U.S. Congress condemns Azerbaijan`s ethnic cleansing in Artsakh and  aggression against Armenia

ArmInfo. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin condemned Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and its ongoing aggression against Armenia  during a Helsinki Commission hearing titled "Supporting Armenia's  Democracy and Western Future". This is reported by the Armenian  National Committee of America (ANCA). 

It is noted that three expert witnesses were invited to participate  in the hearings: former U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Dan Baer, former  International Crisis Group South Caucasus Analyst Olesya Vardanyan,  and President of the Yerevan-based Regional Center for Security and  Democracy Tigran Grigoryan.  Reflecting on a recent Helsinki  Commission delegation visit to Armenia, Commission Chairman Cardin  noted that in addition to having perpetrated ethnic cleansing in  Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan also seeking to through its continued encroachment  into Armenia's sovereign territory. 

At the same time, Cardin noted the inequitable terms of the ongoing  peace process between Yerevan and Baku and its failure to resolve  border issues.  According to the invited experts, Azerbaijan's  assault on Nagorno-Karabakh and incursions into sovereign Armenian  territory is an immediate threat to Armenia's security. They  mentioned Azerbaijan's consolidation of its military presence in  Armenian territories and Armenia's vulnerability to further military  escalation by Azerbaijan. They also noted that Azerbaijan is trying  to delay and derail negotiations by conditioning new demands on  Armenia, such as changing its Constitution.  Referring to the  discussion on Capitol Hill, Aram Hamparian, executive director of  Washington, D.C., noted that Congress can act where the  administration has so clearly failed. According to him, the U.S.  legislative body can do so by enacting legislation to hold Azerbaijan  accountable for its aggression, imposing sanctions on Azerbaijani war  criminals, drastically increasing humanitarian assistance to Armenia,  and advocating for a just, durable and dignified peace that ensures  the release of illegally detained Armenian prisoners of war and  guarantee the right of return for Artsakh Armenians.