ANCA Rapid Responder Letters: The U.S. Must Re-Engage in the OSCE Minsk Group Process

Letters to U.S. Senators:

I am asking you to encourage the White House to immediately re-engage in the Minsk Group process, revisiting an agreement regarding Nagorno Karabakh signed without the participation or consent of two of the three OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries – the U.S. and France.

The agreement forced on the Armenian side is not the result of the OSCE Minsk Group process – which has the international mandate to address status and security issues related to Artsakh.

Please also work for the passage of S.Res.754 and S.Res.755, two resolutions aimed at cutting off the flow of U.S. arms to Turkey and Azerbaijan.

In addition to these urgent requests, I look to you to step up U.S. response to Azerbaijan’s atrocities against Armenia and Artsakh by advancing these foreign policy priorities:

— Banning arms sales to Turkey and Azerbaijan
— Stopping the military and security aid program to Baku
— Enforcing Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act
— Imposing Magnitsky sanctions on Erdogan and Aliyev
— Investigating evidence of Azerbaijani war crimes
— Punishing Turkish Arms Export Control law violations
— Implementing the Royce-Engle Peace Proposal
— Removing barriers to U.S.-Artsakh travel and contacts
— Delivering humanitarian & development aid to Artsakh

Thank you for your attention to these requests for immediate action on each of these ten policy priorities.

Letter to U.S. Representatives

The agreement forced on the Armenian side is not the result of the OSCE Minsk Group process – which has the international mandate to address status and security issues related to Artsakh.

Please also work for U.S. recognition of the Artsakh Republic through passage of H.Res.1203 and impose sanctions on Turkey and Azerbaijan for war crimes committed against Armenian civilians.

In addition to these urgent requests, I look to you to stand with the peaceful population of Artsakh by advancing the following policy priorities:

Thank you for your attention to these requests for immediate action on each of these ten policy priorities.

Letter to the President

I am asking you to immediately re-engage in the Minsk Group process, revisiting an agreement regarding Nagorno Karabakh signed without the participation or consent of two of the three OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries – the U.S. and France.

The agreement forced on the Armenian side is not the result of the OSCE Minsk Group process – which has the international mandate to address status and security issues related to Artsakh.

Please also officially to sanction Turkey and Azerbaijan for war crimes committed against Christian Armenians in Artsakh and recognize Artsakh independence. This recognition should be part of a comprehensive response to Baku that includes:

1) Recognizing the Artsakh Republic’s independence
2) Banning arms sales to Turkey and Azerbaijan
3) Stopping the military and security aid program to Baku
4) Enforcing Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act
5) Imposing Magnitsky sanctions on Erdogan and Aliyev
6) Investigating evidence of Azerbaijani war crimes
7) Punishing Turkish Arms Export Control law violations
8) Implementing the Royce-Engle Peace Proposal
9) Removing barriers to U.S.-Artsakh travel and contacts
10) Delivering humanitarian & development aid to Artsakh

Thank you for your attention to these requests for immediate action on each of these ten policy priorities.

Letter to the President Elect

I am asking you to immediately ask the administration to re-engage in the Minsk Group process, revisiting an agreement regarding Nagorno Karabakh signed without the participation or consent of two of the three OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries – the U.S. and France.

Among these actions should be your announcement that, as President, you will recognize the independence of the Artsakh Republic, end all U.S. military aid to Baku, fully enforce Section 907, and implement the Royce-Engel peace proposals (deploy gun-fire locators, add observes, and withdraw snipers). And also that you support the Artsakh Republic’s full return to the OSCE peace process, remove obsolete restrictions on contacts between officials of the U.S. and Artsakh governments, and prepare now to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency humanitarian and development assistance to Artsakh as soon as you are sworn in.

With regard to the recognition and remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, a cause you long supported in the U.S. Senate, I look to you to follow the lead of both houses of Congress in officially condemning and annually commemorating the Armenian Genocide – ending all forms of U.S. complicity in Turkey’s denials, pressing Turkey to openly acknowledge its guilt and reckon with its responsibilities, and working toward a just and truthful international resolution of this crime. I look forward as well to your leadership in expanding the U.S.-Armenia Strategic Partnership, prioritizing trade and investment promotion initiatives, trade missions, and other programs to expand mutually-beneficial commercial relations – including through a U.S.-Armenia Double Tax Treaty, Social Security Totalization Agreement, and Free Trade Agreement.

Thank you for your urgent attention to these requests.