Remarks offered at White House protest on September 20, 2023, demanding the Biden administration take immediate action to stop Azerbaijan’s Artsakh Genocide.
I will, today, speak through my tears.
Tears for Artsakh’s mothers and children. Her saints and soldiers. Her holy churches and sacred lands.
We have, each of us, seen the devastation visited upon Artsakh—the genocidal destruction, the thousands killed, the anguish of mothers unable to feed their families, the grief of children left without parents.
We have felt in our own hearts the fear of families hiding in bunkers, felt our world shake as bombs shattered lives, families with deep roots in Artsakh’s rich soil.
We are gathered here today to scream at the world, to demand the global community stop turning a blind eye, to ask: Where is your morality? Where is your humanity, your sympathy? Where is your heart?
We cry to the heavens but know our work remains here on earth, for our fight is far from over.
We remain in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Artsakh—in faith with the generations that came before us; in tribute to those who fell in this struggle; in service to those generations that will follow.
It is in this spirit that we will show the world that we will forever rise and never be silenced. Relentless when knocked down. Defiant when pushed around.
We dust ourselves off, stand up straight, roll up our sleeves and get to work, to show ourselves and all the world that America is better than it treated Artsakh—better than abandoning 120,000 Armenians; better than both-siding Azerbaijan’s one-sided genocide; better than arming and abetting a corrupt and cruel oil-rich dictator.
Artsakh’s fate is not yet written, and America’s role is far from over.
Through long years of hard struggle, we lifted America from the depths of Armenian Genocide denial, broke the longest-lasting foreign gag rule in American history.
We must now do the same for Artsakh, putting America on the right side of self-determination, of genocide prevention, of human rights.
That starts with America honoring our signature on the U.N. Genocide Convention, recognizing that we can never trust and must never allow genocidal Azerbaijan to rule over the free people of Artsakh.
On this and all our policy priorities, we stand united, here at the White House, in the halls of Congress, at the United Nations and all across the world.
With renewed resolve, we close our protest today ready for another day, a better day for Artsakh and all Armenians.
Sune Hamparian
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