacks against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh has cost dozens of lives
    and seriously undermined the vital work of the OSCE Minsk Group."

    Hachikian warned that: "All indications are that, unless stopped,
    this undemocratic and unaccountable dictator will act on his threats
    to start a full-scale Caucasus war, one that will visit vast death
    and destruction upon all the peoples of the region, likely leading to
    a wider and even more dangerous conflict." He closed by stressing
    that: "With sufficiently strong American leadership, the Minsk
    Group can get the peace process back on track, by unequivocally
    condemning Azerbaijan's military attacks and then by leading an
    international campaign to secure Baku acceptance of OSCE proposals,
    already backed by Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, to pull-back
    snipers and add observers." The full letter is available online:
    http://www.anca.org/assets/pdf/080814_warlick.pdf.

    "We join with Armenian Americans and all those around the world who
    seek peace in thanking Members of Congress for seeking to restrain
    President Aliyev's aggression and reverse Azerbaijan's march toward
    war," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

    Among the recent Congressional expressions of concern on this topic
    are the following:

    Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA): "I am deeply saddened by the recent reports
    of escalated violence on the Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia border and
    the deaths of several Armenian and Azeri soldiers. I am taken aback
    by Azerbaijan's attacks on Red Cross staff in a border village in
    Armenia and Baku's decision to use sniper rifles in this conflict
    after several years of respecting the decision by both sides to
    refrain from doing so. It is my sincere hope that Azerbaijan will
    abstain from further sniper attacks and instead engage in meaningful
    resolution talks with Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh."

    Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI): "I am deeply troubled by the resurgence
    of fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh and hope Armenia and Azerbaijan can
    find a resolution to restore peace. I strongly condemn the use of
    sniper attacks by the Azerbaijani government, which is in direct
    violation of the cease-fire agreement and international law, and am
    appalled by reports that Azerbaijan forces attacked a Red Cross envoy.

    This continued aggression will only bring unrest and risks jeopardizing
    a cease-fire agreement that was put in place over 20 years ago. As
    both Presidents Sarkisian and Aliyev prepare to travel to Russia,
    I hope Azerbaijan will agree to stop these attacks to defuse the
    escalating violence and prevent the further loss of life."

    Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) [Tweet]: "I'm deeply concerned about incidents
    of violence against Nagorno-#Karabakh by #Azerbaijan. A long-term
    solution requires peace & diplomacy."

    Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA): "For two decades, the people of
    Nagorno-Karabakh have lived with constant threats and sniper fire from
    Azerbaijan, which seeks to reassert control over the overwhelmingly
    Armenian population of the region. Last week, Azeri forces again
    attacked across the Line of Contact, resulting in casualties on
    both sides. This latest resort to violence must be condemned in the
    strongest terms, and America should call upon the Azeri government
    to withdraw its forces and renounce the use of snipers, especially
    against civilians, and all American military assistance should be
    suspended until Azerbaijan does so."

    "Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev
    plan to meet starting tomorrow, but if their talks are to have
    any chance of bearing fruit, President Aliyev is going to adopt a
    sharply different tone from his remarks of late, when he asserted that
    Azerbaijan had the means to destroy 'any facility in Nagorno-Karabakh'
    and again trumpeted his country's military prowess."

    "Since breaking free of a regime that encouraged violence and pogroms
    against its Armenian Christian citizens, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh
    have sought to build democracy and a market economy at home. Baku has
    responded with an oil-boom funded military build-up and a campaign
    of bellicose rhetoric and has so imbued its citizens with blood lust
    against Armenians, that an Azeri army captain who beheaded a sleeping
    Armenian colleague during a NATO Partnership for Peace exercise was
    treated as a hero and promoted to major after his transfer from
    a Hungarian prison in 2012. Now is the time for the Minsk Group
    to assert itself in this long-running and increasingly dangerous
    dispute. The people of Nagorno-Karabakh have the right to determine
    their own future, free from Azeri threats and violence, and they also
    have the right to go about their lives without fear of being shot in
    the back by a sniper."

    Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA): "The increased military aggression
    by Azerbaijan toward Armenians and its use of snipers to shoot at
    Armenian civilians and even the International Committee of the Red
    Cross in Armenia must be condemned. These actions by Azerbaijan are
    violations of international law and a long-standing ceasefire. Against
    all odds, the Armenian people of Nagorno Karabakh have succeeded in
    creating a democratic society that upholds peace and justice. They
    have fought back against attacks to their society and for their very
    right to exist. The international community must stand with them to
    stop Azerbaijan's march toward war."

    Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-CA) [Tweet]: "Saddened by deaths of Armenian
    & Azeri troops & attacks on RedCross staff. I hope for no further
    violence & for peace & diplomacy in future."

    The ANCA has organized a #StopAliyev social media campaign that has
    attracted widespread interest and support.

    Chairman Royce statement on the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh

    On August 14, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), Chairman of the House
    Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement on the
    escalation of violence in the Nagorno-Karabakh region:

    "Azerbaijan's violation of the ceasefire agreement along the border
    with Nagorno-Karabakh is deeply disturbing. The resulting escalation of
    military activity along the line of contact has cost the lives of over
    a dozen Armenian and Azeri young men. A ceasefire is needed to protect
    further loss of life and escalation. The Obama Administration should
    act to encourage the restoration of a ceasefire, press Azerbaijan
    to withdraw snipers from the line of contact, and promote a peace
    plan that includes a date certain of a referendum for the people of
    Nagorno-Karabakh to decide their own future."

    In April, Rep. Royce led a bipartisan delegation to Armenia where it
    commemorated the 99th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

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