US Congressmen demand Biden zero-out military aid to Azerbaijan

Dozens of U.S. House members joined Rep. David G. Valadao (R-CA) and fellow Congressional Armenian Caucus leaders in a bipartisan call upon the Biden Administration stop all U.S. military assistance that contributes directly or indirectly to Azerbaijan’s military operations, activities, or capabilities, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). The May 24th Congressional letter also requests an urgent review of the deeply flawed U.S. waiver authority for Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to the corrupt Aliyev regime.

“Not a single American tax dollar should be sent to the armed forces of oil-rich Azerbaijan – a country that ethnically cleansed Artsakh, holds Armenians POWs, and now occupies territory in the Republic of Armenia,” said Congressman David Valadao. “President Biden should immediately withdraw his waiver of Section 907 and, if he won’t, Congress should statutorily prevent any and all U.S. arms or aid to the Aliyev regime. The alternative – continuing to ship U.S. military aid to Baku despite its ongoing anti-Armenian aggression – sends Aliyev the green light to escalate his attacks,” concluded Rep. Valadao.

Congressional co-signers of the letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken are asking for the “immediate termination of all U.S. military or security aid to Azerbaijan.” The letter expresses concern about the Biden Administration’s waiver of the Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, which restricts U.S. aid to Azerbaijan based on their blockade of and aggression against Armenia and Artsakh. “We are concerned that the State Department did not fully consider Azerbaijan’s lack of progress in ceasing its blockades and other offensive uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), and instead moved forward with this waiver without detailing serious national security concerns,” stated the letter.

“The oil-rich Aliyev government, which continues to illegally hold Armenian prisoners of war and captured civilians six months after the end of hostilities, neither needs nor deserves U.S. assistance. American taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize Azerbaijan so long as they continue to take destabilizing action in the region, attack Armenians living in their indigenous homeland, and hamper ongoing efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the conflict. As such, we ask for the immediate termination of all U.S. military or security aid to Azerbaijan”, the lette