YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS. Nagorno Karabakh exiled Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Gegham Stepanyan and former State Minister Artak Beglaryan represented the Nagorno-Karabakh people’s "inalienable rights, national interests, and democratic aspirations" at a Capitol Hill briefing featuring powerful remarks by Representatives Brad Sherman (D-CA) and James Costa (D-CA), and organized by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), the ANCA said in a press release. “We are here to demand the right of safe return of Artsakh’s [NK] refugees to their homes, homes that in many cases have been occupied by their families for hundreds and hundreds of years,” the ANCA quoted Rep. Sherman as saying, who urged the enforcement of Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan, sanctioning the Aliyev regime for the ethnic cleansing of NK. Citing Azeri President Aliyev’s escalating rhetoric falsely claiming Armenia’s capital Yerevan is Azerbaijani territory, Rep. Sherman urged the Biden Administration to provide defensive military weapons to Armenia, “to avoid the next tragedy, which is being planned in Baku.” Rep. Sherman concluded his remarks, with a message to President Aliyev, who claims that his main enemies are the Armenians of the world. “Well, I have news for you, Mr. Aliyev. Your main enemies are every person in the world who believes in democracy, who believes in human rights, and who believes in justice.”Condemning Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of NK, Rep. Costa noted, “We must do more” to provide US humanitarian assistance to Artsakh’s forcibly displaced population through the foreign aid supplemental currently under consideration. “We must hold the Azerbaijan government responsible for not only the ethnic cleansing but the cultural genocide that they continue to attempt to implement as part of a systematic effort that has long been the history of Azerbaijan and their attitude toward the Armenian people and the culture and the religion. The threats that Azerbaijan is now making toward Armenia, I believe, are serious and real, and therefore should be treated as such,” stated Rep. Costa. He also called for concrete US action to secure the return of Artsakh leaders and Armenian POWs illegally held hostage by Azerbaijan. “Artsakh’s rights were center stage this week in Washington, DC, as two of the Republic’s most eloquent voices – Artak Beglaryan and Gegham Stepanyan – made the case to U.S. legislators and international religious freedom leaders for the safe return of indigenous Armenians to their ancient homeland,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Today’s Congressional briefing was a great opportunity for legislators to hear first-hand about the Artsakh Genocide and also for them to consult among themselves about the concrete U.S. steps needed to restore this integral part of the Armenian homeland.”