Gevorg Ghukasyan: We are trying to deprive Azerbaijan of U.S. military aid

Gevorg Ghukasyan, Special Project Manager at the Armenian National Committee-International, told Armenpress the details of the U.S. Senators’ resolution, requesting information from the State Department on Azerbaijan’s human rights violations.
 
As reported earlier, U.S. Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced a bipartisan resolution requesting a report on Azerbaijan’s human rights practices pursuant to Section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act, which allows Congress to gather information on Azerbaijan’s human rights abuses and war crimes and to halt U.S. security assistance.

Speaking with Armenpress, Ghukasyan noted that the next step related to the resolution is to engage as many members of Congress as possible and secure bipartisan support, after which the resolution will be submitted to the relevant committee and then to the plenary session. Once debated and approved by Congress, it will enter into force immediately.

“In recent years, the U.S. Armenian Diaspora and the Armenian National Committee have had a number of important policy priorities, most notably halting U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan, which is essentially a fulfillment of the requirements of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act. After the 2001 terrorist attacks, waiver authority was added to Section 907 and has been invoked annually. Until this year, all presidents had exercised this right, as a result of which Azerbaijan was receiving military aid.

On behalf of the Armenian National Committee, we are trying to work simultaneously in several directions and deprive Azerbaijan of U.S. military aid. Now all the work is aimed at prohibiting the head of the White House from exercising his waiver authority. At least there is already unanimity in the Senate; two or three resolutions have been submitted to the House of Representatives on this issue. Another important goal is to introduce sanctions under the Magnitsky Act against Azerbaijani officials involved in human rights abuses and war crimes,” Ghukasyan said.