ANCA Presses State Department to Avert War by Challenging Azerbaijan’s Military Escalation
WASHINGTON, DC –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 8, held a frank and open discussion with Ambassador James Warlick, the Department of State’s mediator for Nagorno Karabagh, 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 Karabagh 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-Karabagh 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-Karabagh.”
Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI): “I am deeply troubled by the resurgence of fighting in Nagorno-Karabagh 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-Karabagh 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 [editor’s note: Sarkisian and Aliyev met in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 10], 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-Karabagh’ 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-Karabagh 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-Karabagh 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 Karabagh 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.
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How is having all these repetitive meetings and discussions with the ambassadors and other officials of countries whose governments and investment companies themselves are responsible for enabling such behavior from this lunatic Aliyev by pouring billions of dollars into the artificial state of Azerbaijan, a gas station disguised as a country, going to help alleviate the tense situation I always wondered?
These countries help pump out oil out of this Azerbaijani hell hole to the European markets and other places to fill the pockets of this illiterate peasant Aliyev with billions so he can then turn around and reroute his billions back into the pockets of these very same governments by purchasing all sorts of weapons in attempts to regain a piece of his lost manhood. What we are doing seems to me is like asking the fox to watch over the hen house.
Aliyev is nothing more than a gutless and draft-dodging bully who neither has any conscious nor any courage but he acts like he has both and all because of all the toys he can afford to buy with his petrodollars. A man’s courage comes from within but Aliyev’s courage and fake patriotism comes from his petrodollars. A real man’s courage for his righteous belief never dries up but cut this charlatan’s oil pipelines and his fake courage will dry up in an instant like a pond in a hot desert sun.
We really need to take matters into our own hands and call this megalomaniac Aliyev’s bluff and put this criminal and his gang out of their miseries. Aliyev is a hollow man with big ego but no substance. He is an insecure bully desperately seeking to get back a piece of his manhood he never had. You don’t appease a bully, you hold your ground, humiliate and teach the bully yet another lesson he will never forget.
Let us not forget Russia, which also refrains from criticizing Azerbaijan.
Russia supplies very advanced weapons to Azerbaijan. This has made Aliyev bolder. Russia says “If we don’t sell weapons to the Azeris, someone else will.” But Israel already does. Why does Russia add fuel to the fire?
Russia claims that it supplies enough defensive weapons to Armenia to defend itself. I don’t believe it.
I claim that Russia may want a war as to destroy the oil and gas pipelines and send price shocks through the West. As long as Armenia is not completely overrun, Russia would not care who won in the end.
I am not convinced that Armenia and Artsakh have the advanced weapons they need to beat back an Azeri onslaught. I am not convinced that Armenia has the manpower either. Azerbaijan does.
Remember, Israel, Turkey, NATO, and the US most certainly all back Azerbaijan with intelligence about Armenian positions. They and Turkey would like to open a pan-Turkic corridor across Armenia and commit a new genocide. I think Warlick is a genocidist himself. I also wonder if Israel would like to see the oldest Christian nation in the world snuffed out.
It would have been great to see what Azerbaijan and armenia would do in a war without a great power intervention. My money would be on Azerbaijan! The military spending of Azerbaijan alone is greater than the whole armenian budget.
Denialist turk: if you had been following developments in NKR and RoA Jul 28-Aug 3, you would have had an idea what will happen to the gas station turkbaijan, if it launches a war against NKR & RoA.
Highly trained* turkbaijani nomad goons tried to breach the defenses and invade Armenian lands a dozen times in several directions.
Armenian conscripts cut them to pieces. One young Armenian guy even rushed towards the invaders, even though he was not on duty and was completely unarmed. He was injured in a hand to hand combat, because the turk cut him with his bayonet, but he is recuperating nicely.
If our Armenian guy had anything more than his bare hands at the time, there would one more KIA turk goon.
Armenians lost 6 KIA, and 9 WIA.
turks lost at least 25 KIA and 30 WIA.
as is the usual nomad turk custom, in frustration after their massive defeat, the goons took it out on an unarmed, defenseless civilian: turks tortured and murdered a 31 year old Armenian man, who had gotten lost in a drunken state, and ended up in an Azerbaijani village.
—-
* trained in turk occupied Cyprus and genocidal turkey.
We heard that ANCA has held a “Frank and open discution” with Warlick, we didn’t hear what Warlick’s answer was to ANCA which is an important part of this news without which the news is not complete and understandable.
Aliyev is a bully and a coward, the only way to stay in power is talk tough , his time is short Armenia has a better chance with him gone he has poisoned his people with hate towards Armenians same as his cousin the other bully Erdogan birds of the same feather.
Aliyev is nothing more than a gutless and draft-dodging bully who neither has any conscious nor any courage but he acts like he has both and all because of all the toys he can afford to buy with his petrodollars. A man’s courage comes from within but Aliyev’s courage and fake patriotism comes from his petrodollars. A real man’s courage for his righteous belief never dries up but cut this charlatan’s oil pipelines and his fake courage will dry up in an instant like a pond in a hot desert sun.
We really need to take matters into our own hands and call this megalomaniac Aliyev’s bluff and put this criminal and his gang out of their miseries. Aliyev is a hollow man with big ego but no substance. He is an insecure bully desperately seeking to get back a piece of his manhood he never had. You don’t appease a bully, you hold your ground, humiliate and teach the bully yet another lesson he will never forget.