Bob Menendez: Azerbaijan’s blockade of Artsakh bears hallmarks of genocide

Chair of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Bob Menendez has warned US lawmakers that Azerbaijan’s blockade of Artsakh has all the hallmarks of genocide.

“The Aliyev government in Azerbaijan is carrying out a campaign of heinous atrocities that bear the hallmarks of genocide against the Armenians in Artsakh. They have purposely and viciously trapped an estimated one hundred thousand to one hundred and twenty thousand Christian Armenians in the Karabakh mountains. There is only one road out connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia for people, food, medicine and basic supplies. And Azerbaijanis have blocked it since December of last year,” Menendez said.

The senator has presented photos of the first victim of the famine in Artsakh and has once again stressed that the Azerbaijani regime is committing genocide against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.

He has also called for sanctions against the Aliyev regime for its war crimes and ethnic cleansing.

“To the men organizing and carrying out this brutal campaign, we will hold you accountable for your crimes, even if it takes a lifetime – you will pay a price, you will face justice – and I certainly will not rest until you do so,” Menendez said.