Bipartisan, Bicameral Coalition of U.S. Legislators Call for American Leadership to Secure Justice for Artsakh and the Armenian Genocide

— Capitol Hill Gathering Features Bipartisan Demands to Cut U.S. Military Aid to Azerbaijan, Safely Return Armenians to Artsakh

WASHINGTON, DC – Twenty U.S. legislators – Democrats and Republicans, from the U.S. House and Senate – joined together Wednesday evening at a landmark gathering in the U.S. Capitol dedicated to justice for Artsakh (2023) and the Armenian Genocide (1915), reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“The unified message Members of Congress delivered tonight to President Biden was loud and clear: Stop arming Azerbaijan. Hold Aliyev accountable. Start the safe return of Armenians to Artsakh,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We thank each of tonight’s speakers – notably French National Assembly Deputy Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet – and extend our heartfelt appreciation to Maryland State Delegate Lorig Charkoudian, who served as Mistress of Ceremonies and offered such very powerful remarks about both Artsakh and the Armenian Genocide.”

The event was co-hosted by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA), in cooperation with the Congressional Armenian Caucus. The ANCA live-streamed the event on its Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube channels.

Among the legislators offering remarks were Senators Edward Markey (D-MA), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Gary Peters (D-MI), Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Representatives Gabe Amo (D-RI), Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Judy Chu (D-CA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Chris Smith (R-NJ), and Dina Titus (D-NV). Representatives Young Kim (R-CA), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) also joined in marking the solemn occasion.

Congressional Armenian Staff Association (CASA) members Natalia Matossian and Peter Chalabian offered powerful remarks on the important role CASA plays in bolstering the Armenian American presence on Capitol Hill. Rev. Fr. Sarkis Aktavoukian of Soorp Khatch Armenian Apostolic Church in Bethesda, MD offered the evening’s opening prayer. Speaking on behalf of the program co-hosts were Armenian Assembly Co-Chair-Elect Talin Yacoubian and the ANCA’s Aram Hamparian. Among dignitaries in attendance at the Capitol Hill commemoration were former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans, whose commitment to ending U.S. complicity in Turkey’s Genocide denial has inspired Armenians the world over; Artsakh Representative to the U.S. Robert Avetisyan, who has served as the diplomatic spokesman of the Artsakh people in Washington, DC for over a decade; and former Turkey Member of Parliament Garo Paylan.

Senator Gary Peters (D-MI): “This is basically ethnic cleansing that Azerbaijan was engaged in. It was something that is unacceptable. And it’s frustrating to me that the world community did not do enough to call this out for the outrage that it was and it is.”

The evening’s keynote speaker, France National Assembly Deputy Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, told attendees that “France has decided not to let Armenia alone” in the face of ongoing Azerbaijani genocidal aggression. She outlined her country’s growing political, military, economic, and cultural ties with Armenia. She then challenged her U.S. counterparts, asking, “My question to American diplomats based in Paris and my fellow American legislators is, why can’t America do the same?”

Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) announced plans to introduce the “Azerbaijan Sanctions Review Act” next week. “This will impose various sanctions on Azerbaijani officials who directed or carried out the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh. It’s time that we make them pay – impose costs on them for this kind of action.”

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA): “We know from what fellow Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh [told us]. They brought them to their knees after, what, nine months, food, medicine, all those necessary supplies were held from them. And then at gunpoint, they fled with only what they had on their backs. So there’s something very wrong and immoral about this picture of what has taken place.

“He was so arrogant and so condescending, he even said, ‘You keep this up, we [Turkey] will take your base away in Incirlik.’ In all candor, go ahead — we’ll move it to Greece.” — Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) describing responses from a Turkish Ambassador testifying at an Armenian Genocide hearing Rep. Smith was hosting in the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

French Parliament Member Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet Issues a Call to Action

The evening’s keynote speaker, France National Assembly Deputy Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet told attendees that “France has decided not to let Armenia alone” in the face of ongoing Azerbaijani genocidal aggression. She outlined her country’s growing political, military, economic, and cultural ties with Armenia. She then challenged her U.S. counterparts, asking, “My question to American diplomats based in Paris and my fellow American legislators is, why can’t America do the same?”

Members of Congress Focus on Azerbaijani Accountability, the Right of Return to Artsakh, and Armenia Security

The need for stronger U.S.-Armenia military ties, humanitarian aid to Artsakh genocide survivors, and concrete efforts to sanction Azerbaijan and hold them accountable for their crimes against Artsakh and Armenia were constant themes in remarks offered by U.S. Senate and House members throughout the program. Of special focus was identifying a mechanism to secure the dignified return of Artsakh Armenians with international protection to their homes of millennia.