Artsakh in Crisis

Dear President Biden, 

As a tax-paying American, I call on you to take immediate action to end the cruel and illegal Azerbaijani blockade of landlocked Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) and to open and secure the sole road in and out of the area through the Lachin Corridor. 

In a blatant act of attempted ethnic cleansing in furtherance of its long-standing genocidal intent, Azerbaijan has cut 120,000 Armenians off from desperately needed food, medicine, and other urgently needed supplies since December 12, 2022, willfully creating a humanitarian crisis against innocent Armenian civilians who simply want a life of peace, freedom and security on their ancestral lands. 

As the US President who had the moral fortitude to recognize the Armenian Genocide of 1915, I urge you to step up once more and take definitive action to prevent the potential genocide of 120,000 Armenians by: 

1. Condemning Azerbaijan’s genocidal campaign against the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh and demanding the immediate re-opening of the Lachin Corridor;

2. Delivering $100 million in USAID humanitarian assistance to Nagorno Karabakh through the Lachin Corridor to ensure the survival of the 120,000 civilians who have been blockaded since December 12, 2022;

3. Sending a high level fact-finding delegation to the Lachin Corridor to accurately document and report on the crisis;

4. Immediately halting all U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan in light of the illegal humanitarian blockade imposed on the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, consistent with Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act;

5. Sanctioning members of the Aliyev regime under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act for ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Aliyev regime;

6. Introducing a UN Security Council resolution to establish a United Nations Mission in Nagorno Karabakh (UNMINK) consisting of 5,000 military personnel representing at least two Permanent Member States of the UN Security Council.

Failure to immediately respond to this humanitarian crisis will result in Nagorno Karabakh joining the ranks of Halabja, Rwanda, and Srebrenica - events in world history that define modern evil and stain our collective conscience. 

Mr. President, your leadership and resolute action are needed now to prevent another genocide against the Armenian Nation!