ANCA Calls on Trump Administration and Congress to Sanction Aliyev and Erdogan for War Crimes

Treasury Department Asked to Enforce Sanctions on Top Turkish and Azerbaijani Military Leaders

October 4, 2020

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is calling on the Trump Administration – through the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) – to enforce crippling sanctions against Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Turkish President Recep Erdogan, and their senior military leaders for wars crimes committed against civilians in both Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh).

“President Trump – with the bipartisan support of Congress – must immediately direct U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to enforce sanctions against Ilham Aliyev and Recep Erdogan – both demonstrably guilty of directing a premeditated surprise attack and sustained assault on civilians in Armenia and Artsakh,” said ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian. “We look to the Treasury Department to move with dispatch to enforce these sanctions against Recep Erdogan and Ilham Aliyev. Both are war criminals, and should be treated as such by the U.S. Government.”

Starting on September 27th the Azerbaijani military, after considerable planning and deliberation, launched missiles, artillery shells, and suicide drones against civilian populations in Artsakh’s capital Stepanakert as well as other civilian populations in and around Artsakh, as well as against certain areas of the Republic of Armenia’s town of Vardenis, causing death and injury to dozens of civilians. This deliberate targeting of civilians constitutes a vicious and cold-blooded violation of international humanitarian law and basic human rights.  Turkey has also recruited foreign jihadist terrorists to fight alongside Azerbaijan in this anti-Armenian campaign.

The United Nations defines the term “war crimes” as serious breaches of international humanitarian law committed against civilians or enemy combatants during an international or domestic armed conflict, for which the perpetrators may be held criminally liable on an individual basis.

Clear video evidence from Artsakh and parts of Armenia document the deliberate and extensive targeting of civilians.

Should the U.S. Department of Treasury enact sanctions called for by the ANCA, all of Erdogan’s and Aliyev’s property and interests in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons would be blocked or frozen and reported to OFAC. U.S. regulations generally prohibit any dealings by U.S. persons with blocked or designated persons. Non-U.S. persons that engage in certain transactions with the designated persons may themselves be exposed to this designation. Furthermore, any foreign financial institution that knowingly conducts or facilitates a significant transaction for or on behalf of the persons designated today could be subject to U.S. legal action.

Call on the President and Congress to enforce sanctions against Erdogan and Aliyev by visiting: www.anca.org/alert

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