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The Armenian National Committee of America has called upon the bipartisan leadership of the U.S. Senate and House intelligence committees to release geospatial, signals, cyber, measurement and signature, and other forms of intelligence related to Azerbaijan’s April 2nd offensive against Nagorno Karabakh. The cross-border attack came immediately in the wake of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s meetings in Washington, DC with Vice President Joe Biden Secretary of State John Kerry, Asbarez.com reports.

In a letter sent to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian wrote: “We are, consistent with our longstanding support of American efforts to bring about an enduring peace in this pivotal region (NKR: editor), interested in understanding whether the U.S. intelligence community was aware that two of the most senior members of our government were meeting with a foreign official who was, as they spoke with him, planning to launch a major military offensive against Nagorno Karabakh – a recipient of U.S. assistance and a constructive partner in the OSCE Minsk Group peace process. We would value your insights on this matter and welcome – within the bounds of the law and the requirements of our national security – the public release of available geospatial, signals, cyber, measurement and signature, and other intelligence regarding Azerbaijan’s military actions.”

It is also noted that if the U.S. government was aware of Azerbaijan’s preparations, it is clear that the Administration did not adequately deter President Aliyev from his planned course of action. “If, on the other hand, our government was not aware of Azerbaijan’s planned assault, that would, in our view, represent a meaningful intelligence failure that should and must be adequately addressed.”

In addition, senior representatives of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) consulted at the State Department with Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, head of the Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, to discuss urgent Armenian American calls for U.S. leadership in response to Azerbaijan’s major offensive targeting civilians and soldiers in Nagorno Karabakh. 

“We have, since April 2nd, actively engaged with senior Administration officials and leading legislators to press for a principled American response to Azerbaijan’s reckless attack against Artsakh,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. According to him, Vice President Biden’s and Secretary Kerry’s meetings in Washington, DC with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev represented a missed opportunity to press for peace that through official U.S. silence served as a green-light for Aliyev to escalate his aggression.

“The Administration knows very well that Azerbaijan is initiating acts of aggression, yet persistently and counter-productively refuses to call Aliyev to account for reckless and fatal attacks that cause vast human suffering, destabilize the region, and raise the risk of a regional war,” Hamparian stressed.