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