Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., is calling on the Biden administration to act and speak out against what experts say is a genocide unfolding against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Democratic strategist James Carville reacted to a CNN poll Thursday, telling the audience that President Biden’s poll numbers 'are not great.'Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., has sent a letter to the Biden White House imploring it to speak out against genocide against Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and clarify that the U.
S. will not"compromise" with Azerbaijan in the conflict. "In light of the compelling and urgent testimony provided, I respectfully urge you to immediately clarify that thedoes not tolerate, facilitate, or participate, in negotiations over genocide, and to publicly inform Azerbaijan that unless it immediately lifts its blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, the U.S. will take action through the United Nations to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court for investigation and prosecution," Smith wrote to President Biden in a Thursday letter.was from Luis Moreno Ocampo, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who testified in front of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, which Smith co-chairs, on Thursday. Ocampo told the commission"there is a reasonable basis to believe that Azerbaijan's blockade of the Lachin Corridor constitutes genocide" and that Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev,"voluntarily, knowingly, and willingly created conditions calculated to destroy 120,000 Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh." President Biden speaks at a Democratic National Committee event in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 2, 2022. In his letter, Smith expressed concern that Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently said there is a"need for a dialogue and compromise and the importance of building confidence between the parties." "Mr. President, there is little doubt that this humanitarian crisis was planned, tested, and imposed by President Ilham Aliyev, who rules Azerbaijan as a dictator. His record of human rights abuses is decades in the making as I met with him in Baku in 2013 and 2014 arguing then about both his mistreatment and jailing of Azerbaijani human rights activists and abusive treatment of Armenian Christians," Smith wrote. He continued,"Thus by encouraging ‘compromise,’ the Secretary appears to facilitate Azerbaijan’s use of genocide as a negotiating tactic. Negotiation may be needed to solve the differences between Azerbaijan and the Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, but genocide is an abuse impossible to ignore." Nagorno-Karabakh is a region within Azerbaijan that came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian military in separatist fighting that ended in 1994. Armenian forces also took control of substantial territory around the region.Azerbaijan regained control of the surrounding territory in a six-week war with Armenia in 2020. A Russia-brokered armistice that ended the war left the region’s capital, Stepanakert, connected to Armenia only by a road known as the Lachin Corridor, along which Russian peacekeeping forces were supposed to ensure free movement. However, over the past nine months, the road has been blockaded by Azerbaijani forces in what they say is a move to prevent"arms smuggling." Armenia says the blockade of the"Lachin corridor," known as"the road of life" by ethnic Armenians in Karabakh, has caused acute shortages of food, medicines and other essentials.evacuate people to Armenia for medical treatment and that its own information shows there is no shortage of basic food staples, but it has not allowed food and other supplies in for some time. Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey, speaks during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. "The Biden Administration must wake up, recognize the absolutely grave responsibility it has here, and focus on finding and implementing a humane solution," Smith said in a ."And this must mean that the blockade is lifted and the people continue to live in their ancient homeland — and not be subject to violence and threats. This situation is now a three-alarm fire."
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