Joint Communique on Azerbaijan\’s Latest Attacks Against The Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh

The Armenian Council of America and the Armenian Council of Europe call on the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Minsk Group to take immediate action in condemning the latest provocations of the Azeri regime against the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

As members of the OSCE Minsk Group, ACA and ACE also urge the French and U.S. Administrations to forcefully condemn the actions of the Azerbaijani military in initiating the largest military aggression since the 1994 cease fire.

In fact, this recent escalation comes on the heels of meetings between the Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and the Vice President of the United State, Joe Biden, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, as well as several member States of the OSCE. Regrettably, calls for a peaceful resolution to the NKR conflict during these meetings seem to have fallen on deaf ears and ignored by Mr. Aliyev.

Unfortunately, as many news outlets have reported, the Azerbaijani military on Saturday acknowledged that its forces unleashed a full-scale, unprovoked, military actions along the entire Contact Line targeting not only the Armenian Defense forces, but also civilian populations.

Over the past several months we have repeatedly raised our concern over the disturbing increase in Azeri violations of the ceasefire along the Contact line with Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. Yet, both U.S. and French Administrations remained silent within and outside of the OSCE Minsk group framework, in condemning the Azeri dictatorship’s disregard to international community’s goal of peace within the region.

In order to prevent the future escalation of the conflict, the OSCE Minsk Group, led by the United States and France, must forgo standard calls for restraint on both sides and forcefully condemn the naked aggressions unleashed by the Azeri military. When and only when the Azeri aggression is halted, the OSCE Minsk Group must promote trust building measures between the two sides; a key component of which is the inclusion of the democratically elected representatives of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in the peace talks.

Paris, France le 2 avril 2016
Glendale, CA, USA April 2, 2016