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Representative Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Thursday issued the following statement on the escalation of violence in the Nagorno-Karabakh region:

“Azerbaijan’s violation of the ceasefire agreement along the border with Nagorno-Karabakh is deeply disturbing. The resulting escalation of military activity along the line of contact has cost the lives of over a dozen Armenian and Azeri young men. A ceasefire is needed to protect further loss of life and escalation. The Obama Administration should act to encourage the restoration of a ceasefire, press Azerbaijan to withdraw snipers from the line of contact, and promote a peace plan that includes a date certain of a referendum for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to decide their own future.”

“We join with all those seeking peace in thanking Chairman Royce for so powerfully challenging Azerbaijan’s escalating aggression and for taking such as his principled stand for security and democratic self-determination for Nagorno Karabakh. We encourage the Obama Administration to heed his counsel and press Azerbaijan to end its ceasefire violations, to withdraw its snipers, and to openly accept – in principle and practice – that the future of Nagorno Karabakh will be decided by its own citizens,” said Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

In April, the Chairman led a bipartisan delegation to Armenia where it commemorated the 99th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Asbarez reports.