At COP29, U.S. Lawmakers Press Baku to Release Armenian Hostages, Guarantee Artsakh Armenians’ Right of Return
After returning to Washington from Baku, Rep. Frank Pallone and Senator Ed Markey hosted a press conference on Monday, saying that during meeting with Azerbaijani officials, including President Ilham Aliyev, they pressed them to release Armenian and other political prisoners and guarantee the right to return of Armenians to Artsakh.
The two lawmakers, who were part of a Congressional delegation to attend the United Nations Climate summit, known as COP29, which is underway in Baku, underscored that they felt threatened by what they called, government sanctioned threats against them by so-called protesters and journalists for their advocacy on Armenian issues, specifically dealing with Artsakh.
In fact, Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey, said, that if it weren’t for the American Embassy’s security team, “I would have been in the hospital,” referring to protesters who received signals to escalate tensions in front of his hotel, where the demonstration was being held.
Pallone, one of the most vocal advocates of Artsakh Armenians and their right to self-determination was confronted with protests organized by what the Azerbaijani press characterized and “leaders of non-governmental organizations and civic activists,” in front of his hotel.
According to Azerbaijani media, the protesters demanded that Pallone “apologize to the Azerbaijani people, for criminal charges to be filed against his security guards who used violence against public activists during yesterday’s peaceful demonstration, and for Pallone to be held accountable for his defamatory campaigns against Azerbaijan.”
Azerbaijani protesters called for legal actions against Rep. Frank Pallone for visiting ArtsakhThe protesters also called for legal actions to be taken against Pallone, “who has previously illegally crossed Azerbaijan’s borders multiple times during the occupation period,” referring to the Congressman’s several visits to Artsakh.
Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said at the Monday press conference that during a meeting he had with Aliyev’s foreign policy adviser, Hikmet Hajiyev, he underscored the need for Baku to take more positive action toward peace, and release Armenian and other political prisoners and to ensure the safe return of Artsakh Armenians to their homeland.
Markey added that Hajiyev went on to blame Armenia for the troubles facing the Caucasus and refused to take accountability for the Aliyev regime’s actions.
Pallone said that while he was barred from attending a meeting with Aliyev, he encouraged the other members of the delegation to meet with the Azerbaijani leader in order to convey the Congressional sentiment about the issues on climate change, as well as the points regarding Artsakh and its indigenous Armenian population.
Instead, Pallone explained, Aliyev rejected the points that were made by the Congressional delegation members, including the release of POWs, pulling Azerbaijani troops out of Armenia and emphasizing that military action should not be the way to pursue the issue.
“The idea was to achieve a positive goal,” Pallone said of the meeting with Aliyev. “Unfortunately that was rejected.”
“There was no reason to believe that President Aliyev was willing to push for peace,” Pallone said.
“We believe that the political prisoners should be released. We believe there should be a right of return of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh,” Markey, the Democrat from Massachusetts said in a social media post.
“Senator [Ed] Markey and I support Armenia,” the Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island said in social media post on Monday.
“We are regretful that the dislocation of so many Armenians has taken place [in Nagorno-Karabakh]. To put it mildly, I am far from convinced that Armenians are to blame for that,” Whitehouse added.
During a press conference upon their arrival in Baku, the senators were asked by an Azerbaijani reporter whether the United States would enforce sanctions against Armenia.
Senators Ed Markey (right) and Sheldon Whitehouse hold a press conference in Baku on Nov. 16“To put it mildly, I’m far from convinced that Armenians are to blame for that. And I don’t want to dwell in the home of my hosts on human rights issues. But if that were to be the topic, I would not be very complimentary,” Whitehouse said in response.
“We believe that the political prisoners should be released. We believe there should be a right of return of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh. And we believe that there should be a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia. And our hope is that it’s negotiated soon so that these issues can be resolved, including the issue of a capacity to have a road that can be traversed through Armenia by Azerbaijan. But it all has to be part of a negotiated treaty. My hope is that that will be the case,” Markey said.
“But as Sheldon said, you know, we ultimately need to make sure that that those prisoners are released and that there is a right to return peacefully by Armenian people to Nagorno-Karabakh,” Markey added.
Pallone, Markey and Whitehouse were among 60 lawmakers who last month co-signed a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, asking him to press President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan to uphold human rights protections and release political prisoners ahead of the COP29.
In the letter, the lawmakers urged Blinken to force Azerbaijan to take “tangible measures” to free political prisoners and condemn provocative statements against Armenia, which “run the risk of undermining peace negotiations” after it retook full control of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Aliyev later rejected the letter, calling it “a disgusting appeal that cannot influence our will” and said it had been drawn up “to threaten and accuse us”.
