We Must Stand with Armenia and the People of Artsakh

Last month, Azerbaijani bombs began falling on the people of Artsakh. In the weeks since, hundreds have been killed or injured and thousands have been displaced from their homes, sleeping out in the open for fear of drones or artillery or bombs. Historic churches have been bombarded and destroyed. Militants from Syria have been deployed as a mercenary fighting force by Azerbaijan and its Turkish sponsors.
Despite this illegal war, the people of Artsakh are still standing. The people of Armenia are still standing. And we must continue to stand with them.
This war did not happen overnight. It is the result of a corrupt regime in Baku offering its people a violent ethno-nationalism, instead of the prosperity and freedom it cannot deliver. But it is also the result of United States’ foreign policy towards Azerbaijan and Turkey that has failed. For too long, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, the United States has perpetuated a false equivalency between Azerbaijan, as it launches attack after attack, and Armenia and Artsakh, as they defend their lives and homes.
This should have ended years ago, but it must end now. Along with my colleagues in the Armenian Caucus, I am pressing the U.S. Dept. of State and our representatives to the Minsk Group to work urgently to reach a lasting ceasefire. But unless our policy, and the policy of other Minsk Group members, changes I fear this will happen again and again. It is past time for consequences on Azerbaijan.
The United States must cease sending military assistance – last year totaling $100 million – to a regime that would use its weapons to bomb schools and churches in Artsakh. And we cannot consider Turkey a true ally of the United States if it is willing to use Syrian militants as a mercenary force in this war.
We must choose a new path.
Turkey and Azerbaijan have made it clear that they intend to settle by force the issues surrounding Artsakh, with devastating consequences for civilians. The United States must make clear that if they persist in this violence instead of embracing a peaceful settlement of the conflict, we are prepared to recognize the Republic of Artsakh as an independent nation, and we will work with the international community to achieve the same.
Presidents Aliyev and Erdogan must understand that they cannot resolve a decades-long border dispute through the indiscriminate use of force against civilians and the United States will not stand idly by as they attempt to do so.
The only resolution of this dispute can be through negotiations, not raining artillery and bombs on Armenian civilians. America should stand with the fledgling democracy in Stepanakert, not with the autocratic Aliyev regime.
Although here in Southern California we are blessed with a vibrant Armenian American diaspora, for many Americans the headlines of this conflict in Artsakh are their first introduction to the region. When the people of Artsakh are being murdered, when civilian areas are being targeted by Azerbaijani bombs and artillery, when foreign fighters are being brought into yet another part of the world, all with the help of Turkey – it is a threat to peace-loving people everywhere.
And so we must speak out. We must bring an end to this conflict and suffering by bringing all the pressure we can to bear on Azerbaijan and its Turkish sponsors, and we must ensure that the United States never again gives Azerbaijan or Turkey reason to believe they can commit such acts of violence with impunity.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) represents California’s 28th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.