Dear Representative,
I am writing to ask you to co-sign a Congressional letter challenging a recent reckless statement by a senior U.S. diplomat taking the prospect of U.S. sanctions against Azerbaijan off the table, despite that oil-rich country’s 100-day blockade of 120,000 Christian Armenians in their indigenous Artsakh homeland.
During a March 8th visit to the region – his first official travel as the newly appointed U.S. Envoy for the South Caucasus – Louis Bono explicitly ruled out the use of economic and diplomatic sanctions against Azerbaijan for its anti-Armenian aggression. Radio Free Europe reported that he stated: “this is not a time for sanctions … it’s not even under consideration at this point.” The Congressional letter challenges this irresponsible statement, stressing that: “As 120,000 innocent people remain deprived of their basic rights in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) for a third month, due to a blockade that the International Court of Justice (World Court) has ordered Azerbaijan to lift, this is not the time to take any tools off the table.”
Sadly, when our diplomats offer scripted assurances to Azerbaijan that the United States will not impose any costs or consequences for its blockade of Artsakh, they are – all too openly and intentionally – handing Ilham Aliyev a free pass, signed by President Joe Biden, to continue attacking, occupying, and ethnically cleansing indigenous Armenian lands.
Please contact Christine Russell (christine.russell@mail.house.gov) in the office of Congressman Adam Schiff to co-sign this letter. If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Tereza Yerimyan (Tereza@anca.org) at the Armenian National Committee of America.
I look forward to sharing your support for this letter with my friends and family.
Sincerely,
