1Supporting Nagorno-Karabakh's right to self-determination and
2efforts to develop its democracy.

3WHEREAS, Artsakh, also known as the Republic of Nagorno-
4Karabakh, is located in the South Caucasus; and

5WHEREAS, Populated for thousands of years by an Armenian
6majority, Nagorno-Karabakh is integral to the Armenian homeland;
7and

8WHEREAS, Following the Soviet Union takeover of the Southern
9Caucasus, Joseph Stalin and the new Soviet government in Moscow
10arbitrarily, illegally and against popular will removed Nagorno-
11Karabakh from the newly established Soviet Socialist Republic of
12Armenia and placed it under Soviet Azerbaijan's administration
13as the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region; and

14WHEREAS, The people of Nagorno-Karabakh consistently
15protested their removal from Armenia despite concerted efforts,
16spanning seven decades, by Soviet Azerbaijani authorities to
17block Nagorno-Karabakh's democratic development and repression

1of free speech by the Soviet central government; and

2WHEREAS, At the first opportunity brought about by the coming
3collapse of the Soviet Union, the elected legislature
4representing the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, on February 20,
51988, adopted a resolution ending this period of abusive foreign
6rule by returning Nagorno-Karabakh to the Soviet Socialist
7Republic of Armenia; and

8WHEREAS, Assertions by the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to
9their right to democracy and self-determination were met by a
10wave of pogroms and massacres inflicted by the Soviet
11Azerbaijani government against Armenians in Azerbaijan and
12Nagorno-Karabakh; and

13WHEREAS, Additionally Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh endured a
14Soviet campaign to violently suppress the democracy movement as
15well as subsequent military aggression and blockades by the
16independent Republic of Azerbaijan; and

17WHEREAS, On September 2, 1991, in a popular expression of
18democracy and self-determination, the elected legislature of
19Nagorno-Karabakh declared the establishment of the Nagorno-
20Karabakh Republic in full compliance with existing Soviet laws
21governing secession; and

22WHEREAS, On December 10, 1991, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh
23voted overwhelmingly, in a referendum on the independence of the
24Nagorno-Karabakh Republic; and

25WHEREAS, The democratically elected legislature of the
26Nagorno-Karabakh Republic formally declared independence on
27January 6, 1992; and

28WHEREAS, In March 1992, the Conference on Security and
29Cooperation in Europe established the Minsk Group to spearhead
30diplomatic efforts to find a political solution to the Nagorno-

1Karabakh conflict, officially inviting the elected
2representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh to participate as an
3integral part of the process; and

4WHEREAS, The FREEDOM Support Act of 1992 imposed
5restrictions, subject to Presidential waiver, on United States
6assistance to the government of Azerbaijan until it takes
7demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and other offensive
8uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh; and

9WHEREAS, On May 12, 1994, the Republics of Nagorno-Karabakh,
10Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a cease-fire agreement brokered by
11the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the Kyrgyz Republic and
12the Russian Federation; and

13WHEREAS, Under this agreement Nagorno-Karabakh has not been
14part of an independent Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan has not
15exercised sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh; and

16WHEREAS, The Nagorno-Karabakh democracy movement has inspired
17peoples throughout the Former Soviet Union to stand up against
18Soviet tyranny and for the independence of USSR constituent
19republics and regions, helping to bring democracy to millions
20and contributing to the end of the threat that the Soviet Empire
21posed to world peace; and

22WHEREAS, The people of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic seek the
23fundamental rights enjoyed by Americans, namely the freedom to
24live in peace and security in their homeland under a democratic
25government of their own choosing; and

26WHEREAS, For more than two decades, the Nagorno-Karabakh
27Republic has built a democratic, free-market society which has
28held parliamentary and presidential elections, all praised by
29international monitors as free and fair; and

30WHEREAS, On December 10, 2006, the people of the Nagorno-

1Karabakh Republic, reasserting and exercising their right to
2self-determination, voted overwhelmingly in a national
3referendum to adopt the Constitution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
4Republic; and

5WHEREAS, Direct United States assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh
6has, since fiscal year 1998, represented a vital source of
7humanitarian relief and an important confidence-building measure
8in support of the ongoing peace process; and

9WHEREAS, Removing barriers to unhindered government and civil
10society contacts and communications would facilitate the free
11flow of information between the United States and the Nagorno-
12Karabakh Republic; and

13WHEREAS, Despite the support of the United States and the
14international community for peaceful negotiations, Azerbaijan's
15leaders continue to destabilize the region and undermine the
16prospects of negotiated peace through open threats of renewed
17aggression, a dramatic arms buildup, public incitements and
18regular cease-fire violations; and

19WHEREAS, In December 2005, in an act of desecration clearly
20documented on videotape and condemned by the United States and
21the international community, approximately 200 Azerbaijani
22soldiers systematically demolished thousands of intricately
23carved Armenian Christian stone crosses and gravestones in the
24medieval Armenian cemetery in Djulfa, an Azerbaijan exclave of
25Nakhichevan; and

26WHEREAS, Nagorno-Karabakh remains committed to independent
27development and constructive involvement in the international
28community despite this public statement from the Azerbaijan
29President in February 2012: "First, our main enemies are
30Armenians of the world"; and

1WHEREAS, The House of Representatives recognizes the Nagorno-
2Karabakh Republic as a responsible partner in the search for a
3fair and lasting regional peace; therefore be it

4RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize the
5important efforts of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh for self-
6determination and the democratic independence of Nagorno-
7Karabakh and its constructive involvement with the international
8community's efforts to reach a just and lasting solution to
9security issues in that strategically important region; and be
10it further

11RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
12the President of the United States, the United States Department
13of State and to each member of Congress from Pennsylvania.