ANCA Requests Meeting with President Biden regarding Enforcement of Section 907

Chairman Raffi Hamparian Calls on President to not Waive Statutory Ban on U.S. Military Aid to Azerbaijan

March 15, 2022

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is calling for a meeting with President Biden to discuss his upcoming decision, expected in the coming weeks, to waive or enforce Section 907 – a longstanding statutory restriction on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan’s Aliyev regime.

“President Biden owes all Americans – especially those of Armenian heritage – a fair hearing and full explanation of his decision to greenlight U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan’s openly anti-Armenian Aliyev government, in the wake of Baku’s 2020 ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and amid its ongoing attacks across the Armenian homeland,” said ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian. “In the interests of accountability and transparency, we seek this meeting – prior to any determination the President makes regarding future U.S. aid to Azerbaijan – to ensure that he hears personally and explores openly the adverse security and humanitarian implications of providing even a single dollar of American tax-payer funded aid or arms to the Aliyev regime.”

In a letter, dated March 14th, ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian requested an in-person meeting, underscoring that President Biden’s waiver has compounded “the Biden-Harris Administration’s failure to condemn Azerbaijan’s aggression or hold its dictatorial Aliyev regime accountable for documented war crimes, violations of international law, and U.S. arms export controls.”

The text of the letter is provided below and is available online here.

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March 14, 2022

The Honorable Joseph Biden
President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Biden:

I am writing to request a meeting with you to discuss your pending decision to waive or enforce Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, our nation’s longstanding statutory restriction on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan.

We make this request – in the interest of governmental transparency – deeply troubled by your decision of last April 23rd, just one day prior to the global day of remembrance for the Armenian Genocide, to waive this law in the wake of Baku’s 2020 ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and amid its ongoing attacks across the Armenian homeland.

Your waiver of Section 907 compounds the Biden-Harris Administration’s failure to condemn Azerbaijan’s aggression or hold its dictatorial Aliyev regime accountable for documented war crimes, violations of international law, and U.S. arms export controls. The recently released Government Accountability Office report on this subject thoroughly documents these failings.

Oil-rich Azerbaijan does not need and surely does not deserve a single dollar in U.S. taxpayer-funded military aid. As citizens deeply invested in this issue, we ask to meet with you at your earliest opportunity to discuss our government’s enforcement of Section 907.

Sincerely,

Raffi Hamparian
ANCA Chairman

cc: Members of Congress