United States Congressman Adam Schiff has drafted a letter condemning the recent statements of the United States Department of State’s senior advisor for Caucasus negotiations. Louis Bono had declared during a visit to the region on March 8 that it is “not the time for sanctions.”
The Armenian National Committee of America reports that Adam Schiff is collecting signatures for a letter to the United States House of Representatives. The letter’s authors and the Armenian National Committee consider it condemnable that a United States official has ruled out sanctions against Azerbaijan, which has been keeping 120,000 Armenians under blockade in Artsakh for three months. According to the Armenian National Committee of America’s executive director, Aram Hamparian, such a statement by a United States diplomat confirms that the administration of the country’s president, Joe Biden, is not taking clear action against Azerbaijan, and Ilham Aliyev can continue his anti-Armenian actions.
In the letter initiated by Schiff, it is specifically stated: “We are deeply concerned by your comments during your trip, which rule out the application of economic and diplomatic sanctions against Azerbaijan in response to their blatant attack. It has been reported that you stated that ‘it is not the time for sanctions… it is not even at the stage of discussion at this point.’ While 120,000 innocent people are being deprived of their basic rights for a third month due to the blockade in Nagorno-Karabakh, which the International Court of Justice (World Court) has ordered Azerbaijan to stop, now is not the time to rule out any tool.”
The letter also notes that the United States, the President of the United States, the United States Department of State, and the entire administration must use all tools at their disposal to ensure the security of the people of Artsakh, including cutting off financial support to Azerbaijan and imposing sanctions against that country.
