Honorable Marco Rubio

The Honorable Marco Rubio
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520

Dear Secretary Rubio,

On behalf of the members of the Azerbaijan Society of America (ASA), I would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations on your appointment as the Secretary of State. Our mission is to raise awareness about the issues that matter most to the Azerbaijani diaspora, and we are committed to working with policymakers in the US government to ensure these matters receive the attention they deserve.

One central issue is the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan, recently restored by the brave soldiers and leadership of Azerbaijan. Our main concern is there is a refutation of claims made by Armenian Diaspora that ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan, especially in Karabakh, were subjected to persecution. The Azerbaijani leadership asserts that there was no such persecution. It is documented fact that the Azerbaijani leadership, following the complete liberation of their occupied territories, repeatedly requested that the local Armenian population living in the part of Azerbaijan known as Karabakh remain in Karabakh, secure in the knowledge that their rights as humans and as citizens of Azerbaijan would be respected. The Armenians in Karabakh preferred to evacuate and abandon their homes in Karabakh, rather than to become full-fledged citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan.  Not a single ethnic Armenian was molested or harmed in any way during their mass exodus (estimated to be about 100,000 civilians). 

Immediately following this voluntary mass exodus, the Armenian diaspora propaganda machine pumped out the disinformation that the Armenians of Karabakh were subjected to "genocide".  It is an absurd claim; not a single person was harmed in any way.  Their departure was entirely voluntary, and those few who chose to remain in Karabakh have accepted becoming official citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan and subject to the same laws and enjoy the same rights as all citizens of Azerbaijan, regardless of their heritage or ethnicity.

Just last week, the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, addressed some members of the Armenian diaspora living in Switzerland and asked a very important question, why Armenian claims to a genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks in 1915 was only first claimed in 1950; why so many years passed and there were no such claims.  Apparently, the U.N. had just adopted the definition of the word "genocide", a term coined and defined a few years before by historian Raphael Lemkin.  Apparently, the Armenian diaspora noticed the reparations paid by the post war German government to survivors of the Holocaust and began their campaign to convince the international community that their losses during that period of war between the Russian and Ottoman empires should be regarded as a genocide, even though many (non-Turkish) historians Justin McCarthy, Guenter Lewy, Svante Cornell, Tadeusz Swietochowski, Audrey Altstadt, Thomas Goltz, Bernard Lewis have disputed the false claim.

The Armenian claims to genocide was officially recognized by the US Congress and signed by former President Joe Biden. The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan now admits that there is much to question when it comes to these claims of genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks. Did the US Congress act on the false claims of the Armenian lobbyists?

Mr. Secretary, the Armenian diaspora propaganda machine now attempts to garner sympathy from the international community for their false claims on Azerbaijan, the territory of Karabakh, which they refer to as "Artsakh". Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. This recognition is consistent across most major international organizations, such as the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The conflict surrounding Karabakh has been a long-standing issue, primarily between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but from a legal and diplomatic standpoint, the region is considered as part of Azerbaijan by the global community, including the U.S. The principle of territorial integrity is generally upheld in international law, supporting Azerbaijan's claim over the region.

As concerned Americans with Azerbaijani heritage, we feel responsible for bringing this matter to your attention; hoping that the current administration will soon recognize the importance of good relations between the USA and Azerbaijan, and work toward that mutually beneficial goal.  This may be a good moment to remind that Azerbaijan and Israel are close allies; Azerbaijan has an embassy in Tel Aviv as Israel has an embassy in Baku. We are committed to supporting efforts that contribute to a peaceful and stable region.

Again, congratulations on your appointment to this important office, and we look forward to working together to forge positive relations between our adopted country USA and our heritage homeland Azerbaijan.

 Respectfully,

Azerbaijan Society of America