[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 71 (Thursday, May 17, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              IN SUPPORT OF THE PEOPLE OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES R. LANGEVIN

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 17, 2012

  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to 
remember and support the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.
  It is first worth highlighting the history at work in this tragic 
situation. Historically, the majority of the population in Nagorno-
Karabakh has been Armenian, and the people have always had close 
ethnic, religious, and familial ties with Armenia. However, in 1921, 
Joseph Stalin, then the commissar for nationality affairs in the 
Transcaucasia Bureau of the Communist Party, declared Nagorno-Karabakh 
to be an autonomous region controlled by Azerbaijan as part of his 
strategy to divide and rule.
  In 1987, as the Soviet Union teetered on the edge of dissolution, the 
Karabakh Armenians petitioned for the inclusion of Nagorno-Karabakh in 
the state of Armenia. In 1991, they petitioned for independent state 
status. Sadly, the situation remains unresolved.
  After the Soviet Union dissolved, Armenians in Azerbaijan and 
Nagorno-Karabakh endured great hardship, including horrific violence in 
Sumgait (February 1998), in Kirovabad (November 1988) and in Baku 
(January 1990). These pogroms were only part of a pattern of anti-
Armenian activities occurring throughout Azerbaijan, and thousands of 
people lost their lives and hundreds of thousands of Armenians were 
displaced as a result. Such targeted violence is as deplorable today as 
it was two decades ago--yet, tragically, the region is no closer to 
peace. A cease-fire agreement, brokered in 1994, remains in place, but 
continued incendiary actions and statements threaten to destabilize 
peace talks. In January 2008, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev warned 
Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, ``We are reinforcing our army 
because we must be ready to free our lands . . . at any moment and by 
any means.'' Such rhetoric can only be poison to the peace process.
  U.S. policy toward the South Caucasus states has included promoting 
the resolution of the conflict surrounding the independent Republic of 
Nagorno-Karabakh. It is more important than ever that the United States 
maintain a principled stand for peace in this region, show that 
democracy can be born from conflict, and support Nagorno-Karabakh. It 
is my sincerest hope that Nagorno-Karabakh's right to self-
determination can be affirmed without further loss of life.

                          ____________________