The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has voiced sharp disappointment with the US Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group for its role in a joint US-French-Russian statement dismissing the March 31st Artsakh elections, underscoring that such reactions – in addition to setting back the cause of peace – denigrate America’s own founding commitment to free and fair elections as the basis for democratic self-determination, as stated on anca.org.

“The United States can only apply one standard when it comes to elections – the benchmark set by our founders in the Declaration of Independence – establishing our unconditional support for the unalienable right to establish democratically elected governments deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Sadly, this week’s OSCE Minsk Group statement on the elections in Artsakh falls far short of this democratic yardstick,” said ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian, adding that American leaders should be praising Artsakh’s free and fair elections.