PRESS RELEASE
Office of U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr.
Jennifer Karch Cannata
PRESS SECRETARY
420 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4671 office
(202) 225-9665 fax

Contact: Christopher Close/Knollenberg (202) 225-5802
Jennifer Cannata/Pallone (202) 225-4671

January 25, 2005

ARMENIAN CAUCUS CO-CHAIRS CALL ON BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO RENOUNCE
ACCUSATIONS BY STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Reps. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone,
Jr. (D-NJ), cochairmen of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, today
called on the U.S. State Department to formally renounce remarks by a State
Department official in Moscow describing the government of Nagorno-Karabakh
as “criminal secessionists.” The lawmakers made the request in a letter to
Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice.

Text of the letter to Secretary Rice follows.

January 25, 2005

Secretary Nominee Condoleezza Rice
U.S. Department of State
2201 C St, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Ms. Rice:

We write to you today to welcome your nomination as Secretary of State and
to bring to your attention our profound concern over a matter of vital
importance to the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, and to our
nation’s more than one and a half million citizens of Armenian heritage. We
refer to a statement made by Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones
during a January 13th digital video-conference with journalists at U.S.
Embassies in Moscow, Rome and Bratislava. In these remarks, Assistant
Secretary Jones described the government of Nagorno-Karabakh as “criminal
secessionists” that ought to be removed from office.

We are seriously troubled that this clearly unfair and manifestly inaccurate
characterization of Nagorno-Karabakh has harmed our ability to advance U.S.
interests and promote American values in an important region of the world.
First and foremost, these unfounded and incendiary accusations undermine the
very principles underlying our role as an honest broker in the Organization
for Security and Cooperation’s Minsk Group Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
Secondly, the mistaken description of the citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh as
secessionists inappropriately prejudices the outcome of the OSCE peace
process, which has been tasked to resolve both status and security issues
through negotiation. Thirdly, the highly charged and patently false charge
that the government is “criminal” only serves to further encourage
irresponsible senior Azerbaijani leaders that are already calling for a
military solution to the Karabakh issue. Finally, we are concerned that the
reckless call for the removal of Nagorno-Karabakh’s leaders unfairly
denigrates the tremendous progress that the people and government of
Nagorno-Karabakh have made in establishing democratic institutions, even as
they have struggled to rebuild their homes, schools and farms destroyed by
years of brutal Azerbaijan aggression.

We look to you to demonstrate strong leadership in restoring balance to our
efforts toward peace in Nagorno-Karabakh, by formally renouncing these false
and unfair remarks. We would also welcome the opportunity to work with you
to ensure that similar setbacks such as this do not arise in the future.

Thank you for your attention to our concerns.

Sincerely,
JOE KNOLLENBERG FRANK PALLONE, JR.
Member of Congress Member of Congress