Attachment 1
From: Simonian IP <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2022 6:46 AM
To: City Council DL <[email protected]>
Subject: Azerbaijan Attacks Armenia: Take Immediate Action to Cut All Military Aid to Azerbaijan
Dear Mayor Talamantes,Vice-Mayor Anthony and Council Members, 12:05am on September 13th, Azerbaijani armed forces attacked civil ian and military positions in Sotk, Vardenis, Goris, Kapan, Artanish, and Iskhanasar in the Republic of Armenia. Armenian casuaties and wounded are yet to be confirmed. The Armenia Ministry of Defense if reporting Azerbaijan’s use of artillery and large-calibre guns as well as unmanned drones.
As residents and members of the Burbank community, we are writing to draw your attention to this matter. We are deeply disappointed that President Biden has, yet again, waived Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan, and demand that Congress take immediate action to cut off all U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan. To date, we’ve sent this billionaire-run dictatorship over $164,000,000 in military assistance. That has to stop.
As you know, in June 2022, President Biden (in a 180-degree reversal of this 2020 campaign stand) waived Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, greenlighting continued U.S. military aid to the billionaire Aliyev family. During his run for office, on October 14th of 2020, he stated publicly that the United States must “fully implement and not waive requirements under Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act to stop the flow of military equipment to Azerbaijan.” The President’s reckless decision to lift this statutory restriction came in the wake of Azerbaijan’s ethnic-cleansing of 100,000+ Armenians from Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and amid Baku’s ongoing attacks and occupation of Armenia’s territory.
As you may also be aware, the Armenian and Azerbaijani governments came to an agreement involving Artsakh on November 9, 2020. Part of this agreement involved a surrenders of critical Artsakh territories over the course of the last two years. The agreement, and all actions taken by the Armenian government in this regard have been illegitimate and not legally binding, particularly in light of Azerbaijan’s continued violations of the agreement, international law, and human rights.
As Members of the Burbank City Council, ANCA looks to you to 1) immediately condemn Azerbaijan’s latest attacks on Armenia, 2) publicly call upon President Biden to immediately suspend his Section 907 waiver.
Azerbaijan’s September 13th attacks on Armenia are just the latest example of why Section 907 restrictions on Azerbaijani assistance must be invoked immediately, and why the November 2020 agreement must be revoked. My family, my friends, my community will never accept that Azerbaijan – despite its brutal killing of Armenian civilians, torture of POWs, and desecration of Christian holy sites – continues to receive U.S. military aid.
I look forward to hearing back from you on this matter.
Sincerely yours,
Sarkis Simonian
Chairman - ANCA Burbank
(818) 384-6592