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A delegation from the United States Congress, led by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, arrived in Armenia on Saturday. The visit comes as tension with Azerbaijan threatens a new war in the region, following a series of clashes between neighboring countries this week.
Nancy Pelosi is leading a US Congressional delegation to Armenia to “highlight the United States’ strong commitment to security, economic prosperity, and democratic governance in Armenia and the region,” she wrote on Twitter.
He also said that his delegation’s visit is a show of support for House of Representatives resolution 296 of 2019, which recognizes the genocide of one and a half million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire.
The United States is the first country to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide, which took place in 1915 and 1916 and led to the mass murder of between 660,000 and 1.2 million Armenian Christians living in the Ottoman empire. The Turkish government has since denied that such a massacre took place.
Prior to her arrival in the country located in the South Caucasus, the president of the House of Representatives had assured that her visit had already been planned and that it corresponds to an invitation from that government some time ago.
On her two-day visit, Pelosi is scheduled to meet with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, other local authorities, and also plans to visit the memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
Today, I am leading a Congressional delegation to Armenia to highlight the strong commitment of the United States to security, economic prosperity, and democratic governance in Armenia and the Caucasus region.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) September 17, 2022
Coming from Berlin, the political plane landed at the airport in Yerevan, the country’s capital. Pelosi, who was attending a meeting between the presidents of parliaments of the G7 group in Berlin, said that Armenians face “human rights challenges”.
In the accompanying delegation is Senator Frank Pallone, chairman of the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce, who described the attacks by Azerbaijan as “aggression.”
Similarly, two congressmen of Armenian origin travel in the delegation, involved in the campaign for the United States to recognize the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
The situation on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan
Pelosi arrived in Armenia after that country denounced the incursion of Azerbaijani troops into its territory this week, in addition to attacks on civilian infrastructure, leaving more than 7,000 people evacuated and around 200 homes affected.
On September 13 there were clashes between the forces of the two former Soviet nations. Azerbaijan said it was responding to a “large-scale provocation” by Armenia, resulting in the death of more than 200 soldiers from both sides.
Armenian officials have said that Pelosi’s visit is expected to make a contribution towards a cessation of hostilities.
Since the latest attacks, the situation has been under control, although Yerevan fears that Azeri forces have paused their operations to regroup and attack again.
Mger Markarián, Armenian ambassador to the United Nations expressed his concern before the Security Council held on September 15, from which he assured that:
“Azerbaijan does not give up plans to expand the geography of the attacks, the ultimate goal of which is to open an extraterritorial corridor through Armenia to join Turkey and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic by land,” located on Azeri territory.
Attempts to implement a lasting peace agreement
The armed clashes between the two nations come amid preparations for the signing of a bilateral peace agreement. For more than three decades, both parties have been in conflict for control of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
On Wednesday, September 14, an agreement to stop the clashes came into force, after two days of intense fighting, which has been classified as the biggest outbreak of the last two years, but the tension continues.
The disputed territory is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but has historically been populated by ethnic Armenians.
During a six-week war in 2020, Baku recaptured a large amount of territory from Nagorno-Karabakh, which was controlled by Armenian forces.
During the fighting more than 6,700 people died. The confrontation ended with the signing of a peace agreement negotiated by Moscow.
As part of the agreement, more than 2,000 Russian soldiers were deployed to serve as peacekeepers. However, the Kremlin has assured that the violence has not stopped “not for a moment” and both parties accuse each other of provoking it.
With EFE and AP
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