Are you headed to a town hall meeting or coffee with a 2016 U.S. Presidential candidate? Or, perhaps, you have come upon a social media opportunity to ask a candidate a question. Or, you’re simply on the candidate’s website and would like to share a concern or comment.
Here are some sample questions on several key areas of Armenian American concern that can get the dialogue with the candidate going.
And, if you do get a response – positive or negative – please take a moment to share it with the ANCA at election@anca.org – and we’ll spotlight it on the ANCA 2016 Presidential Candidate Overview page.
You can also just send a free ANCA WebMail to all the 2016 Presidential candidates at once asking them to explain their position on Armenian American concerns.
Whatever your leanings – Democrat, Republican, Independent or other – help make Armenian American issues part of the 2016 presidential election conversation.
Armenian Genocide:
- As President, will you direct the U.S. government to officially condemn and annually commemorate the Armenian Genocide?
- As President, will it be the policy of your Administration to end any and all forms of U.S. complicity in Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide?
- As President, will your Administration work toward a truthful and just international resolution of this crime against humanity?
- As President, what types of steps will you take to end Turkey’s denials and bring about a truthful and just international resolution of the Armenian Genocide?
- As President, will you support Congressional legislation and other initiatives in support of a truthful and just international resolution of the Armenian Genocide?
- As President, will you encourage Turkey to return stolen/confiscated Christian churches and religious properties, and to respect the rights and religious freedoms of surviving Christians communities?
- As President, will you base any efforts by your Administration to improve Armenian-Turkish relations upon Turkey’s open acceptance of its moral and material responsibilities for a truthful and just resolution of the Armenian Genocide?
U.S.-Armenia Relations:
- As President, will you prioritize trade and investment promotion initiatives, trade missions, and other programs to expand mutually-beneficial bilateral commercial relations?
- As President, will you support the negotiation of a U.S.-Armenia Double Tax Treaty?
- As President, would you be open to the negotiation of a U.S.-Armenia Free Trade Agreement?
- As President, will you support targeted U.S. economic aid to strengthen U.S.-Armenia commercial relations?
- As President, will you prioritize an U.S. Presidential trip to Armenia, including an official visit to the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan?
- As President, will you prioritize inviting the President of Armenia to the U.S. on an official state visit?
Nagorno Karabakh:
- As President, will you recognize the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic?
- As President, will you support the Nagorno Karabakh Republic’s full return to the OSCE peace process?
- As President, will you support continued U.S. humanitarian and developmental aid to Nagorno Karabakh?
- As President, will you ensure that all aid intended by Congress for Nagorno Karabakh is actually allocated?
- As President, will you lift outdated and obsolete restrictions limiting contacts and communications between officials of the U.S. and Nagorno Karabakh governments?
- As President, will you take a strong, public stand against Azerbaijan’s threats to shoot down civilian airplanes operating out of the Stepanakert airport.
Regional Peace:
- As President, how will you pressure Azerbaijan to end its anti-Armenian acts of aggression, threats of war, and escalation of regional tensions?
- As President, will your Administration forthrightly condemn and publicly challenge Azerbaijan’s threats and acts of anti-Armenian aggression?
- As President, will you exercise your right to waive Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, despite Azerbaijan’s failure to abide by the terms set by Congress for this waiver?
- As President, will you propose appropriating or otherwise allocating U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan while the Azerbaijani government is undertaking threats and acts of war, and refusing to commit to a purely peaceful resolution of regional conflicts?
- As President, will you linking U.S. arms sales to Turkey to its blockade of Armenia, occupation of Cyprus, mistreatment of Kurds, restrictions on Christians, and its domestic human rights record?
- As President, how will you work to secure Azerbaijan’s support for the implementation of the Royce-Engel peace proposals (namely an agreement on the non-deployment of snipers, the addition of observers, and the deployment of gunfire locator systems along the line of contact)?
- As President, will you publicly call upon Azerbaijan to re-incarcerate admitted and still unrepentant axe-murdered Ramil Safarov?
- As President, will you call upon NATO to direct Turkey to stop its arms sales to Azerbaijan, for as long as Azerbaijan is undertaking anti-Armenian threats and acts of war, and refusing to commit to a purely peaceful resolution of regional conflicts?
- As President, how will you pressure Turkey to end its illegal blockade of Armenia?
Javakhk:
- As President, how will you help protect the Armenians of Javakhk and other regions of Georgia from official and non-official acts of repression, discrimination, and intimidation?
- As President, how will you help support the economic development, cultural identity and local autonomy of the Armenian region of Javakhk within a pluralist, democratic, multi-ethnic Georgia?
Middle East Christians:
- As President, will you direct your Administration to close gaps in the delivery of humanitarian aid to at-risk Armenians and other Syrian and Middle East Christians?
- As President, will you budget robust funding to help Armenia settle refugees fleeing genocidal violence and persecution in Syria and the Middle East?