WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues leaders Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Gus M. Bilirakis (FL-12), David G. Valadao (CA-21), Adam B. Schiff (CA-28), Brad Sherman (CA-32), and 61 Representatives today introduced a congressional resolution condemning Azerbaijan for its blockade of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) and urging the United States to take immediate steps to end the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) will introduce the Senate companion resolution.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stand with my colleagues today in condemning Azerbaijan\u2019s ongoing blockade of Artsakh. It\u2019s clear that Azerbaijan\u2019s blockage of the Lachin Corridor is coordinated and intended to shut off the only supply route for much of Artsakh\u2019s food, medical supplies and transport, and other essential goods,\u201d\u00a0said Congressman Pallone<\/strong>. \u201cWe stand united in telling Azerbaijan to end this intentional humanitarian crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAzerbaijan\u2019s blockade of the Lachin Corridor\u2014the only road connecting\u00a0Nagorno-Karabakh\u00a0(Artsakh) to Armenia\u2014is inhumane and unacceptable,\u201d\u00a0said Senator Padilla.\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThis blockade has\u00a0created a humanitarian crisis, rendering the 120,000 Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh without access to food, water, medicine, and other basic necessities. Our resolution would make it clear that the United States must take action\u00a0to\u00a0hold Azerbaijan accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe coordinated efforts by the Azerbaijani government to block essential goods and services such as food, medical supplies, and transportation in and out of the Republic of Artsakh is unconscionable. We need to hold Azerbaijan accountable for their role in this humanitarian crisis,\u201d\u00a0said Congressman Bilirakis<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe humanitarian crisis in Artsakh caused by the blockage of the Lachin Corridor grows more dire by the day, and the United States must take decisive action to help the tens of thousands of people cut off from their families, loved ones, and livelihoods,\u201d\u00a0said Congressman Schiff<\/strong>. \u201cThis bipartisan condemnation of Baku must be just the beginning \u2014 and signal the end of assistance to Azerbaijan. I will always stand with the people of Armenia and Artsakh and call on the President of the United States to use all diplomatic tools at our disposal to ensure the safety of the people of Artsakh amid the growing crisis in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe United States must act. That\u2019s why my Armenia Caucus colleagues and I have introduced a resolution that will put Congress on the record as unequivocally condemning this deadly blockade,\u201d\u00a0said Congressman Sherman<\/strong>. \u201cLet’s be clear about what this is – an attempt by Azerbaijan to force Artsakh\u2019s ethnic Armenian population out of their homes by making life in Artsakh impossible. The tactic is blockade. The effect is civilian deprivation. The object is ethnic cleansing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe aggression from Azerbaijan towards the Armenian people in Artsakh is unacceptable. Not only are these actions in direct violation of international agreements, but they are preventing deliveries of food, medicine, and other basic necessities \u2013 a blatant violation of human rights,\u201d\u00a0said<\/strong>\u00a0Congressman Valadao.\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI am proud to cosponsor this critical resolution which strongly condemns the Azeri government\u2019s appalling actions and calls on the United States to use every diplomatic tool at our disposal to end this dangerous blockade.\u201d<\/p>\n Azerbaijan began its blockade of the Lachin Corridor \u2013 a vital lifeline that connects the Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) with the Republican of Armenia \u2013 on December 12, 2022, under the guise of an environmental protest. Since then, severe shortages of food, medical supplies, drinking water, and other essentials have created a dire humanitarian crisis for the 120,000 people living in Artsakh. Further reports indicate that Azerbaijan has also\u00a0sabotaged important civilian infrastructure such as power transmission lines and fixed-line internet<\/a>.<\/p>\n This man-made crisis purposefully created by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev threatens to severely worsen the quality of life for the people of Artsakh. Unfortunately, the current international strategy to reopen the Lachin Corridor is simply not working. Despite clearly documented evidence of the blockade and the tragic impact it is having on innocent civilians,\u00a0President Aliyev continues to lie to the United States and the international community by stating that there is no blockade<\/a>. The Aliyev regime is taking premediated steps to remove the indigenous Armenian population from Artsakh and deprive them of the opportunity to live freely, democratically, and with dignity in the land of their ancestors \u2013\u00a0a clear sign of ethnic cleansing.<\/a><\/p>\n A copy of the resolution is available\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues leaders Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Gus M….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2751,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"post_badge":[],"class_list":["post-3047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image0011.png",140,140,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image0011.png",140,140,false],"medium":["https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image0011.png",140,140,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image0011.png",140,140,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image0011.png",140,140,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image0011.png",140,140,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image0011.png",140,140,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image0011.png",140,140,false],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image0011.png",140,140,false],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image0011.png",140,140,false],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image0011.png",140,140,false],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image0011.png",140,140,false],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image0011-45x45.png",45,45,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"ArmenianCouncil","author_link":"https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/author\/armeniancouncil\/"},"category_info":"News<\/a>","tag_info":"News","comment_count":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image0011.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3047"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3048,"href":"https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3047\/revisions\/3048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3047"},{"taxonomy":"post_badge","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.armeniancouncil.org\/ACA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_badge?post=3047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}