ANCA Capitol Hill briefing warns that flawed "Peace" process creates  conditions for renewed genocide 

ArmInfo.  A U.S.-brokered peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan that leaves Armenian hostages in Azerbaijani detention, denies Artsakh's 150,000 refugees their right of return, and rewards Azerbaijan's genocidal ethnic cleansing with a 99-year transport corridor through sovereign Armenian territory is not a path to peace - but rather a blueprint  for the destruction of the Armenian state. This stark assessment was  delivered on Wednesday at a Capitol Hill Staff Briefing hosted by the  Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), titled "Peace Without  Justice in the South Caucasus."

The briefing, held at Cannon HOB Room 130, featured a round table  discussion moderated by ANCA Policy Director Alex Galitsky with Dr.   Robert Krikorian, a retired senior State Department official and  Harvard-trained historian with more than two decades of intelligence  and senior advisory experience, and Karnig Kerkonian, an  international human rights lawyer and founding partner of Kerkonian  Dajani LLP.

Full video of the event is available on the ANCA YouTube Channel at:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxPoW4jZZZU 

"The peace agreement, as it currently stands, includes no clause that  would require the release of Armenian prisoners of war from arbitrary  detention and custody," said Galitsky. "It would require no  commitment on Azerbaijan's part to protect the millennia- old  Armenian Christian heritage in Artsakh. It would not deal in any way  with the status of the 150,000 Armenians who were forced from their  homes, who want nothing more than to be able to return to the lands  in which their families have lived for thousands of years." 

A Diktat, Not a Peace 

Dr. Krikorian, drawing on his 22 years at the State Department's  Bureau of Intelligence and Research, offered an unsparing assessment  of the peace process itself.  

"This is not a peace being negotiated between two parties," stated  Dr. Krikorian. "This is a diktat by Azerbaijan, with the backing of  Turkey and the acquiescence of the West, for Armenia to capitulate  fully and completely. Any peace that is forced on Armenia without the  slightest concern for its sovereignty or viability is bound to fail.   The only question for me is how much damage will it inflict on  Armenia, whether in the short term or in the long term."

"The so-called TRIPP (Trump Route for International Peace and  Prosperity) is an ill- conceived project with little to no chance of  success," he added. "And even if it does succeed, Armenia and  Armenians will see no benefit from it - only weakened borders,  weakened sovereignty, and an inability to defend itself from Turkish  and Azerbaijani aggression." 

The Artsakh Genocide: 932 Days and Counting 

Kerkonian, who is president of the Armenian Legal Defense Fund, has  represented Armenian victims before international courts and taught  public international law at Artsakh State University, placed the  peace process squarely in the context of an ongoing genocide.  

Kerkonian drew a direct line from Aliyev's public statements to the  logic of appeasement - and its consequences. "When you have the  leader of a country stating that 'Armenians are dogs, Armenians are  cancer,' that 'it needs to be ripped out of society,' and that  'Armenia is not even a state but a colony, not worthy of being  served' - that's coming from the head of state," he said. "You can't  ignore that when you're thinking about how to achieve peace. One of  the biggest mistakes of our time - and one that our lessons after  World War II should have taught us - is that appeasement,  whitewashing genocidal intent, does not produce peace. It doesn't  even bring war. It brings genocide." 

Kerkonian noted that international efforts are ramping up to secure  justice for this crime.  "Let's not forget that the Artsakh Genocide  - it's only been 932 days since a population, an indigenous  population, that lived on that land for 5,000 years has been  removed," he stated. "So this is relatively early." 

Armenian Sovereignty Under Siege 

Beyond the humanitarian failures, panelists described a systematic  campaign by Azerbaijan to dismantle Armenian sovereignty on multiple  fronts simultaneously.  

"The continued presence of Azerbaijani troops on sovereign Armenian  territory sends a very clear signal that Baku does not feel compelled  in any way to abide by any agreement with Armenia," stated Krikorian.   "Their presence is a clear and present danger to Armenia, and it  signals Baku's readiness to use force." 

Krikorian connected that military posture to Azerbaijan's broader  territorial ambitions.  "We've seen an uptick in rhetoric regarding  what the Aliyev regime refers to as 'Western Azerbaijan,'" he said.   "Western Azerbaijan is more commonly known as Armenia...  Baku's  ultimate objective is not peace with Armenia but the dismantling of a  sovereign and independent Armenian state." 

Kerkonian argued that Azerbaijan's simultaneous demands - that  Armenia amend its constitution, withdraw its ICJ cases, and accept  Azerbaijani forces on its territory - reveal a single coherent  strategy. "Armenia's constitutional changes are not being dictated by  the people of Armenia, but by the government of Azerbaijan," he  stated. "You have a dictator getting to determine what is written in  the Armenian Constitution... The destruction of a people is not just  dismemberment and burial of bodies. There is the destruction of  memory, of agency." 

TRIPP: An Existential Threat 

Kerkonian framed TRIPP's structural terms - Armenia holding a 26%  stake against a 74% U.S.-operated majority - as a sovereignty trap.   "The 26% owner of a company is a minority shareholder. So in any  structure, there's a limitation," he said. "De facto, it is an  existential threat to Armenia, and it will remove the southern part  of Armenia from Armenian control. At that point, Armenia becomes  nothing more really than a rump state, surrounded by Azerbaijan and  Turkey." 

ANCA-Backed Legislation 

Galitsky noted that Azerbaijan's sentencing of 16 Armenian prisoners  of war - handed down in the days surrounding Vice President Vance's  visit to the South Caucasus - underscored the urgency of  congressional action. "If the peace process itself was not going to  address the status of prisoners, the right of return, protection of  Armenian cultural heritage, or the presence of Azerbaijani forces in  Armenian territory, then let us find ways to use the existing tools  and mechanisms we have at our disposal here in the U.S. Congress to  really put pressure on Azerbaijan to change course." 

"We are extremely disappointed to see that the same day that this  agreement was initialed in August, President Trump waived Section 907  of the Freedom Support Act, thereby creating a pathway for renewed  U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan, which we see is fundamentally  reckless to happen before an agreement has been signed, and also  while Azerbaijan's abuses are ongoing," said Galitsky.  

The ANCA is pressing Congress to pass two key pieces of bipartisan  legislation: the Azerbaijan Sanctions Review Act of 2025 (H.R.5369),  led by Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL),  directing the Trump-Vance Administration to review Global Magnitsky  sanctions against Azerbaijani officials responsible for war crimes  and the illegal detention of Armenian prisoners; and the ARMENIA  Security Partnership Act (H.R.6840), led by Congressional Armenian  Caucus Co-Chairs Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Frank  Pallone (D-NJ), which would prohibit the president from waiving  Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan unless the Aliyev  regime takes concrete steps toward a lasting peace with Armenia.   Similar efforts are expected in the Senate in the coming weeks.