ANCA urges Clinton to condemn Azeri attack into Armenia

 June 5, 2012 - 17:58 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - On June 4, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) dispatched an urgent letter urging U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to forcefully condemn a fatal Azerbaijani attack into the Tavush region of Armenia, a brazen assault launched by Baku to coincide with her arrival for a three day visit to the Caucasus.

The attack, which occurred near the Berdavan and Chinari villages of Tavush, represents the most recent in an escalating series of Azerbaijani assaults on both Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. The Armenian Ministry of Defense has reported that three Armenian soldiers were killed and another five wounded in the attack.

“Azerbaijan’s aggression, on the very day of your arrival in the Caucasus, represents, in addition, of course, to a painful human tragedy for those young men who were killed and injured, a brazen attack upon the prospects for a fair and lasting peace in this region,” said ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian in his letter to Secretary Clinton. “It is long past time that the Obama Administration abandon its practice of artificial equivalence - a failed policy whose only response to Azerbaijani aggression and threats of renewed war has been to issue generically-formulated and transparently toothless calls on all parties to refrain from violence.”