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Congressional Letter Calls for Removal of Snipers, Additional Observers, Investigative Mechanisms Along Karabakh-Azerbaijan Border
By Taniel Koushakjian
Florida Armenians Managing Editor
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY) are circulating a bipartisan letter asking their Congressional colleagues to support renewed U.S. leadership in the South Caucasus.
The two senior legislators are currently collecting signatures on a letter addressed to Ambassador James Warlick, U.S. representative to the OSCE’s Minsk Group which is responsible for mediating a resolution of the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh. The Royce-Engel letter specifically calls for the U.S. and OSCE to abandon the failed policy of false parity in responding to acts of aggression, noting that: “The longstanding U.S. and OSCE practice of responding to each new attack with generic calls upon all parties to refrain from violence has failed to de-escalate the situation. Instead, this policy of artificial evenhandedness has dangerously increased tensions. There will be no peace absent responsibility.”
The legislators propose three concrete steps that would, “in the short-term, save lives and help to avert war. Over the longer term,” the letter says, “these steps could contribute to a comprehensive and enduring peace for all the citizens of the region:”
Specifically, the Royce-Engel letter calls for:
- An agreement from all sides not to deploy snipers along the line of contact;
- The placement of OSCE-monitored, advanced gunfire-locator systems and sound-ranging equipment to determine the source of attacks along the line of contact; and
- The deployment of additional OSCE observers along the line of contact to better monitor cease-fire violations.
According to sources familiar with the negotiations, the governments of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh have both pledged their support for these confidence-building measures, while Azerbaijan has repeatedly opposed them.
Click on the image to send an email to your Representative urging them to sign the Royce-Engel letter.
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Thirty-five members of Congress have signed the Royce-Engel letter to Ambassador Warlick, including Armenian Caucus Vice-Chair Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL). In addition to the House Foreign Affairs Committee leadership, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA) are also supportive.
In fact, Congressman Schiff wrote a separate letter to Ambassador Warlick last week warning that “unwillingness to speak plainly about the aggressor in this conflict sends the message to Azerbaijan that it can act with impunity.” “I do not believe the cause of peace is served by ignoring Azerbaijan’s increasing belligerence and the suggestion that both parties are equally to blame for violence along the Line of Contact when that is not the case,” Schiff’s letter states.
TEXT OF THE ROYCE-ENGEL LETTER TO AMBASSADOR WARLICK:
The Honorable James Warlick
U.S. Co-Chair
OSCE Minsk Group
Dear Ambassador Warlick:
We are writing out of concern over the escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, resulting in deaths on both sides of the conflict. It is our hope that the United States, through its role in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group, as well as through direct diplomacy with both Armenia and Azerbaijan, will immediately advocate for several steps to promote peace in the region.
We believe that securing the full and public support of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Nagorno-Karabakh for the following steps would, in the short-term, save lives and help to avert war. Over the longer term, these steps could contribute to a comprehensive and enduring peace for all the citizens of the region.
- An agreement from all sides not to deploy snipers along the line of contact.
- The placement of OSCE-monitored, advanced gunfire-locator systems and sound-ranging equipment to determine the source of attacks along the line of contact.
- The deployment of additional OSCE observers along the line of contact to better monitor cease-fire violations.
We also urge you to publicly condemn specific acts of aggression along the line of contact. The longstanding U.S. and OSCE practice of responding to each new attack with generic calls upon all parties to refrain from violence has failed to de-escalate the situation. Instead, this policy of artificial evenhandedness has dangerously increased tensions. There will be no peace absent responsibility.
Thank you for your consideration of these recommendations. We continue to support your efforts to reach a durable and just resolution to this conflict and look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Ed Royce (R-CA); Eliot Engel (D-NY); Gus Bilirakis (R-FL); Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-GU0); Dave Brat (R-VA); Tony Cárdenas (D-CA); Judy Chu (D-CA); David N. Cicilline (D-RI); Katherine Clark (D-MA); Jim Costa (D-CA); Jeff Denham (R-CA); Robert J. Dold (R-IL); Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA); Scott Garrett (R-NJ); Richard L. Hanna (R-NY); Joe Heck (R-NV); Jim Langevin (D-RI); Dan Lipinski (D-IL); Zoe Lofgren (D-CA); James P. McGovern (D-MA); Grace Napolitano (D-CA); Devin Nunes (R-CA); Frank Pallone (D-NJ); Mike Quigley (D-IL); Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA); Peter Roskam (R-IL); Linda T. Sanchez (D-CA); Loretta Sanchez (D-CA); John P. Sarbanes (D-MD); Adam Schiff (D-CA); Brad Sherman (D-CA); Jackie Speier (D-CA); Dina Titus (D-NV); Dave Trott (R-MI); David G. Valado (R-CA); Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Peter Welch (D-VT)
South Florida Armenian Students Participate in Summer Internships
By Taniel Koushakjian
FLArmenians Managing Editor
Instead of taking the summer off, five South Florida Armenian students are working in a variety of industries to advance their careers. From finance to international relations to law, Florida’s Armenian American youth are growing fast and branching out across America.
Mariam Grigoryan
Mariam Grigoryan, a Boca Raton native and senior at the University of Florida (UF), is currently a legal intern in the Broward County Public Defender office in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Under the director of Public Defender Howard Finkelstein Grigoryan’s work will focus on indigent defense. Grigoryan looks to graduate with a double major in Political Science and Criminology, as well as a minor in Business Administration. She plans to attend law school in the fall of 2015.
Gevork Sarkisian
Boca Raton resident and Queens, New York native, Gevork Sarkisian, is also pursuing his career in the legal field. A second year law student at Nova Southeastern University (NSU), Sarkisian is currently interning with the law firm Kanner and Pintaluga, P.A. in Delray Beach, Florida. Sarkisian received his B.A. in Criminal Justice from Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Following his internship, Sarkisian plans to visit Washington, DC to “explore new opportunities in the legal field,” he said.
Carine Kazandjian
Palm Beach County native Carine Kazandjian, a communications major and commercial music minor at FAU, is spending her summer interning with Clear Channel Media and Entertainment Company in West Palm Beach, Florida. The FAU junior has a passion for music and has even released a few songs of her own, available on ITunes. “I am gaining so much knowledge working with the different departments whether it is radio or promotions. The music industry is mainly what I want my future in and this internship is giving me the opportunity to learn more and more each day,” Kazandjian said.
Meanwhile, her twin sister, Sarine Kazandjian, is currently interning at Morgan Stanley’s Palm Beach Gardens office. A finance major with a minor focus in entrepreneurship, Kazandjian is a junior at the University of Florida.
Florida International University (FIU) junior Gevorg Shahbazyan is currently an intern in the office of the Nagorno Karabakh Representative in Washington, DC as a participant in the Armenian Assembly of America’s Terjenian-Thomas Summer Internship Program, the first student internship program offered by an Armenian organization in America. Recently, Shabazyan worked with his fellow students and FIU faculty to have the flags of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh raised in the school’s atrium. Hailing from Yerevan, Armenia, Shahbazyan studies international relations and hopes to continue his studies in graduate school and someday be a diplomat.
Gevorg Shahbazyan with Nagorno Karabakh Representative Robert Avetisyan
These young, bright, rising stars of the South Florida Armenian American community are sure to impress their friends and colleagues, while representing our community proudly in all their endeavors.
Florida Armenians 