Congressman Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that urges the Biden administration to strengthen ties between Armenia and the United States. 

The lawmakers also urged the Biden administration to hold Azerbaijan and Turkey accountable for past aggressions, officials said.

“The United States cannot allow Russia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan to solely dictate and dominate the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh,” the letter reads. “While we have seen some re-engagement in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group process, we believe more must be done to pursue an enduring settlement based on the fundamental right to self-determination.” 

In the letter, Garcia and other representatives requested that the Biden administration help ensure lasting peace in the region and not allow Russia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan to dictate the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“In negotiations, our diplomats must insist that any future settlement supported by the United States will provide the people of Artsakh with the ability to reconstruct their communities and rebuild their lives without fear of further bloodshed,” the lawmakers wrote. 

Click here to read the full letter.

The letter was prompted in large part by the growing tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh. 

The territory is internationally recognized as Azerbaijan, but is claimed and governed by ethnic Armenians. 

Tensions between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey have existed since the beginning of the 20th century, when Turkish members of Ottoman Empire killed over one million Armenians during World War I.

Despite the expansive historical documentation of what has now come to be known as the Armenian Genocide, Turkey has never officially recognized it.

From the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1920 until 1991, both Armenia and Azerbaijan were constituent states under the Soviet Union. After the fall of the USSR, the Nagorno-Karabakh War erupted, leaving 30,000 dead and hundreds of thousands more refugees. 

See Related: ‘Santa Clarita For Artsakh’ Demonstration Calls For Peace In Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict

Three years later in 1994, a ceasefire ended the war, but no settlement on the disputed territory was agreed upon. This led to decades of tension, but little violence until the 2016 Four-Day War. Azerbaijan and Turkey remained close allies since its independence from the USSR in the early 1990’s.

Another ceasefire was signed in 2016, which lasted until the recent outbreak in violence which started in September of 2020.

A large protest was held in Valencia back in October of 2020, which Garcia attended, joining worldwide protests at the time which drew thousands of people out in support for the Armenian people.

 “We’re trying to raise awareness,” said Seda Abajian, who organized the event. “Armenia is being bombed by Azerbaijan and Turkey. They’re trying to repeat the genocide that was done in 1915, they’re trying to erase us.”

Garcia had previously joined members of the Armenian National Committee of America to send a letter to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2020 expressing “deep concern with Azerbaijan’s recent use of force against Armenia.”

“A peaceful resolution for Armenian sovereignty and stability must be reached to prevent further deaths of innocent civilians, and I stand firmly with innocent Armenian citizens who are the victims of this aggression,” Garcia wrote in a statement at the time.

In the letter, the Armenian Caucus called upon the State Department to take the following steps:

1. Clearly and unequivocally condemn Azerbaijan’s unprovoked aggression, and make clear that if they do not exercise restraint it will call into question the continuance of U.S. assistance.
2. Work with the OSCE Minsk Group to call upon the Aliyev government to cease all offensive uses of force against both Artsakh and Armenia, and to commit to a purely peaceful resolution of status and security issues related to Artsakh.
3. Work with the Minsk Group to press Azerbaijan to accept international monitoring along the line of contact, as called for in the Royce-Engel proposals.
4. Engage at a senior level with Turkey to make clear that the encouragement of Azerbaijan’s recent actions is detrimental to the cause of peace and regional stability.

“We ask that the Administration use all available diplomatic tools to reduce tensions, end the fighting, and restrain Azerbaijan from further offensive actions,” the letter reads. “In our view, this new round of fighting represents further evidence that the U.S. policy of equivalence between Armenia and Azerbaijan has failed.”

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