Dear Secretary Blinken:
I am writing to object to the Biden-Harris Administration’s relentless promotion of a patently reckless South Caucasus “peace” plan that would – against all reason and even the most basic standards of humanity – force the free citizens of democratic Artsakh under the racist, genocidal Azerbaijani regime of Ilham Aliyev.
President Biden and his team are well aware that any formula along these lines represents a certain death sentence for the more than 120,000 indigenous Christian Armenians of this sacred land.
Rather than undertaking actions that condemn the Christian Armenians of Artsakh, I ask you to pursue a constructive path toward a durable and democratic peace:
1) Recognize the Artsakh’s Republic’s right to self-determination
2) Break Azerbaijan’s six-month humanitarian blockade of Artsakh
3) End U.S. arms sales/transfers and military assistance to Azerbaijan
4) Send U.S. humanitarian assistance to at-risk families in Artsakh
5) Hold Azerbaijan accountable for its anti-Armenian war crimes
6) Stop U.S. arms sales to Turkey’s openly hostile Erdogan regime
7) Pressure Turkey to stop its denial of the Armenian Genocide
I would also like to draw your attention to the formal invitation the ANCA extended to you on May 11, 2022 for an on-the-record roundtable discussion – at a date, time, and place of your choosing – on Artsakh and other issues of special concern to Americans of Armenian heritage and our many coalition partners and community allies. This invitation remains open.
I look forward to your reply to my letter and your favorable response to the ANCA’s invitation for an open and transparent discussion of the Biden-Harris record on Armenian American policy priorities.
Sincerely,
