Stevens Calls for Cease-Fire in Nagorno-Karabakh

WASHINGTON — As violence between Azerbaijan and Armenia continues, Congresswoman Haley Stevens (MI-11) co-sponsored a bipartisan resolution condemning Azerbaijan’s ongoing military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh, denouncing Turkey’s escalation of the conflict, and calling for an immediate return to the cease-fire agreement signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 1994.

In addition to condemning “Azerbaijan's continued aggressive military operations,” the resolution also “reaffirms U.S. support of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group efforts to secure an agreement from Azerbaijan to cease offensive military operations against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia and to accept independent third-party monitoring along the line of contact.”

Earlier this month, Congresswoman Stevens also joined a bipartisan group of 46 Members of Congress in a letter to Secretary of State Michael Pompeoexpressing concern with the escalating conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.  

The Members noted that Azerbaijan’s attack on Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) has cost the lives of civilians and soldiers on both sides and raised the danger of a broader regional conflict particularly due to Turkey’s involvement. The letter also asks that the State Department take specific steps to deescalate the conflict and encourage all sides to reengage in a diplomatic process to peacefully and democratically resolve the longstanding conflict.

“We write to express our deep concern with Azerbaijan’s renewed aggression against Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and the rising possibility of a wider conflict with Armenia. We ask that the Administration use all available diplomatic tools to reduce tensions, end the fighting, and restrain Azerbaijan from further offensive actions,” the lawmakers wrote. “In our view, this new round of fighting represents further evidence that the U.S. policy of equivalence between Armenia and Azerbaijan has failed. For far too long, the United States and other members of the Minsk Group have drawn a false equivalence between Armenia and Azerbaijan, even as the latter threatens war and refuses to agree to monitoring along the line of contact.”

A copy of the letter is available here.

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