WASHINGTON — The 109th commemoration of the Armenian Genocide took place on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, April 17, at the Capitol Visitors Center, in a bipartisan event in collaboration with the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, featuring special guest Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, member of the National Assembly of France elected in 2022.
While Members of Congress acknowledged the importance of US recognition of the Armenian Genocide and reflected on the watershed moment in Armenian American history, they emphasized the need for increased humanitarian assistance to the Armenian people of Artsakh and protection of Armenia’s sovereign borders.
Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) recalled Azerbaijan’s “large-scale attack” against Artsakh that caused a mass exodus of more than 100,000 from the region for fear of ethnic cleansing, and the resulting humanitarian crisis.
“Azerbaijan’s hollow promise of a ceasefire and safe return to the area have failed to materialize,” he said. “Instead what we are seeing is that Azerbaijan has unlawfully detained prisoners of war, refused to pull back its forces from Armenia’s territory, threatened new attacks, and made escalating demands on the Armenian people.”
He continued: “To Azerbaijan I say no to surrendering sovereign Armenian lands, that’s why I was proud to introduce the bipartisan Senate resolution last night that would require the Biden Administration to report Azerbaijan’s human rights practices and human rights violations, such as torture, unlawful killings, ethnic cleaning and destruction of Armenian cultural heritage.”
He stated that the US must not stay silent on Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing, and that it should refuse Azerbaijan’s demands that Armenia surrender its lands.