Padilla Amendment Calls for Report on Azerbaijani War Crimes; Use of Foreign Mercenaries in 2020 Artsakh Attacks;
— Menendez Also Calls for Report on U.S. Technology Discovered in Turkish Drones Used Against Armenia/Artsakh
WASHINGTON, DC – Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-CA) today introduced a powerful amendment that would end U.S. presidential waiver authority of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, an Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) -backed measure that would effectively block U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan.
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The amendment (#4177) is one of three amendments to the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that deals with U.S. aid to Azerbaijan as well as Azerbaijani and Turkish war crimes committed against Artsakh and Armenia during the 2020 war. The amendment removes all references to presidential waiver authority of Section 907, a provision first put in place in 2001, and utilized by successive U.S. presidents – including President Biden, even in the wake of Azerbaijan’s 2020 brutal aggression against Artsakh in Armenia. Since 2016, the U.S. has provided over $120 million in U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan, in the face of objections by Members of Congress and the ANCA, which has long raised alarms about the Aliyev regime’s belligerence in the region.
Senator Menendez also offered a second amendment (#4150) to the NDAA which calls for a joint State Department and Defense Department report on Turkey’s use of U.S. technology in its Bayrakdar drones, with a special focus on whether their sale to third countries, like Azerbaijan, violates U.S. export laws. The ANCA has identified a number of U.S. parts used in Bayrakdar drones that targeted Artsakh and Armenian civilians during the 2020 Artsakh war. In addition to the ANCA, Amendment #4150 also has the support of a coalition of ethnic, civic, and faith-based groups including the Hellenic American Leadership Council, American Friends of Kurdistan, the Hindu American Foundation, and the Middle East Forum.
A third amendment (#4251) introduced by California Senator Alex Padilla (D) calls for a joint State Department and Defense Department report, in response to Azerbaijani war crimes during the 2020 Artsakh war, including the use of U.S. technology during the attacks; the use of white phosphorous, cluster bombs, and other prohibited munitions; and the hiring of foreign mercenaries.
“We thank Senators Menendez and Padilla for their principled leadership in holding Azerbaijan and Turkey accountable,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We are working – in Washington, DC and across each of our fifty states – to secure the adoption of their ANCA-backed amendments enforcing Section 907, investigating Azerbaijani war crimes, and demanding answers about the U.S. parts discovered in the Turkish drones deployed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh.”
Hamparian offered a Facebook Live overview of the Menendez and Padilla amendments, available here:
Additional Armenian-related amendments to the NDAA may be introduced in the next several days. A Senate vote on the Menendez and Padilla amendments can come as early as next week.
Earlier this year, the U.S. House adopted five ANCA-backed amendments to its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R.4350), which demanded Baku’s release of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs), called for investigations into Azerbaijani war crimes, supported expanded U.S. aid to Artsakh, and urged Turkey’s Grey Wolves be designated a foreign terrorist organization. For more information on the pro-Armenia/Artsakh House amendments to the NDAA, visit:
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WASHINGTON D.C. – Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today announced two of the foreign policy amendments he is filing to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) reported the Armenian Council of America (ACA). As the primary vehicle for authorizing defense spending for Fiscal Year 2022, Chairman Menendez’s proposed changes to the NDAA seek to significantly improve the U.S. government’s ability to track and assess the national security implications of the proliferation of Turkey’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program, as well as to prevent further exceptions to bypass a 1992 law banning U.S. military assistance to the Government of Azerbaijan.
Amendment Ending 907 Waiver: Prohibits the continued use of an exemption waiver of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act. Section 907, which has been law since 1992, bans most assistance to the Government of Azerbaijan until it takes demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and other offensive uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. The Government of Azerbaijan has clearly not taken these steps, yet assistance to that government has skyrocketed in recent years.
“As the regime in Baku, with Turkey’s support, continues choosing a path of violence instead of a peaceful, negotiated process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, it is long past time for this and all future administrations to halt this type of assistance and fully respect Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act,” said Menendez. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to make sure this year’s NDAA continues to advance U.S. national security and foreign policy interests all while representing a prudent use of U.S. taxpayer dollars.”
Amendment on Turkey’s Drone Program: Mandates the State Department and Pentagon report on Turkish drone exports since 2018 and whether those drones contain parts or technology manufactured by U.S. firms. The amendment also requires State to determine whether Turkey’s exports are a violation of the Arms Export Control Act or any other U.S. law or sanctions. Turkish drones played a decisive role in last year’s war between Armenian and Azerbaijan. Since then, Poland, Morocco, and Ukraine have purchased the Bayraktar TB2 and several other countries have expressed interest, including Angola, Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria, and Rwanda.
“Turkey’s drone sales are dangerous, destabilizing and a threat to peace and human rights,” added Menendez. “The U.S. should have no part of it, and this amendment is a recognition that we must prevent U.S. parts from being included in these Turkish weapons.”
“Eliminating the 2001 waiver authority added to Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act is long overdue and reflects the reality on the ground today that Azerbaijan never was and never will be a U.S. partner in the global fight against terrorism, because Azerbaijan is itself a terror sponsoring state. Furthermore, Turkey’s killer drone program has destabilized conflict zones in the South Caucuses, the Middle East, and North Africa, and any American components used must be declared dual use and sanctioned for export to Turkey. We commend Senator Menendez for his leadership and ensuring U.S. national security and American interests come first.” stated ACA’s Washington DC Representative Taniel Koushakjian.
