Kamala Harris has had full year to act on Artsakh’s right to return – ANCA

Democratic Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris expressed support for the “right for Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh to return safely to their homes,” in a campaign statement issued on September 23, 2024, marking Armenian Independence Day, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) reported.

ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian responded to Kamala Harris’s statement.

“As Vice President, Kamala Harris has had a full year to act on Artsakh’s right to return – via a US-led resolution at the UN Security Council – yet she has only started talking (to Armenian Americans, not UN member states) about this right 40 days before an election in which Armenian voters across key swing states may prove decisive,” Aram Hamparian said.

“Notably, Vice President Harris – whose Administration armed Azerbaijan’s genocidal blockade and attack on Artsakh – did not lift a finger or even raise her voice against Azerbaijan’s 2023 aggression. Even at the level of campaign rhetoric, she has not said a word about cutting US military arms and aid to Azerbaijan, or otherwise holding Baku accountable for its crimes. Politicians – presidential or otherwise – cannot posture as friends of Armenians while simultaneously refusing to hold Aliyev to account or failing to deter renewed Azerbaijani aggression.”

Armenian Americans are set to play a pivotal role in the 2024 presidential election in key swing states, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Earlier this year, the ANCA gave an “F” rating to both the Trump and Biden Administrations for aiding and abetting Azerbaijan and Turkey’s aggression against Armenia and Artsakh, leading to the genocidal ethnic cleansing of Artsakh’s Armenian population and the ongoing Azerbaijani occupation of sovereign Armenian territory. The ANCA offered recommendations to the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees to take concrete action to address Armenian American concerns.