Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Executive Director Aram Hamparian condemned, on Sept. 4, Azerbaijan’s latest attacks on Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (NKR, Artsakh), which have caused three casualties this week and several injuries.
“The Obama Administration flashes Baku the green light each time it chooses to limit the U.S. response to Azerbaijan’s unilateral aggression to generic calls upon all sides to refrain from violence,” stated Hamparian, adding, “Everyone—ranging from the senior officials who run U.S. intelligence agencies to bright 9th graders who follow foreign affairs—knows that it’s [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev who is initiating these attacks. Pretending otherwise is a transparent farce, one that is being perpetrated with deadly consequences.”
Two Armenian servicemen, Marat Khachanyan and Arman Stepanyan of the NKR Defense Army, were killed on Sept. 4 during attacks on Armenian positions by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. A day earlier, Armenian contract serviceman Hayk Karleni Devoyan was killed and two were injured as a result of heavy caliber fire from Azerbaijani positions near border villages in northeastern Armenia.
Furthermore, as a result of the long-range rocket attacks, 2 residents of Koti—one of about 20 villages that were attacked in the area—were wounded and hospitalized. A 43-year-old woman and her 23-year-old son were rushed to a Noyemberyan hospital; reportedly, they are in stable condition.
Photographs of partially destroyed homes and buildings in Armenian border villages—including Koti, Sevkar, and Baghanis—that were targeted by Azerbaijani mortars on Sept. 1-2 have surfaced on social media.
James Warlick, the U.S. co-chairman of the Organization for Security and Co‑operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, condemned the “deliberate targeting” of civilians in the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict, in a tweet on Sept. 4.
“We condemn the deliberate targeting of innocent civilians in the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict. We stand for a negotiated settlement. #NKpeace,” read one of Warlick’s tweets.
In an earlier tweet on the same day, Warlick shared an image of a 120mm mortar reportedly used in the shelling and called the escalation of violence “unacceptable.” However, his comments fell short of explicitly condemning Azerbaijan for targeting Armenian villages and civilians.
“President Obama should abandon this deeply flawed and now demonstrably failed policy of false parity, and instead undertake concrete, common sense steps to avert war and put in place the foundations for a just and lasting peace. Among these are international proposals—already agreed to by Armenia and Artsakh, but not by Azerbaijan—such as agreements on the non-deployment of snipers, the addition of OSCE observers, and the internationally mandated deployment of gunfire-locator systems along the line of contact,” said Hamparian.
The ANCA has launched the online #StopAliyev initiative, urging Armenians worldwide to use social media and the ANCA’s March to Justice advocacy tool to call on the international community to take concrete steps to end Azerbaijan’s aggression against Armenia and Artsakh. To take action, visit http://anca.org/StopAliyev.
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