ANCA Rapid Responder Letter: Stop Azerbaijan's Destruction of Artsakh's Armenian Cultural and Religious Sites

Letter to your legislator


Dear Representative:

I am writing to ask you to co-sign Representative Adam Schiff’s letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the Biden Administration to support the preservation of Armenian cultural heritage sites under Azerbaijan’s occupation.

Since Azerbaijan/Turkey’s 2020 attack on Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and the 2023 forced displacement of Artsakh’s entire indigenous Armenian population, President Aliyev’s genocidal regime has undertaken the systematic destruction of Armenian cultural heritage sites. Artsakh is home to some of the oldest churches and monasteries in the world, with some dating back to Armenia’s adoption of Christianity in the 4th century. The destruction of these sites is not only an assault on Armenian heritage but also on our shared humanity.

Despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Azerbaijan to stop the desecration of Armenian cultural heritage, Azerbaijan continues unabated in its effort to erase any trace of Armenian existence in Artsakh.

I am extremely concerned that the United States has not prioritized this issue in its engagements in Azerbaijan – particularly in light of U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mark Libby’s recent visit to the city of Shushi, which was ethnically cleansed of its Armenian population during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War and where Azerbaijan recently destroyed an Armenian church and cemetery. During his visit, the Ambassador did not make any mention of Azerbaijan’s war crimes and cultural destruction.

I urge you to co-sign Rep. Schiff’s letter – which calls on the State Department to pressure Azerbaijan to fully comply with its obligations under international law to protect Armenian cultural heritage and urges U.S. diplomats to prioritize this issue and raise the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage at every meeting with officials at all levels of the government of Azerbaijan. For additional information or to be added as a co-signer to the letter, please contact Steve Park (steven.park@mail.house.gov) in Rep. Schiff’s office. The deadline to co-sign the letter is June 17th.

I look forward to hearing of your support for this letter, and to sharing your leadership on this issue with my family, neighbors, and local community.

Sincerely,

 

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