We Must Act to Stop Azerbaijan’s Assault on Artsakh and Armenia

This week, we marked a solemn anniversary. One hundred and eight years ago, the Ottoman Empire began a systematic effort to destroy the Armenian people. More than 1.5 million men, women and children lost their lives in the first genocide of the 20^th century. 

Teachers, writers, businessmen and doctors were rounded up and killed, clergy were tortured and burned alive in churches, infants were ripped from their mothers’ arms, sons and daughters witnessed their parents being murdered, and children died gasping for a drop of water. Many Armenians were killed outright and others, including Gomidas Vartabed, considered the father of Armenian music, suffered terrible trauma after witnessing the sheer magnitude of the brutal massacres.

For a long time, the United States government did little to recognize the genocide and refused to acknowledge the facts. For almost 20 years, I led the effort to pass a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide before my bill finally cleared the U.S. House by a near unanimous and bipartisan margin in 2019. The Senate then also passed a resolution affirming the facts of the Armenian Genocide. And in 2021, President Joe Biden finally cast aside over a century of shameful silence by our nation to become the first sitting U.S. President to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide.

This historic recognition only came to fruition because of the tenacity of the Armenian diaspora. It was a testament to the unwavering efforts of thousands of activists, organizations, communities and church leaders. And it was a victory for human rights, and for the truth itself, and something we achieved together.

The Genocide of over a hundred years ago has a very contemporary significance as once again Armenian lives are being lost. Azerbaijan’s unprovoked attacks on sovereign Armenian territory and the brutal blockade of Artsakh’s Lachin corridor risk another genocide. We have seen this before, and we must not allow it to happen again. 

The Armenian people have suffered the trauma of many who died in Artsakh, and thousands more whom were forced to flee from the unprovoked aggression by Azerbaijan and Turkey. Still others remain prisoners of war in violation of international law.

These are the horrific consequences when Azerbaijan’s dictator Ilham Aliyev is allowed to make war on his neighbors with impunity. We cannot allow violence and crimes against humanity to go unanswered, whether they occurred one hundred and eight years ago or as recently as this year or even this month.

As Aliyev continues his unprovoked aggression against Artsakh and Armenia, and the blockade of the Lachin corridor causes a humanitarian crisis by cutting off thousands of Armenians from critical supplies, the U.S. must reaffirm its commitment to protecting democracy and freedom around the world. 

That’s why this week I introduced a resolution to recognize the independence of Artsakh and its right of self-determination.

The United States must continue to pressure Aliyev to immediately reopen the Lachin corridor, direct U.S. humanitarian assistance to Artsakh, call for the safe and unconditional release of the remaining Armenian prisoners of war and captured civilians, hold Azerbaijan accountable for the destruction of religious and cultural sites, cut off aid to Azerbaijan and impose sanctions instead, and support democracy in Armenia and a free, independent Artsakh.

I will continue to call on President Biden and my colleagues in the House and Senate to take these actions urgently, and without delay.

On this solemn anniversary, as we pause to remember the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide, we also reflect on the resilience of those who survived and the perseverance of their children and grandchildren who built new lives in the United States, speak the beautiful Armenian language and enrich our nation with the Armenian culture and heritage. 

Despite the trials the Armenian people have faced and continue to face, it has not broken their faith, determination or their will to survive. They have overcome the greatest of tragedies, and yet, they remain strong and unbowed in Los Angeles, in Yerevan, in Artsakh, and around the world.