The Chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce (R-CA), joined with fellow members of the Congressional Armenian Caucus and the visiting Minister of Youth and Culture from the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, Narine Aghabalyan, in a bipartisan Capitol Hill celebration on Wednesday marking the 25th anniversary of the Artsakh democracy and freedom movement.
The event, hosted by the Congressional Armenian Caucus in the historic Cannon Building, featured a keynote address by Minister Aghabalyan, remarks by Chairman Royce, comments by the two Co-Chairman of the Armenian Caucus, Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Michael Grimm (R-NY), a moving speech by Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA), and messages by Congresswomen Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Jackie Speier (D-CA). Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) welcomed Minister Aghabalyan to the event, and participated in the evening’s celebration. Staff representing over two dozen Congressional offices also participated.
In her remarks, Minister Aghabalyan explained that: “The Nagorno Karabakh Republic is a legal state, which was created through the free expression of the democratic will of the people of Karabakh, and it is, in fact, the non-recognition of this state that contradicts international laws and norms. Our unrecognized status prevents the full realization of the rights of the people who live in Artsakh. It is appropriate to cite the words of the third President of the United States, an outstanding public figure, Thomas Jefferson: ‘Everything is changeable in the world except the natural rights of people.”
Rep. Grimm, the newly announced Republican Co-Chairman of the Armenian Caucus, reflected on the growing international support for Karabakh’s independence.
Chairman Royce and Representative Schiff both reminded attendees about Azerbaijan’s pardon, praise, promotion of convicted axe-murderer Ramil Safarov, who killed Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan in his sleep during a NATO Partnership for Peace English-language training program in Hungary.
Condemning the Safarov scandal, Chairman Royce noted, “You can only have peace when you have sincerity of intent on both sides. And what we are asking is that there be a reflection on the actions that Azerbaijan took to elevate, and commemorate and celebrate the murder of another human being by an axe-murderer.”
