Monday, July 1 2024 18:24

ArmInfo.The National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh welcomes the resolution submitted by  Representatives Anna Eshoo and Chris Smith to the US House of Representatives, which proposes to officially recognize the ethnic cleansing carried out by Azerbaijan in Artsakh, demand that Baku be held accountable for war crimes, and protect the right of the people of Artsakh to a safe and secure return.

As stated in the statement distributed by the Artsakh parliament, the  legislators attach importance to the fact that this resolution  condemns the illegal blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan and the  military aggression unleashed in September 2023, and calls on the US  President and the relevant federal authorities to take immediate  action to ensure the rights of forcibly displaced persons of Artsakh  to freely and safely return to their homeland under reliable security  guarantees.  The authors of the resolution also recommend imposing  sanctions on Azerbaijani officials guilty of war crimes, providing  humanitarian assistance to Armenia to resolve the humanitarian  problems of forcibly displaced people of Artsakh, suspending US  military support to Azerbaijan and taking steps to immediately  release Armenian prisoners of war illegally held in Azerbaijan,  including the military and political leadership of Artsakh, and  preserve the Armenian cultural heritage in Artsakh. "We are hopeful  that the resolution introduced by the Representatives will be  formally adopted by the House of Representatives and that the  provisions presented in it will be used in the policy pursued by the  US executive branch, contributing to the establishment of a just and  lasting peace in the South Caucasus," the statement signed by Gagik  Bagunts, Acting Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of  Artsakh, Artsakh Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan, Karen  Bekaryan, member of the Commission for the Protection of the Rights  of the People of Artsakh, reads.

Notably the bipartisan Eshoo-Smith resolution states that "The  Azerbaijani assault on Nagorno-Karabakh last year brought about the  destruction of the ethnic Armenian community that has called the  region home for centuries.  Azerbaijan's actions meet every  definition of ethnic cleansing and must be condemned as such". There  is also a call for the Biden administration " to vigorously support  the Armenians' rights against the ongoing crimes of the Azerbaijani  government under its ruthless dictator Ilham Aliyev."