U.S. House demands Azerbaijani war crimes investigation, release of Armenian POWs

The U.S. House staked out a powerful stand today against Azerbaijan and Turkey’s 2020 attack on Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and Armenia, overwhelmingly passing five Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)-backed amendments demanding Baku’s release of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs), calling for investigations into Azerbaijani war crimes, supporting U.S. aid to Artsakh, and urging Turkey’s Grey Wolves be designated a foreign terrorist organization.

The measures were adopted by voice vote on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, as part of larger groupings, or blocs, of amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA – H.R.4350).  The U.S. House is expected to pass the underlying NDAA measure on Thursday on a largely party-line vote.

“The U.S. House of Representatives – over intense Turkish and Azerbaijani lobbying, but without any vocal legislative opposition – voted overwhelmingly today to hold Ankara and Baku accountable for their attacks on Artsakh last fall and ongoing aggression against Armenia,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

The first amendment, led by Representatives Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Brad Sherman (D-CA), states it is the sense of Congress that “Azerbaijan must immediately and unconditionally return all Armenian prisoners of war and captured civilians.”  It goes on to demand a report from the Secretary of Defense on the use of U.S. technology in Turkish drones used by Azerbaijan to attack Armenia and Artsakh during the 2020 war.