Over 100 members of Congress urge Secretary Rubio to withhold U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan

Over 100 members of Congress – 26 Senators and 75 Representatives – have called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to withhold U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan, citing Baku’s sentencing of unlawfully detained Armenian prisoners, destruction of Armenian Christian heritage, and continued military occupation of sovereign Armenian territory.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) backed bicameral, bipartisan letter was led by Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and garnered support from Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and a number of Senate and House committee and subcommittee leaders. The letter responds to the Trump Administration’s decision to extend the waiver of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, reauthorizing U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan. President Trump first waived Section 907 in August 2025, following a White House summit with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and notified Congress in July 2026 of his intention to extend that waiver.

“The U.S. Congress has spoken – on a bipartisan, bicameral basis. In the wake of the overwhelming 44-7 House Foreign Affairs Committee vote demanding Azerbaijan release Armenian hostages, over 100 legislators from more than 25 states today called on the Trump Administration to enforce Section 907 and stop U.S. arms and aid to oil-rich Azerbaijan,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “The corrupt and genocidal Aliyev regime neither needs nor deserves American generosity – especially when so many Americans are facing economic hardship here at home.”

Hamparian continued, “President Trump’s waiver of the Section 907 statutory restrictions on U.S. arms and aid to Baku sets back the cause of peace, emboldening Ilham Aliyev to double down on his abuse of Armenian hostages, destruction of Christian churches, occupation of Armenian territory, and refusal to allow the safe, collective, and protected return of refugees to their indigenous Artsakh homeland. Armenian and allied Americans extend our thanks to Senator Peters and to all those – starting with Senator Schiff, and Representatives Bilirakis and Pallone – who joined with him in leading this pro-accountability initiative.”

In February 2026, Azerbaijan sentenced 16 Armenian detainees – political and military leaders of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) held since Azerbaijan’s 2023 assault – to terms ranging from 15 years to life. International human rights organizations, legal experts, and the European Parliament widely condemned the proceedings as a miscarriage of justice. Armenian detainees have been subjected to torture and abuse in custody and denied fundamental legal rights. In September 2025, Azerbaijan expelled the International Committee of the Red Cross, the only organization authorized to visit the prisoners. June 23, 2026, marked the one-thousandth day of their unlawful detention.

“It is clear that the decision to waive Section 907 has not induced Azerbaijan’s engagement on ensuring the release of POWs,” stated the lawmakers in their letter to Secretary Rubio. “As a result, we are concerned that Azerbaijan’s inconsistent behavior jeopardizes the prospect of a just and long-lasting peace in the region – and that the continued waiver of Section 907 without a commitment to addressing these concerns will only further encourage destabilizing actions.”

In the October 5th letter, lawmakers also cite the destruction of Armenian churches in Nagorno-Karabakh, including the reported demolition in April 2026 of two cathedrals in Nagorno Karabakh capital, Stepanakert, and Azerbaijan’s entrenched military presence on an estimated 241 square kilometers of internationally recognized Armenian territory following illegal incursions in 2021 and 2022. They note that Armenia returned four Azerbaijani enclave villages in May 2024, while Baku has not matched that step with a withdrawal of its own forces.

Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act prohibits U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan until it has taken demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and other offensive uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Congress granted the President annual waiver authority in 2002. That waiver was exercised every year until President Biden enforced the restriction in 2024, following the genocidal ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and sustained bipartisan pressure, including the Senate’s unanimous passage of the Armenian Protection Act (S. 3000), co-led by then-Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Gary Peters.

The signatories urge the Administration to withhold U.S. military assistance unless Azerbaijan takes meaningful steps to release the Armenian prisoners, protect Armenian cultural heritage from further destruction, and withdraw its forces from sovereign Armenian territory.