Assembly welcomes joint Declaration signed by Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian Assembly of America welcomed the joint Declaration signed by Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia and said that any decision on the problem should be admissible for the people of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.



The Assembly commended RA President Serzh Sargsyan and his Administration for securing a public, legal commitment from Azerbaijan to adhere to the OSCE process, said Hirair Hovnanian, Assembly Chairman of the Board of Trustees.



The Assembly also recalls the support of the United States for the fundamental rights and the aspirations of the people of Nagorno Karabakh and for a peaceful and fair settlement as evidenced by passage of S.J.Res. 178 in the U.S. Senate, as well as, other statements and actions taken by the U.S. Congress over the last 20 years, including passage of Assembly-initiated Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which restricted assistance to Azerbaijan until it ceased its hostile and offensive actions, as well as humanitarian assistance to help the people of Artsakh rebuild after the devastating effects of the war that was thrust upon them by Azerbaijan. In addition, to help facilitate the peace process, the U.S. Congress consistently allocated funds for confidence building measures (CBMs) among the parties, which were routinely rejected by Azerbaijan. Instead of pursuing CBMs, the Azerbaijani military desecrated a centuries old Armenian cemetery in Julfa. The Christian cemetery dated back to medieval times and was filled with scores of historic stone monuments engraved with ancient crosses of historic Armenian design.