Category: 2022

WASHINGTON, DC – Powerful Congressional, community and coalition advocacy contributed to today’s US House passage of four Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)-backed amendments demanding Baku’s release of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs), calling for investigations into Azerbaijani war crimes, reporting on the impact of US military aid to Azerbaijan and placing restrictions on the sale of F-16s to Turkey.

Three of the measures were adopted as part of larger groupings, or blocs, of amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA – H.R.7900). The fourth, placing restrictions on F-16 sales to Turkey, passed by a vote of 244 to 179, withstanding powerful opposition from pro-Erdogan lobbyists during final days of consideration of the measure. The US House is expected to pass the underlying NDAA measures later Thursday evening.

“The ANCA thanks the Congressional leaders, coalition partners, and tens of thousands of ANCA activists from across the United States who made today’s victories possible,” said ANCA chairman Raffi Hamparian. “Working together – against deeply entrenched and powerfully vested interests – we are helping to protect Artsakh, promote Armenia, hold Azerbaijan accountable and stop the flow of US arms to Turkey.”

The four pro-Artsakh/Armenia amendments adopted by the U.S. House are provided below:

Amendment #121: Spearheaded by Representatives Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), and Adam Schiff (D-CA), the amendment calls for a report by the State Department and Defense Department that would detail the use of U.S. parts in Turkish drones used by Azerbaijan against Armenia and Artsakh; Azerbaijan’s use of white phosphorous, cluster bombs and other prohibited munitions deployed against Artsakh; Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters during the 2020 Artsakh war.

The amendment was adopted by voice vote as part of “en bloc 1” – a larger grouping of amendments to (H.R.7900).

Joining Representatives Tony Cardenas, Brad Sherman, and Adam Schiff (D-CA) as Congressional cosponsors of the bipartisan amendment include Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Judy Chu (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), James Langevin (D-RI), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Andy Levin (D-MI), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and David Valadao (R-CA).

Amendment #611: Introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the amendment expresses the sense of Congress that the government of Azerbaijan should immediately return all Armenian prisoners of war and captured civilians.   The amendment was adopted by voice vote as part of “en bloc 5” – a larger grouping of amendments to H.R.7900.

Joining Rep. Schiff as Congressional cosponsors of the bipartisan amendment include Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Young Kim (R-CA), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), James Langevin (D-RI), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Andy Levin (D-MI), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and David Valadao (R-CA).

Amendment #337: Introduced by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), the amendment directs the U.S. Department of State in coordination with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to:

1) document the State Department’s consideration of all waiver requirements of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act

2) report on whether U.S. security assistance to the government of Azerbaijan undermines efforts toward a peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan

3) provide an assessment of Azerbaijan’s use of offensive force against Armenia or violations of Armenian sovereign territory from November 11, 2020, to the date of the enactment of this Act.

In powerful remarks on the House floor, Rep. Frank Pallone condemned the annual U.S. presidential waiver of Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan and urged passage of the amendment.  “We don’t believe that there is any justification for waiving [Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act]  because of the constant threat that Azerbaijan poses not only to Nagorno Karabakh but also to Armenia itself, that continues ever since [the 2020] war.”

The amendment was adopted as part of “en bloc 3” – a larger grouping of amendments to the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R.7900) – by a vote of 362 to 64.

Joining Rep. Speier as congressional cosponsors of the bi-partisan measure include Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), James Langevin (D-RI), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Dina Titus (D-NV), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and David Valadao (R-CA).

Amendment #399: Led by Representatives Frank Pallone, Chris Pappas (D-NH), and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), the amendment places conditions upon the sale or transfer of F-16s or F-16 modernization kits to Turkey.

Rep. Pallone rallied Congressional support for the amendment during the floor debate prior to the vote. “The sale of American advanced fighter jets to Turkey will not incentivize Erdogan to suddenly transform into a good ally. More likely these weapons will lead to further death and destruction in the region. For far too long the United States has allowed Erdogan to dictate his terms and hide behind Turkey’s status as a NATO ally. He has avoided facing real-life consequences greater than a slap on the wrist for his flagrant violations of international law at home and abroad and it’s time we finally say enough is enough. This amendment will do just that and help take the leveraging power out of Erdogan’s dangerous autocratic hands,” argued Pallone.

Former Congressional Turkey Caucus Co-Chair Pete Sessions’ (D-TX) arguments – calling Erdogan a “reliable ally,” citing Committee jurisdictional issues, and questioning whether Turkey really violates Greek airspace – fell flat.

The measure was adopted by a bipartisan vote of 244 to 179.

Joining Representatives Pallone, Pappas and Bilirakis as co-sponsors of the bipartisan measure are Representatives David Cicilline (D-RI), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), James Langevin (D-RI), Andy Levin (D-MI), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Grace Meng (D-NY), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV).

In addition to the ANCA, the following US civil society organizations are on the record opposing the sale F-16s to Turkey: American Friends of Kurdistan, American Jewish Committee, Hellenic American Leadership Council, In Defense of Christians, Middle East Forum and PSEKA – International Coordinating Committee Justice for Cyprus.

Over the past weeks, in addition to nationwide grassroots call and Twitter campaigns, the ANCA Leo Sarkisian, Maral Melkonian Avetisyan and Hovig Apo Saghdejian Capital Gateway Program summer interns and fellows joined ANCA Government Affairs director Tereza Yerimyan in advocating for these pro-Artsakh/Armenia priorities in legislative briefings for over 100 Congressional offices, in addition to a broader office-by-office outreach campaign.

The ANCA will continue to work with Senate Armed Services Committee members include the adoption of these measures in their version of the FY 2023 NDAA, set to be discussed in the fall.

Yakov Altunyan in his vineyard in Hadrut before the 2020 Artsakh War

“We were living peacefully in Hadrut, when everything changed in a second,” Yakov Altunyan begins his story. Altunyan lived through three wars, lost his home and homeland and was forcibly displaced. The Weekly met not in his hometown, but in the Armenian city Abovyan.

Altunyan, 55, is from the village of Mets Tagher in the Hadrut region of Artsakh, which has been occupied by Azerbaijan since the 2020 war. However, the bitterness of the war and its aftermath knocked on Yakov’s door during the first Artsakh war in 1993, when at the age of 27 he was wounded by a mine during a reconnaissance and lost his legs. He made a wheelchair that he uses to “walk” with his hands.

Yakov with his wife Inga and two daughters

Altunyan believes that an Armenian man should build a house, create a family and plant a tree. After the first Artsakh war, he married Inga, and they had three children. Now his daughter, Mariam, has given them a grandchild. While rebuilding his grandfather’s house and adjusting to his “walking hands” wheelchair, he took the third step: planting a tree. He has been growing a vineyard since 2007 and made about 2,000 liters of wine from the Khndoghni grapes. Last year, he and his family planned to start their own winery. He also had two mulberry orchards, from which he made the famous Artsakh mulberry vodka.

The family also practiced beekeeping and gave pure honey to their relatives. Altunyan regrets how they left the ripe grapes in the field, wine and vodka in the cellar and famous Hadrutian pickled vegetables in clay, along with everything else in their village.

Producing honey

“On the 17th day after the start of the war, we left the village, because it was impossible to stay under the bombardment. Only the young people were left to defend the village. We left everything and moved to Abovyan. Of course, we thought we would definitely go back. Until the end, we believed that we would go back, that the ceasefires would be strong, but the next day it would start again,” Altunyan says.

Yakov Altunyan and his son Grigor in Abovyan (Photo: Laurent Renaux)

Altunyan’s only son Grigor was a conscript in the army during the war in one of the most intense areas of fighting. He takes pride in his son’s heroism on the battlefield, often proudly showing off the Medal of Courage he was awarded. 

Yakov Altunyan was awarded the Battle Cross/2nd class, Combat Service medal and the Conqueror medal

“We left the graves of our ancestors, our history, our past, our land, our nature, everything. We must take care of our past. It’s not just about remembering. It’s about keeping your footing strong,” Altunyan says. “Now we are in the air. We have no place to set foot. We have become like Western Armenia, because our past has been taken away from us. Maybe because we have remained faithful to humanity, and the centers of human civilization, the West, have been far from it. Now I understand that we should not have been so humane and Christian, because our opponent was not like that. I am not talking only about our enemy, Azerbaijan or Turkey. I am talking about the same centers of Western civilization. We are forgotten because our lives are worthless for them,” he continues. 

Altunyan, who has seen three wars, cannot help but compare them. 

“In the first Artsakh war, we thought about helping each other. The whole nation was united. Maybe the fuel was not enough, the living conditions were not good, but we helped each other. It did not matter if you knew the person in need or not. We all lived in common interest. During this war we were not like that. We were instilled with individuality in order to take victory away from us and change our values. The images of our leaders have also changed. Many generals have become businessmen. In the first war we did not have a professional army, but we had values. Our values have changed,” Altunyan says. 

When speaking about his plans for the future, his face sinks.

Yakov Altunyan gazes out at the vineyards of Hadrut

“A person starts from scratch again, several times in his life, and it is not bad, but we must unite again, rediscover ourselves, first as a nation, as a state. To start again, it is necessary to give Artsakh status and security guarantees. I am ready to become the first settler in liberated Hadrut, but now it is not realistic. It is only a great wish and dream. I do not have a house. The most important thing for me is to be attached to the ground, to plant a garden. That was my way of life. Now I do not know where my house and garden will be. But if I receive support, I am ready to go back and re-establish my house and vineyard in a handful of villages in Artsakh, and if that is not possible, to live and create in another part of Armenia,” Altunyan says.

Since the Weekly’s meeting with Altunyan, he and his family have moved back to Stepanakert to an apartment provided by the government. Officials have also promised him a home in a rural area where Altunyan hopes to once again have a vineyard and produce Artsakh wine.