These are surreal times for the valiant Armenian nation. We are experiencing the trauma of our grandparents with similar atrocities, deportations and territorial loss that our survivor generation carried into the diaspora. The depopulation of an entire enclave in the 21st century has been broadcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Before continuing, let me say that I abhor the patronizing terms that our world has created to explain what is happening in Artsakh. When I read “forced evacuations,” it describes vacating due to a natural disaster such as wildfires and hurricanes. This is not what our brave people have experienced. It is called a DEPORTATION, and it is component of genocide. 

Once again, we are forced to remember what was and could have been, like the western highlands, Cilicia and Nakhichevan. The list is growing and now a new generation will carry the burden of our collective loss. This is a terrible legacy that will impact our thinking for decades. It leaves us bitter and frustrated with the attitude that whatever we do may not matter. We should acknowledge that possibility, but never accept it. At the lowest points of our history, our people fought back from horrific losses to build a new future. After the fall of the Bagraduni kingdom, a massive migration took place that populated and established a new kingdom in Cilicia. Life blossomed in that region until the Genocide. Imagine the challenge of physical displacement over many years and the hardships overcome. There are hundreds of examples of tenacity and perseverance in our brilliant history. Our Baku Armenians have displayed remarkable strength these past 35 years. Today, we are wounded and angry. It is a necessary phase to experience and transition from. The danger for us is to stay in this phase semi-permanently.

Most of our criticism today is directed outside of the Armenian community at the groups that failed us: the EU, United States, Russia and any other that offered rhetoric while people were dying. The United Nations has long been an institution offering volumes of comforting words while being deficient on prevention or political action, creating a diplomatic community for the theoretical good of mankind but rendered useless in addressing the dark side of humanity. We are justified in our criticism of our international colleagues. Hopefully, we can take advantage of the latent surge of “sympathy” coming from many of these bodies. The calls are stronger for a multinational body to Artsakh and the Armenian border. France, in turn, has announced unprecedented military assistance to Armenia. 

Our homeland is surrounded on most borders by a hostile alliance bent on the full destruction of our people. If it were up to Erdogan and Aliyev, we would be a stateless people. Azerbaijan, on a par with Hitler and Pol Pot, considers this strictly an internal matter. They continue to brazenly arrest leaders in Artsakh to make their point and use their illegal captivity as currency during negotiations. They view any “external” efforts as a personal insult, and we must be vigilant in the face of their pronouncements. 

Our people have once again paid a terrible price, but this fight is not over. Most of the internal criticism has been directed at the government of Armenia and its policies. I would like to suggest an area where we have total control and opportunity to strengthen our nation. During times of national crisis, we must understand that a nation divided is less capable than one united. We are plagued with division today. The competitive, innovative and independent nature of our people has created some of this reality, but we are not a finely tuned machine, and we cannot afford any of this going forward. Minimizing conflict within our people should be about adjusting our focus and utilizing our resources. These walls are artificial and need to come down. Our future depends on it.

In its most fundamental form, most of the obstacles to a more unified or integrated approach can be summarized in two terms: forgiveness and egos. As Armenians, we are very proud and speak often of our Christian faith but are short on practicing the basic tenets of that faith in our lives. Our church teaches us the power of prayer, love and forgiveness, yet these seem important only when we are in the sanctuary. The Armenian church is the most important non-governmental institution in our global community. It has been a rock for over 17 centuries, but like any other institution it has to continue earning its respect and credibility. We need to understand that our faith and our church institution are not the same. The former is our eternal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, and the latter is a choice of practice. The church has struggled chronically with forgiveness. I have always felt that the best of our church is when it stands above human conflict and provides the leadership to reconcile and end suffering. Why was Ghevont Yeretz on the front line with Vartan at Avarayr? One of our great leaders of the 20th century, Karekin Hovseptiantz, was in the middle of conflict and building trust through leadership, whether at Sardarabad, trying to resolve the church divide in America in the 1930s or his remarkable work in building the Great House of Cilicia.

It is difficult for many Armenians to reconcile an institution that advocates love and forgiveness yet tolerates the longstanding jurisdictional division of the church. This is not simply a reference to the American dioceses but rather a world church commentary given the awkward leadership collaboration between Holy Etchmiadzin and Antelias. Aram I has displayed great leadership on national issues but is unable to do much for the people of Artsakh and Armenia. Karekin II has assumed a very low public profile at a time when our people need a visible presence from the church. The conflict between Etchmiadzin and Antelias and the tepid relationship with the government of Armenia must be resolved for the benefit of the Armenian people. The power of forgiveness is not a theory or a vehicle for the naive. If we cannot resolve our differences with love and forgiveness, we will remain weak. National reconciliation should be a driving theme on multiple levels. This is an especially critical time to look inward and resolve our internal issues.

The church can improve its credibility and provide leadership during this critical time if it chooses. In my view, the Catholicos and his bishops should have been in Syunik offering comfort, blessing and support to our deported brethren. Just as the venerable Catholicos Sahag II traveled to the refugee camps in Syria after the Genocide to comfort and organize his beleaguered flock, we should expect our church leaders to be visible in time of need. We have all viewed the images of our deportees, and I am saddened by not seeing the public leadership of the church. It is noteworthy that many kahanas (married priests) are helping, but this is a unique time for the Catholicos. It is not enough to cancel the Holy Muron. Go to the people.

Each of us can do something, individually or collectively, to further integrate our nation. There have been serious calls for the diaspora to organize in a way that makes it more effective in working with the homeland. Similar calls have been made for the homeland to legislatively open the doors for more diversified resources from the diaspora to support the homeland. We are the main obstacle to most of these opportunities. We are all guilty of it…my idea…my organization…my position. A popular phrase in our communities these days is “pan-Armenian.” Whether it is the “Future Armenian” initiative or local pan Armenian activities, it requires people of vision who are willing to subordinate their egos for the greater good. These efforts can be challenging when you bring several innovative and creative minds together, but these are difficult times. Sacrifice and an understanding of the bigger picture at risk are essential. As the brilliant pan-Armenian educator and philanthropist, the late Dr. Vartan Gregorian, once stated, “There are more things that unite us than divide us.” He gave this message at the opening of the NAASR Center in 2019. Pan-Armenian thinking is always focused on the importance of the vision and the mission. Egos and conflict will always exist but successful endeavors subordinate them below the radar. 

Pan-Armenian gathering in Boston in support of Artsakh, Sept. 30, 2023 (Photo: Sona Gevorkian)

It would be a wise investment for all of us to use this moment in our history to identify ways to better integrate, reduce redundancy and build a better Armenian nation. This is not limited to our high profile leaders. Certainly with their authority and power of position they can have significant impact, but each of us can do something powerful. Ask yourself: Are you focused on the vision and the mission or are you working on another agenda? We are a diaspora built on organizations. They are critically important, but they are only a vehicle to the mission, not the mission itself. Organizations must evolve as the mission does. What adjustments are you making?

One hundred and eight years ago, my grandmother, uncle, aunt, and my 13-year-old father – along with their entire village – were purged and exiled into the barren sands of the Syrian desert with only an armful of belongings.  Along with the rest of Western Armenia, my father’s Christian village and family were among those whom the Turkish pashas determined to exterminate.  Their ancestral homes were pillaged and destroyed, and churches rooted in centuries of history were torn down with their irreplaceable artifacts representing centuries of civilization.  Their fate was left to starvation, thirst, the swords of merciless Turks and rampant disease as they trekked into an unknown destiny. A million and five hundred thousand did not survive, including my grandmother, uncle and aunt.

One hundred and eight years ago, the world stood silent. America waived its conscience, and history repeated itself in the past weeks as the entire indigenous Armenian Christian population of Artsakh (Karabagh) was murderously marched out in the genocidal purge of another ancestral homeland carved out of its statehood in Azerbaijan.  The modern venal, murderous, amoral 21^st century pasha is Ilham Aliyev, a corrupt, dictatorial oligarch who has enriched himself at the fossil fuel troughs of the Caucasus and, unbelievably, as he collaborates in the death and purges of Christians, is embraced and coddled by President Joseph Biden and his spineless Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his lickspittle NSC Adviser Jake Sullivan.

This triumvirate of moral cowardice has stood aside in the face of a tinhorn dictator in a backwater mountain region while he has soullessly set about the repeat of 1915’s systematic and calculated cleansing.  Once again the population’s target is babies, its elderly, its women and its working men.  And as Aliyev set his sights on expanding his empire into adjoining regions, Biden wrings his hands in confusion – issuing empty pronouncements through his low-level appointees of “sympathy and concern,” even as he continues military aid to Baku.

Now comes the further rub.  The so-called passion and outrage from the Congress and Biden’s colleagues in the Democrat Party has been meaningless – including that coming from Armenian-Americans in the Congress.  They wring their hands with letters and resolutions politely “urging” Biden to take action.  They make “requests” to Biden for “proper actions.”  Congressmen make themselves feel good by signing letters calling for sanctions and caterwauling about Aliyev’s mass violation of every conceivable standard of morality known to man.   None of this helps.

What the Democrats in Congress – Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and Anna Eshoo and Jackie Speier – need to do is to quit their polite promenade with Biden, Blinken and Sullivan and call them out for their moral cowardice.  What will make Biden act is if Pelosi goes into the Oval Office and tells him that anything less than action, intervention and immediate assistance is cowardice on Biden’s part – and to make public statements attacking Biden for his inaction.  Does Schumer have the courage to say to Biden: “Mr. President, if you can be pushed around by a low-life like Aliyev, how can we expect you to stand up to thugs like Putin or strongmen like Xi Jinping?” Like I have proposed for Pelosi, Schumer needs to go public with such statements – to embarrass Biden to act.

As for Eshoo and Speier, the two of them are on the high moral ground to ask Biden if he has any sense of how he is now being viewed in the Armenian-American community – as callous and disconnected from reality. They might ask him a simple question: How would he feel if he was forced to leave his home in Delaware with nothing but the clothes on his back and a handful of memories – and not even his precious Corvette? And, again, those statements should not be only made in private – but loudly in public, before cameras and in press conferences – to place a blanket of shame on the shoulders of their party’s leader.

Doesn’t the official Democratic Party understand that they have the political, moral and persuasive power to shame the President into action like others cannot?  And when they don’t act as I have just proposed, then they, too should be viewed through the lens of moral condemnation.  There is a reason to hold public office, and that is to achieve a service that those of us without power cannot.  Letters written by eager staffers, full of empty words, are going into files to be lost in the archives. The real leaders of the Democratic Party – those I have named and many others who claim to stand by the side of the Armenian-American community – can show where they truly stand by using armaments of action, not cotton candy.  This is one time they can portray themselves honestly and genuinely and not hide behind Capitol Hill fluff.

I speak only for myself and for no organization or cause.  Only for the memory of my father and his village.

In the wake of Joe Biden arming genocidal Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Artsakh’s 120,000 indigenous Armenians, American voters of Armenian heritage – understandably outraged over the President’s complicity in this crime – are poised to play a decisive role in the 2024 presidential election.

Armenian Americans are well-respected as a highly motivated electorate and are – within America’s current political landscape – particularly well-positioned in competitive election states. The largest and most established Armenian population centers flourish across California (upwards of 750,000) and along the Amtrak corridor – from Nashua, New Hampshire down to Richmond, Virginia – with sizable communities across the mid-west – in the Detroit suburbs of southeast Michigan and the Racine and Kenosha region of Wisconsin. Notably, highly motivated Armenian Americans in Pennsylvania were widely credited with playing a decisive role in the Fetterman-Oz Senate race. Newer communities are growing in Phoenix, Arizona and in the Las Vegas/Henderson area of Nevada, as tens of thousands of Armenian Americans move to these cities from California.

Americans of Armenian heritage, well represented across the U.S. political spectrum, are known for crossing party lines to vote for candidates who support Armenian issues. In the wake of President Biden’s complicity in Azerbaijan’s war crimes, many will cast their ballots on this single issue.

In terms of coalitions, Armenian Americans are historically close to other Christian communities with roots in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Greater Middle East, including Greeks, Serbs, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Lebanese, Arameans, Maronites, Copts and others. Armenians are supported by fellow Christians – including Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical. Azerbaijan’s recent attack sparked an outpouring of support from American faith-based and human rights groups.

A baseline for any candidate seeking our support for the presidency – incumbent or challenger – is a track record of condemning any and all U.S. complicity in Azerbaijan’s genocide of Artsakh and its aggression against Armenia. That is the very minimum – the starting point for a dialogue with the voters whose support they seek. There is no free pass for complicity, no reward for silence, no tolerance for “both-siding” genocide. That is our bright red line.

Armenian Americans vote. And, to be sure, come next year, they will vote in unprecedented numbers. Add to that the multiplier that Armenians talk – to their friends and neighbors, coworkers and classmates. All signs point to Armenian Americans as a potentially decisive factor in the hotly contested 2024 presidential race.

The Armenian community of Greater Boston has come together following the tragic fall of Artsakh due to Azeri aggression. Not facing any opposition from the world, Azerbaijan’s dictator amassed a large force on the borders of Artsakh and launched an invasion after subjecting its Armenian population to an almost 10-month long blockade, preventing food, medicine, and other necessities from entering the country. The invasion has resulted in the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, from which over 100,000 inhabitants have already left their homes, fearing rape, murder, and pillage at the hands of the Azeri invaders.

Clergy lead the community in a prayer for Artsakh, Sept. 22, 2023 (Photo: Ani Zargarian)

In its distress, the Armenian community of Boston came together for a prayer service and community gathering on Friday, September 22. The prayer service was conducted at St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church with clergy from Armenian churches in the Greater Boston area. The Very Reverend Fr. Mesrop Parsamyan, Primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, presided and delivered the homily. Very Rev. Fr. Ardag Arabian (Holy Trinity Church in Worcester), Very Rev. Fr. Ghazare Bedrosian (Holy Cross Armenian Catholic Church in Belmont), Archpriest Fr. Antranig Baljian (St. Stephen’s Church in Watertown), Rev. Fr. Arakel Aljalian (St. James Church in Watertown), Rev. Fr. Vazken Kouzouian (Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge), Rev. Fr. Stephan Baljian (St. Gregory Church in N. Andover), Rev. Fr. Khachatur Kesablyan (Sts. Vartanants Church in Chelmsford), Rev. Fr. Vart Gyozalyan (Armenian Church at Hye Point), Rev. Fr. Mikael Der Kosrofian (Soorp Asdvadzadzin Church of Whitinsville), Rev. Fr. Tadeos Barseghian (Church of Our Savior, Worcester), Rev. Dr. Avedis Boynerian (Armenian Church of the Martyrs in Worcester) and Deacon Asatur Baljyan (Choir Director at St. James Church in Watertown) participated in the community prayer service.

Armenian Relief Society Central Executive Board chair Dr. Nyree Derderian (Photo: Ani Zargarian)

Following the service, more than 500 community members came together at the Armenian Cultural and Educational Center. Organized by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation of Boston, the event featured remarks by Dr. Nyree Derderian, the chairperson of the Armenian Relief Society Central Executive Board, who addressed the humanitarian crisis; Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, who highlighted advocacy avenues moving forward; Dr. Greg Demirchyan from the Armenian Bar Association, who discussed legal considerations for the status of the Armenians of Artsakh; and Weekly columnist Yeghia Tashjian, a regional analyst, who commented on the political situation on the ground and the threats facing Armenia. State Representative Steven Owens of Watertown joined the event in solidarity with the Armenian-American community. 

Meghri DerVartanian (Photo: Sona Gevorkian)

On Saturday, September 30, the Pan Armenian Council of New England, working with local Armenian churches and organizations, held a rally at the Armenian Heritage Park on the Green. The event, which was hosted by Meghri Dervartanian and opened with an ecumenical prayer, raised awareness of the ethnic cleansing of the Armenians of Artsakh. “We are a force to drive positive change in our community,” Dervartanian said. “Let us not forget that we always survive…this is not the end! It will never be the end for the Armenian people. It will never be the end for Artsakh.”

Dr. Ara Nazarian of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation of Boston (Photo: Sona Gevorkian

This sentiment was reinforced by Dr. Ara Nazarian of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation of Boston. “Artsakh will always be Armenian, she will rejoin our nation again, and our brothers and sisters will return to their homeland,” he said. 

Anthony Barsamian from the Armenian Assembly of America stated that the President of Azerbaijan must be prosecuted for war crimes. “We have got to be strong now because Armenia is at stake,” he said.

Rev. Laura Everett, executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, stressed the need for the violence and displacement to end in Artsakh and for peace to prevail for its people.

Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian (Photo: Sona Gevorkian)

Stating that this is the greatest threat to our community since the Genocide, Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian urged, “Now is the time to move forward with one focus to beat with one Armenian heart.”

Ara Balikian from the Armenian General Benevolent Union of New England focused on the need to help the people of Artsakh and “alleviate their suffering” through all means available to the community.

Dr. Shant Parseghian from the Pan Armenian Council of New England joined the voices of each speaker in highlighting the needs of the Armenians of Artsakh. All addressed the humanitarian, advocacy and historical contexts of this monumental loss for the Armenian nation and the need for our government to stand on the right side of history and provide much-needed aid to the people of Artsakh, who have lost everything in a matter of a week.

“Being Armenian…means standing arm-in-arm in a city halfway across the world from our ancestral land and finding hope in our unity,” Ani Belorian of the Pan Armenian Council of New England concluded.

The Greater Boston community came together in support of Artsakh at the Armenian Heritage Park on The Greenway, Boston, Sept. 30, 2023 (Photo: Sona Gevorkian)

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) hosted the Capitol Hill press conference, along with In Defense of Christians, For the Martyrs and the 120,000 Reasons Coalition, which includes the ANCA.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) and a bi-partisan group of U.S. representatives, including Chris Smith (R-NJ), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Jim Costa (D-CA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Lou Correa (D-CA) and Haley Stevens (D-MI), as well as former Rep. Frank Wolfe, condemned the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh’s 120,000 Armenian Christians and demanded the Biden administration hold Azerbaijan accountable, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). 

Members of Congress, along with human rights organizations and faith-based groups, raised concerns of renewed Azerbaijani aggression against the Republic of Armenia during the September 29 Capitol Hill press conference. Held in the Press Triangle at the foot of the U.S. Capitol Building, the press conference was organized in coordination with In Defense of Christians (IDC), For the Martyrs and the 120,000 Reasons Coalition, including the ANCA. The press conference coincided with IDC’s Capitol Hill advocacy days spotlighting the Artsakh genocide and persecution of Christians worldwide. The program featured remarks by the ANCA, Hellenic American Leadership Council, American Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee, American Task Force on Lebanon, international religious freedom advocate Sara Salam, among others.

Rep. Brad Sherman warns Azerbaijan “has its eyes on conquering the Republic of Armenia.” 

House Foreign Affairs Committee senior member Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), hosted the Capitol Hill press conference and called for concrete U.S. action holding President Aliyev for his ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Artsakh and warning of Azerbaijan’s plan to conquer sovereign Armenia. “Now Azerbaijan has its eyes on conquering the Republic of Armenia, whose independence we recognized in the early 1990s. Congressman Sherman noted that “the attempts by Azerbaijan to conquer Armenia, the Republic of Armenia or any portion of it is evil, and to say that America must provide aid to these people who have been ethnically cleansed.”

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ)

Rep. Frank Pallone: “I have absolutely no doubt that the goal here is to wipe, not just Artsakh off the map, but to wipe Armenia off the map.”

Congressional Armenian Caucus founding co-chair Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) noted, “Aliyev and Azerbaijan’s goal was to ethnically cleanse Artsakh. In other words, basically, get rid of all the Armenians, take their land and force them to flee, if not be killed in the process. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing unfold.”

Rep. Pallone noted, “I have absolutely no doubt that the goal here is to wipe, not just Artsakh off the map, but to wipe Armenia off the map. I mean, that’s the goal here. Anybody who thinks otherwise, in my opinion, is kidding themselves.” Rep. Pallone made it clear that Azerbaijan’s goals are “not just about Artsakh. There’s a much larger plan here that involves Armenia itself and that…we need to move full force and quickly towards protecting Armenia as well.”

Rep. Chris Smith (R-CA)

Rep. Chris Smith: “Aliyev should be at the Criminal Court for crimes against humanity which he is committing again as we meet here today.” 

Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission co-chair Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) gave powerful remarks calling out Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev, who is “unfettered in his hate towards the Armenians and is committing, as we meet here today, the second Armenian genocide. Aliyev should be at the Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, which he is committing again as we meet here today.” Rep. Smith called for the “United States to take action” and “there are very serious sanctions that could be imposed now, today, on Aliyev and all of his gang so that they can’t do business with America and they cannot get a visa, two of the main parts of that sanctioning regime. Do it! Don’t wait!”

Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA)

Rep. Jim Costa: “We support Armenia, the people of Armenia, and its territorial boundaries.” 

Central Valley California’s Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) offered powerful remarks calling on the Biden administration to “do more to assert the leadership that needs to take place to ensure that these atrocities end and that we support Armenia, the people of Armenia, and its territorial boundaries. We’re supporting the people of Ukraine and its territorial boundaries for all the right reasons. And for the same reasons, we must support the territorial boundaries for the people of Armenia.” 

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ)

Rep. Josh Gottheimer: “It’s our duty to recognize that as we speak, Armenians are being killed and displaced in Artsakh, at the hands of Azerbaijan.” 

Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) strongly emphasized that “it’s our duty to recognize that as we speak, Armenians are being killed and displaced in Artsakh, at the hands of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s horrific military offensive comes at the end of a nine-month blockade of Artsakh, which resulted in a humanitarian crisis. I know that it’s never the wrong time to bear witness and tell the truth. The United States should never be complicit in senseless murder.”

Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA)

Rep. Lou Correa: “History is being repeated today…we cannot let it happen.”

Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA), spoke on the ethnic cleansing happening in Artsakh noting that “history is being repeated today. We cannot wait. We cannot let it happen. If there’s one thing I’m going to do today is ask you, do not let this happen. Do not let us in that building wait. Take action right now, human beings can’t let history repeat itself.”

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI)

Rep. Haley Stevens calls for “sanctions in particular against the Azerbaijani officials.”

Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D-MI) called out Azerbaijan’s threat on Armenian sovereignty: “We see a refugee crisis and we see an attack on Armenia’s sovereignty. And it is wholly unacceptable. I have joined in support in calling for sanctions in particular against the Azerbaijani officials; that needs to happen.” 

Former Virginia Republican Congressman Frank Wolf

Former U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf: “Not one more penny to the Azerbaijani government.”

Former U.S. Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA), who in 1998 authored the International Religious Freedom Act, spoke on the current “ethnic cleansing of Armenians by the Azerbaijan government.” He emphasized that the Biden administration must stop supporting Aliyev and that “there is no way that this administration ought to give one more penny beginning Monday to the Azeri government until this completely stops and there’s a reverse.”

Wolf then criticized Washington, D.C. lobby groups whitewashing Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing.  “It is shocking. It is shocking that there are lobby firms in this city…that represent the Azerbaijan government. How do you represent a government that’s bringing about genocide and ethnic cleansing? Don’t you remember the history of 1915? I would say to those law firms, call the Azerbaijani government and tell them to get out and stop, or drop them as a client.” 

ANCA’s Tereza Yerimyan: “The Biden administration has armed and abetted, aided and emboldened, Azerbaijan’s oil-rich Aliyev regime that is today committing real-time genocide against Artsakh’s 120,000 indigenous Armenian Christians.” 

ANCA Government Affairs Director Tereza Yerimyan stressed that the Biden administration enabled Azerbaijan’s genocide of Armenians in Artsakh. “The record shows that the administration did not lift a finger to break Azerbaijan’s blockade. No airlift, no cutting off of military aid to Baku, no sanctions on Aliyev. A shameful abandonment of our moral and legal duty. A dangerous signal to the authoritarians of this world. And a green light for the next genocide.”

IDC’s Richard Ghazal: “Azerbaijan has been conducting a genocide against 120,000 Armenian Christians.” 

In Defense of Christians Executive Director Richard Ghazal gave powerful remarks noting, “Azerbaijan, a beneficiary of U.S. foreign aid, military assistance, has been conducting a genocide against 120,000 Armenian Christians in Nagorno-Karabakh.” He continued, “After a 10-month blockade aimed to starve Armenian civilians into submission, Azerbaijan bombed them into submission. Azerbaijan is now completing its mission to cleanse the area by expelling the 120,000 civilians.” Ghazal called for the United States to “discontinue this loophole, the presidential waiver to section 907 of the Freedom Support Act” and stop military assistance to “the brutal dictatorship” in Azerbaijan. 

HALC’s Endy Zemenides: “Recognizing the Armenian Genocide means nothing if you don’t stop the next genocide.”

Endy Zemenides, executive director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC) pointed out that the Biden administration recognizing the “Armenian Genocide means nothing” if they “don’t stop the next genocide.” He commented on USAID Administrator Samantha Power’s visit to Armenia, stating, “I’m sorry I can’t congratulate Samantha Power for being in the region, because she knew what she did wrong during the Obama administration; she left the Obama administration and apologized for not recognizing the Armenian Genocide.” Yet, today, continued Zemenides, Administrator Power “did no airlift and is now, as the ANCA has said, is ‘showing up for the funeral’ of the Christian Armenians of Artsakh.” Zemenides called for immediate sanctions on “the Aliyev family and Azerbaijan.” 

For The Martyrs’ Gia Chacon: “Genocide is underway in Armenia.”

Founder of For the Martyrs Gia Chacon described the “genocide underway in Armenia,” where “120,000 Armenian Christians are facing starvation, gross human rights violations, and being forced out of their historic land in Nagorno-Karabakh or Artsakh.” She emphasized the absence and lack of action from President Biden. “Where is the United States now as a genocide is unfolding in front of our eyes and Christian persecution is skyrocketing like never before?” asked Chacon, who urged the U.S. to “uphold the standard for international religious freedom, to intervene, to stop the genocide happening right now in Nagorno- Karabakh or Artsakh, to sanction countries that are led by dictators and terrorists and to protect Christians around the world.”