[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 145 (Wednesday, September 18, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E920]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    COMMEMORATING THE ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE ATTACK ON ARTSAKH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 18, 2024

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, this week marks the one-year anniversary of 
Azerbaijan's military assault on the Republic of Artsakh, which began 
on September 19, 2023, following its long-term blockade of the Lachin 
Corridor. Their unjustified use of military force resulted in the 
surrender of the Artsakh government and the unprecedented expulsion of 
over 100,000 residents from their ancestral homes.
  Despite promises and assurances that there would be no such attack, 
Azerbaijan used the language of ``anti-terrorist operations'' to 
justify its military assault on the peaceful inhabitants of Artsakh. 
Yet, Azerbaijan's blockade of the region since December 12, 2022 
provided a clear warning of what was to come. When Azerbaijan's 
military forces closed the Lachin Corridor, the narrow strip of 
traversable land between Artsakh and Armenia, the United Nations and 
U.S. officials called on the Azerbaijani government to lift the 
blockade, which had caused a massive region-wide humanitarian crisis. 
Azerbaijan refused and the blockade remained in place until September 
2023 when Azerbaijan's military commenced its assault. By then, the 
blockade had already crippled Artsakh due to the lack of essential 
goods and services, including food and fuel. The blockade was so 
devastating in its isolation of Artsakh that its inhabitants suffered 
from severe malnutrition, including a fourfold increase in the number 
of recorded miscarriages compared to the previous year. The blockade 
created such a humanitarian crisis that the International Association 
of Genocide Scholars warned of the risk of genocide against the 
Armenian population in the region.
  Then came the military assault. After more than nine months of the 
blockade, Azerbaijan launched a military offensive on September 19, 
2023. The following day, the government of Artsakh was forced to 
surrender to the invading force. Azerbaijan took many of the senior 
political leadership of the government of Artsakh as prisoners and 
continues to hold eight high-ranking officials of the former Republic 
of Artsakh, as well as several other officials and civilians. In 
November 2023, I introduced House Resolution 861, which calls on 
Azerbaijan to immediately comply with international commitments 
regarding the release and treatment of prisoners of war, hostages, and 
other detained persons. Yet, one year after its military assault, 
Azerbaijan continues to illegally hold the officials and civilians from 
Artsakh.
  Additionally, since Azerbaijan's occupation of Artsakh, the risk of 
the intentional destruction of Armenian cultural heritage has only 
grown. There are nearly 500 Armenian cultural heritage sites in Artsakh 
and the surrounding region that have significant value to not only the 
global Armenian community, but also to the entire world. Yet, 
Azerbaijan has now embarked on a campaign to destroy these sites and 
erase Armenian heritage. To prevent the further destruction of these 
Armenian cultural heritage sites, I wrote a letter, co-signed by a 
bipartisan group of 47 fellow Members of the House of Representatives, 
to urge Secretary of State Antony Blinken to prioritize this issue in 
bilateral meetings with officials from the government of Azerbaijan.
  However, the inescapable tragedy in this sad story is one of human 
suffering. The tragedy of Azerbaijan's actions one year ago can be 
measured in the lives that were inexplicably disrupted--over 100,000 
residents who were forcibly displaced from their homes only to become 
refugees in neighboring Armenia. These displaced persons had homes, 
jobs, farms, businesses--full lives--in Artsakh. They had the ability 
to generate a revenue and to live with dignity in their ancestral 
homeland. Through no fault of their own, the Azerbaijani attack 
disrupted their lives, forcing them to flee to Armenia and seek shelter 
as refugees.
  The government of Armenia has compassionately and courageously 
provided assistance to the refugees from Artsakh from a sense of moral 
duty and obligation to international norms. However, the responsibility 
to shoulder the costs incurred from the displacement of nearly every 
resident of Artsakh should fall on the government of Azerbaijan. This 
liability must include payments for the lost revenue that the residents 
of Artsakh would have generated had the attack and the subsequent 
displacement not occurred. To address this tragic situation, I 
introduced the Artsakh Revenue Recovery Act, a bill that not only 
places the liability for lost revenue on the government of Azerbaijan, 
but also establishes a mechanism by which those who lost the ability to 
generate revenue could receive compensation, even if the government of 
Azerbaijan refuses to do so. This mechanism involves the seizure of 
Azerbaijan's sovereign assets in the United States, and then 
transferring those assets to the Artsakh Revenue Recovery Fund. The 
Fund will compensate the lost revenue of those who were displaced from 
Artsakh until Azerbaijan decides to accept the responsibility for 
paying compensation to these victims. The compensation is for the lost 
revenue from jobs and property in Artsakh and does not impact the 
ownership status of any property. The original property owners will 
continue to have the right to return to their property.
  Azerbaijan must accept responsibility for the enormous humanitarian 
crisis that its blockade and military assault on Artsakh created. It 
must release the hostages and prisoners and commit to the preservation 
of Armenian cultural heritage. It must assure those who have property 
in Artsakh the ability to return to their ancestral home and to rebuild 
their lives and ease the suffering of refugees now. Azerbaijan must 
accept the responsibility to compensate lost revenue of those who left 
Artsakh. This compensation cannot fully address the disruption to 
lives. But, it is an important start to address the current suffering 
of those who lost so much.
  On the one-year anniversary of Azerbaijan's assault on Artsakh, we 
remember the broken promises, the human suffering, and the continued 
tragedy that has fallen on those who were displaced from Artsakh. We 
stand with those who were forcibly displaced from Artsakh. We stand for 
justice.

                          ____________________