U.S. Religious Freedom Commission Places Azerbaijan, Turkey on ‘Special Watch List’

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Report, 2026

Also Cites Pashinyan’s Attack on Armenian Apostolic Church

For their ongoing disregard for religious freedom and persecuting religious minorities in 2025, Azerbaijan and Turkey were among 11 countries placed on a “Special Watch List” by the United State Commission on International Religious Freedom, which issued its annual report this week.

Among the issues cited by the USCIRF 2026 report was the destruction of Armenian religious and cultural heritage in Artsakh.

“Historic Armenian religious sites in Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories remain at risk following Azerbaijan’s retaking of the territories in 2020 and 2023. As of July, satellite imagery identified eight destroyed and another 10 damaged religious sites, including churches, cemeteries, and other artifacts. Additionally, family members have reported that Armenian prisoners are prevented from receiving religious items, such as the Bible; however, the Azerbaijani government has claimed prisoners have access to religious materials,” the report cited.

The report also recommended that the U.S. “set conditions on foreign military financing and other security assistance to Azerbaijan, requiring specified improvements in religious freedom and related human rights.”

The report cited Congressional action regarding religious and human rights violations in 2025, citing various initiatives that were led or backed by the Armenian National Committee of America.

“Congress elevated human rights concerns in Azerbaijan throughout the year, including related to religious freedom. In March, 60 bipartisan members of Congress urged U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to enforce prohibitions on U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan under Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act in part due to Azerbaijan’s destruction of Armenian religious heritage in the Nagorno-Karabakh region,” the commission reported.

“In April, Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) led a Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on human rights in Azerbaijan following its hosting of the United Nations’ annual climate conference. In July, more than 80 bipartisan members of Congress urged Secretary Rubio to ensure the safe return of Armenians displaced during Azerbaijan’s 2023 military campaign in Nagorno-Karabakh. The letter mentioned Azerbaijan’s destruction of Armenian religious sites in the region,” the report added.

“In September, Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) reintroduced the Azerbaijan Sanctions Review Act (H.R. 5369), which, if passed, would require the Trump administration to determine whether Azerbaijani officials mentioned in the bill participated in human rights abuses and qualified for sanctions under relevant U.S. law,” the report said.

Despite an apparent consensus on classifying Azerbaijan on a “Special Watch List,” the chair of the commission, Vicky Hartzler voiced her dissent in the report and called for Azerbaijan to be placed on the harsher—more strict—“Country of Particular Concern” category.

“Azerbaijan should be designated a Country of Particular Concern rather than Special Watch List due to its ongoing, egregious, and severe violations of religious freedom,” Hartzler in her dissent included in the report.

“The country outwardly claims to support religious freedom, yet inwardly does the opposite. It tortures its citizens, controls religious activity, expels independent media and the Red Cross, and destroys religious heritage sites. Control of religion involves government approval for the publication and distribution of religious materials, requirements on the registration of churches, appointments by the government of imams to mosques, and government writing of sermons for Muslim services. Shi’a religious actors imprisoned for their faith have been subjected to beatings, threats of rape, and detention in horrid conditions,” the commission chair explained.

“The nearly two dozen Armenian Christian prisoners from Nagorno-Karabakh, who were tried behind closed doors without adequate legal counsel, have received beatings, psychological abuse, lack of access to medical care and proper food, denials of Bibles, and the erasure of cross tattoos through burning. Police are not held accountable for these actions. In addition, Azerbaijan continues to destroy religious monuments and churches in Nagorno-Karabakh, erasing over 2,000 years of Christian presence in that area. Satellite imagery has identified eight destroyed and another 10 damaged religious sites as of July, including churches, cemeteries, and other artifacts. Azerbaijan’s treatment of religion and its people needs to change. If Azerbaijan wants to be a full partner with the United States and advance shared economic and strategic goals, it needs to take meaningful steps to truly embrace religious freedom,” Hartzler emphasized in her dissent.

The USCIRF also mentioned Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan campaign and crusade against the church under a section called “Attacks on and Repression of Religious Leaders.”

“In Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statements about the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) raised concerns about potential government interference in the AAC’s religious autonomy. Throughout 2025, Prime Minister Pashinyan proposed establishing and personally appointing a council to elect a new AAC leader, and elevated clergy who aligned with his agenda to oust the current catholicos. Pashinyan’s attacks on Catholicos Karekin II coincided with the arrest of AAC clerics and other lay members who had criticized or expressed political opposition to Pashinyan’s government,” the report said.