The US House Committee on Foreign Affairs has called on Azerbaijan to immediately release Armenian hostages by passing a relevant bill, ANCA reports.
The Sherman Amendment to bill H.R. 9087 was adopted by the full committee with 44 votes in favor and 7 against.
“Azerbaijan’s release of Armenian hostages, the safe return of refugees to Artsakh, and the withdrawal of Azerbaijani occupying forces from Armenian territory are non-negotiable preconditions for peace, not bargaining chips for Baku to force unilateral concessions from Armenia,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
As expected, the Parliament of Azerbaijan was displeased with this development. They called the passage of the bill an “attempt to use the US Congress as a tool of political pressure on Azerbaijan in the interests of the Armenian lobby.”
Baku expressed “particular outrage over the use of the terms ‘prisoners of war’ and ‘political prisoners’ in the bill.”
* This text has been automatically translated using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
