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Armenia lawmaker Taguhi Tovmasyan from the opposition With Honor faction has visited the United States to participate in the “Role of the Legislature in the U.S.” program of the Open World Leadership Center in Washington.

“Within the framework of the program, we are holding various meetings with the leaders in government, business and society of the United States,” she said in a statement on social media on Thursday.

The MP hailed the meeting with Frank Pallone Jr., a member of the US House of Representatives and Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, as “one of the most impressive”.

“Mr. Pallone is one of the unique congressmen who, despite the threats made by Azerbaijan, visited the Republic of Artsakh. We had a long discussion on the Artsakh issue. I stated that today the people of Artsakh live in the conditions of a humanitarian crisis, their rights to live a peaceful and secure life in their homeland, the rights to free movement, property are being grossly violated as a result of the criminal actions by Azerbaijan. For example, as a consequence of the recent Azerbaijani offensive operations, the normal life of Khramort and Parukh communities of Artsakh was disrupted, and the rights of more than 400 people, including women, children and the elderly were violated,” Tovmasyan said.

“I noted that while the world's attention is focused on the situation around Ukraine, Azerbaijan is resorting to provocations in the conditions of the ceasefire, trying to open a new front for Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh, thus violating the provisions of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020. The goal of such ongoing criminal acts by Azerbaijan is the ethnic cleansing of the Armenians, the implementation of Azerbaijan’s state policy of genocide.

“I drew Mr. Pallone's attention to the fact that Azerbaijan invaded the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and settled there, blatantly violating the provisions of the UN Charter, the fundamental human rights of the residents of the border settlements of the Republic of Armenia.

“During the meeting I also conveyed to Mr. Pallone several reports by the human rights defender of Artsakh on the war crimes by Azerbaijan, the destruction of Artsakh's cultural heritage, and the propaganda of Azeri hate speech. I underlined the importance of the visits by the congressmen to the border communities of Armenia and Artsakh, especially at this stage, to see the state of the people, thousands of dislocated people of Artsakh on the spot, to monitor the border situation and to provide appropriate assistance. I specially emphasized the necessity of taking active measures to prevent Azerbaijan's policy of armenocide.

“With a group of 5 deputies we thanked Mr. Pallone for his work and efforts, for visiting the Artsakh Republic regardless of the threats made by Azerbaijan, and for greeting us warmly,” reads the statement.