NKR Peace Supporters Urged to Heed ANCA Call to #STOPALIYEV

WASHINGTON—The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has initiated an online action portalanca.org/stopaliyev—where supporters of peace in Nagorno-Karabagh can urge U.S. government officials to take immediate action to stop Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s latest deadly anti-Armenian attacks.

#StopAliyevGrassroots action is directed to President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden, congressional leaders, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group’s Karabagh negotiators to publicly and unequivocally condemn Azerbaijani aggression and take concrete steps to ensure a lasting peace in the region that respects the right to self-determination and freedom of the people of Karabagh.

“Unless stopped, President Aliyev will act upon his oft-stated threats to start a full-scale Caucasus war—one that will visit vast death and destruction upon all the peoples of the region, very likely leading to a wider and even more dangerous conflict,” stresses the message to U.S. officials.

The letter campaign is paired with a social media effort urging U.S. leaders to #StopAliyev.

On April 2, Azerbaijani forces launched a wide-scale attack along the full-length of the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (NKR/Artsakh)  border, specifically targeting civilian populations with heavy artillery, mortar, and gunfire.  One Armenian child was killed and several have been wounded.

The violence comes just days after Aliyev met with U.S. Vice President Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry during the international Nuclear Summit held in Washington, D.C.  ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian described Aliyev’s warm reception in Washington as giving a “green light” for these latest anti-Armenian attacks.

“Vice President Biden, in personally meeting Azerbaijani President Aliyev in this manner—without any public challenge to his escalating regional aggression and worsening domestic repression—openly emboldened his belligerence while actively undermining American efforts to keep the peace and reach a negotiated settlement,” said Hamparian. “Secretary Kerry in his public remarks with President Aliyev, regretfully, made no mention at all of any American concerns regarding President Aliyev’s threats and acts of violence or his crackdown on domestic dissent. There has, as well, been no mention, in the public record, of the life-saving Royce-Engel peace proposals that the State Department has publicly supported.”

The Armenian Weekly’s coverage of the latest attacks is available here.

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Guest contributions to the Armenian Weekly are informative articles or press releases written and submitted by members of the community.

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