ANCA Welcomes His Holiness Aram I’s Leadership in Calling on the Trump Administration to Secure Azerbaijan’s Release of Armenian POWs

February 7, 2025

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) strongly supports the leadership of His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, in urging U.S. President Donald Trump to take decisive action to secure the immediate and unconditional release of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) and hostages illegally detained in Azerbaijan.

In a letter sent to President Trump, His Holiness Aram I called on the newly inaugurated administration to press Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to release dozens of Armenians, including former Artsakh presidents, prime ministers, and political figures, who have been unlawfully imprisoned for over a year. These detainees have been subjected to closed-door trials, denied due process, and suffered severe human rights abuses in direct violation of international law.

“His Holiness Aram I has been a tireless advocate for Armenian rights and religious freedom worldwide,” stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We applaud his leadership in seeking the release of Armenian hostage and the rightful return of Armenians to Artsakh, and, more broadly, echo his call upon President Trump to help secure a just and enduring peace.”

His Holiness’ appeal follows Azerbaijan’s September 2023 ethnic cleansing of Artsakh’s indigenous Armenian population, which forced over 120,000 Armenians to flee their homeland. Despite overwhelming international condemnation, Azerbaijan has faced no meaningful consequences for its war crimes. Human rights organizations, including Freedom House, have documented Azerbaijan’s targeted destruction of Armenian cultural heritage, systematic torture of prisoners, and military occupation of sovereign Armenian territory.

Throughout his tenure as a spiritual leader, Aram I has been an outspoken advocate for Armenian rights, regularly addressing the international community on the ongoing threats posed by Azerbaijan’s aggression. Aram I’s direct appeal builds on his history of engagement with U.S. leaders on issues of religious freedom and human rights. During President Trump’s first term, the Catholicos played a key role in advocating for Christian communities under threat in the Middle East and South Caucasus. In 2017, he met with senior Trump administration officials to discuss the plight of Armenians, Syriacs, and other persecuted Christian minorities. His efforts helped draw attention to the need for U.S. humanitarian assistance to communities affected by war and displacement. More recently, in the days leading up to the November 2024 election, His Holiness and President held a phone consultation regarding Azerbaijan’s ethnic-cleansing of Artsakh. His letter today reminds President Trump of his pre-election commitment, in which Trump condemned Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Artsakh’s Armenians and called for their right to return home.

The ANCA continues to call for immediate U.S. action to secure the release of Armenian POWs, including the enforcement of foreign aid restrictions on Azerbaijan and the imposition of targeted sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against Azerbaijani officials responsible for war crimes.

“Azerbaijan’s actions are a blatant attempt to erase any remaining Armenian presence in Artsakh and rewrite history through state-sponsored desecration,” added Hamparian. “We stand with His Holiness Aram I and urge the Trump Administration to act decisively in securing Azerbaijan’s immediate release of all Armenian prisoners.”

For more information on ANCA’s advocacy efforts, visit www.anca.org.

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The Honorable Donald Trump
President of the United States of America
Washington D.C., U.S.A.

Dear Mr. President,

It gives me special joy to greet you on the occasion of your inauguration as the 47th President of the United States of America. I pray that with your triumphant return to the White House, a “Golden Age” will be opened in the modern history of the United States.

I followed with great interest your inaugural speech. It was a clear outline of your priorities, driven by strong faith and firm commitment. Mr. President, in your speech you presented yourself as a “peace-maker.” A challenging engagement indeed, in a world torn apart by many tensions and conflicts. I believe that the U.S.A. is in a unique position to embark on such a courageous mission. A mission which will undoubtedly open a promising course in world history.

In your pre-electoral statement, you have rightfully condemned Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Artsakh’s (Nagorno Karabagh) Armenian Christians, emphasized the right of indigenous Armenians to return to their Artsakh homeland, and called for the restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Upon your election, the world looks to you to act upon these commitments, affirming your role as global peace-maker.

Therefore, I would like to draw your kind attention to an issue which continues to cause deep sorrow and concern to all Armenians around the world. Dozens of Armenian hostages have been illegally held in Baku, Azerbaijan for more than a year. The de facto closed-door trials of sixteen of these, former presidents, prime ministers and political leaders of Artsakh, began on January 17, 2025, without international observers or even minimal due juridical process.

Mr. President, the Armenian people will highly appreciate, if you appeal to President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, to release immediately and unconditionally these prisoners, in accord with Azerbaijan’s own obligations under international law. Such a move will significantly advance the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, help foster good will and a constructive environment conducive to the return Armenians to Artsakh, promote mutual understanding across the region, and provide a concrete expression of your peace-making mission.

May God protect and lead you as you assume this critical mission at a crucial juncture of world history. I very much look forward to the opportunity to continue our dialogue in person.

Prayerfully

ARAM I
ARMENIAN CATHOLICOS OF CILICIA