By Nora Hovsepian, esq. and Steve Mesrobian
Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev fears accountability. He wants to keep killing Armenians, inciting hatred, and
playing to the most hateful anti-Armenian elements of his own population. At
home, he wants to continue crushing dissent, jailing the opposition, and
shutting down the free press. But, like so many bullies, he’s a coward at heart
– one that wants, at all costs, to avoid having to take any responsibility for
his actions.
The bad news is that until now, enriched by Caspian Sea
oil, he’s gotten away with it.
It’s time for that to stop.
Aliyev needs to be held responsible. It’s time for the
United States and our international partners to abandon our policy of false
parity, a failed approach that answers every Azerbaijani military escalation
against Artsakh and Armenia with a only a generic call on all parties to
refrain from new attacks. That’s worse than weak. It’s surefire a recipe for
more violence.
The good news is that the bipartisan leadership of the
U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee gets it.
Chairman Ed Royce and Ranking Member Eliot Engel are
working hard for peace. In pursuit of a non-violent resolution, they are
collecting the signatures of their House colleagues on the Royce-Engel letter.
This direct appeal to the Obama Administration demands accountability, calls
for an end to artificial evenhandedness, and offers a constructive alternative:
An accountability-based approach to peacekeeping that calls out and confronts
the actual perpetrator of violence.
In support of this responsibility-oriented approach,
Representatives Royce and Engel propose three specific steps. The first two
reflect longstanding calls by the international community to withdraw snipers
and add more observers. Both of these initiatives are backed by Armenian and
Artsakh, but, to no one’s surprise, their implementation is blocked
byAzerbaijan.
Their third proposal – the internationally mandated
deployment of gunfire-locator systems – is also welcomed by the Armenian side,
as a practical investigative mechanism to identify the source of sniper, small
arms, and artillery fire. Relatively easy and inexpensive to deploy, this
equipment, which would be arrayed along the line of contact, can provide
observers with reliable data within just seconds. Similar technology is being
used inAfghanistan,Ukraine, and even in major cities across theUnited States.
Given the nature of military challenges along the front lines, however, such
gear, to be effective, would need to be installed and kept safe with the
support of the international community and the agreement of all parties. Azerbaijani
president Ilham Aliyev is so very fearful of this technology precisely because
it will offer proof of his culpability. And it’s because he is so afraid of
being held accountable for his actions that he has blocked the deployment of
life-saving technology.
Armenia and Artsakh stand on the side of peace. They want
an agreement on the non-deployment of snipers. They want more OSCE observers on
the ground. And they want to leverage technology to save lives, avert war, and
pave the way to a just and enduring peace. It is Azerbaijan, lead by Ilham
Aliyev, that is threatening war, filling its arsenals, and escalating
aggression – at the cost of lives on both sides.
It is time for America, the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, and the entire international community to confront
Aliyev’s aggression and put in place common-sense peace-keeping measure to
checkAzerbaijan’s reckless march toward war.
Please encourage your Members of the U.S. House of
Representatives to support peace by co-signing the Royce-Engel letter. Write or
call today:
Write or call.
Nora Hovsepian, Esq. is the chairwoman of the ANCA-WR;
Steve Mesrobian is the chairman of the ANCA-ER
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