BAKU, Azerbaijan / WASHINGTON—Amid Aliyev-government repression and intimidation during the COP29 climate conference in Baku — with their personal safety on the line — Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Congressional Armenian Caucus founding co-chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) championed the right of return of Artsakh’s ethnically cleansed Armenian population and advocated for Azerbaijan’s immediate release of Armenian hostages, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
“We join with Armenians across our homeland and diaspora in thanking Senators Markey and Whitehouse, and of course, Armenian Caucus founding co-chair Frank Pallone for demanding the freedom of Armenian hostages and the return of Artsakh’s Armenians,” stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Baku’s attempt to hijack COP29 to greenwash its crimes have backfired — succeeding only in shining a global spotlight on the Aliyev regime’s corruption and pollution, aggression and repression.”
During press conferences in Baku and Washington D.C., Senators Whitehouse, Markey and Rep. Pallone pressed against Azerbaijani government and pro-Aliyev media efforts to greenwash the genocide of Artsakh’s 120,000 indigenous Armenian population and ongoing illegal imprisonment of 23 Armenian hostages and hundreds of Azerbaijani political prisoners.
During a November 16 COP29 press conference in Baku, when confronted by an Azerbaijani TV reporter about why the U.S. had not sanctioned Armenia, Senator Whitehouse replied, “Senator Markey and I support Armenia, both of us. We are very regretful that the dislocation of so many Armenians has taken place. To put it mildly, I’m far from convinced that Armenians are to blame for that. And I don’t want to dwell in the home of my hosts on human rights issues, but if that were to be the topic, I would not be very complimentary.”
Senator Markey was direct in his response: “We believe that the political prisoners should be released. We believe there should be a right of return of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh. And we believe that there should be a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia.”
Sen. Markey: “We could not ignore the climate of fear and repression just outside the [COP29] conference walls.”
Upon their return from Baku on Monday, at a Capitol Hill press conference, Sen. Markey and Rep. Pallone detailed Azerbaijan’s worsening human rights violations broadly and their fear for their personal safety during the COP29 climate summit.
“COP29 in Azerbaijan offered a unique opportunity to promote clean energy and regional cooperation, but it is critical for the United States to address the significant challenges posed by ongoing human rights violations and unresolved territorial conflicts in Azerbaijan,” stated Sen. Markey. “We must draw attention to Azerbaijan’s unacceptable human rights record and promote positive change. We cannot be silent. We cannot ignore the hostile climate in which the conference is right now still taking place.”
In a meeting with Aliyev’s presidential advisor Hikmet Hajiyev, Sen. Markey was blunt: “The Azerbaijani government must immediately and unconditionally release all Armenian and Azeri political prisoners, guarantee the right of return for ethnic Armenian civilians to Nagorno-Karabakh, and negotiate in good faith a peace agreement with Armenia that protects regional peace and internationally agreed-upon borders.”
Rep. Pallone: “I thought there was going to be an assault on me […] that this is orchestrated by the [Aliyev] government.”
During the Washington, D.C. press conference, Rep. Pallone described the repeated and “synchronized” efforts by pro-Aliyev “protesters or thugs” at COP29 to assault the 30-year Congressional Armenian Caucus founding co-chair for his outspoken support for Artsakh self-determination and Armenia security. “If it wasn’t for the fact that U.S. Embassy-hired [bodyguards] protected me, I would have been in the hospital. And it was serious. I just want to be honest. It was very serious.” Sen. Markey concurred, noting, “Like Frank [Pallone], I felt I had to have a bodyguard with me at all times. Even in the lobby of the hotel, even going up to my room.”
Rep. Pallone described his pre-COP29 hopes that the Azerbaijani government would use the opportunity to release political prisoners. Instead, “a couple of days before the conference, President Aliyev started attacking the French, started attacking the Dutch to the point where they didn’t even come to the conference, and started cranking down even more, if that’s possible, on human rights and jailing more prisoners,” explained Rep. Pallone, who called Azerbaijan’s actions “incredibly stupid.”
Rep. Pallone, who was banned by Azerbaijani authorities from the congressional delegation meeting with President Aliyev, confirmed that his Republican and Democrat colleagues told the petrostate dictator, “You cannot be aggressive against Armenia. You have to come to a peace agreement. And it would involve releasing the prisoners,” and, predictably, President Aliyev “blamed Armenia for the war, he blamed Armenia for everything. […] this was not a situation where there was any reason to believe that President Aliyev is moving towards some kind of peaceful settlement, releasing the prisoners, anything of that nature.”
In a subsequent press statement, Rep. Pallone remarked, “Efforts to stifle myself and Senator Markey only strengthen my resolve to fight for accountability, reform and the dignity of those who have suffered under Azerbaijan’s oppressive regime. I will continue to fight for the release of the Armenian prisoners being held in Baku, the protection of Armenian territorial sovereignty and removal of Azerbaijani troops from Armenian land, and for a fair and lasting peace deal that finally brings calm to the region.”
In the month leading up to the COP29 climate conference, Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) led an ANCA-backed bicameral letter, cosigned by 60 Senate and House members, calling for U.S. leadership to hold Azerbaijan accountable for committing war crimes, taking hostages and illegally occupying Armenian territory. In the October 3 letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. senators and representatives stated, “As COP29 approaches, we request that the State Department press Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the government of Azerbaijan to take tangible measures that support regional peace, uphold human rights protections, and adhere to international laws and norms.” They stressed that “despite overwhelming evidence and international condemnation, Azerbaijan has not faced meaningful consequences for the ethnic cleansing and other actions.”
The lawmakers went on to urge the State Department to “press for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, hostages, and POWs, including ethnic Armenians, to enable a more conducive environment for successful diplomacy at COP29.”
President Aliyev immediately rebuked the Pallone-Markey letter, rejecting what he called a “disgusting” letter from the U.S. lawmakers.
The United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) is the premier global climate summit organized under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The COP29 summit has been mired in controversy since Azerbaijan was announced as host at last year’s COP28 summit hosted in the UAE – making Azerbaijan the second petro-dictatorship with an egregious human rights record to host the conference in a row. Azerbaijan is one of the most fossil fuel-dependent economies in the world, with oil and gas comprising up to 90 percent of its exports and providing 60 percent of the government’s budget.
Baku was only granted the privilege of hosting COP29 after Armenia dropped its veto in exchange for the release of 32 Armenian POWs – one of many instances of Azerbaijan resorting to hostage diplomacy to impose demands on Armenia. To date, Azerbaijan continues to arbitrarily detain at least two dozen known Armenian prisoners of war and political prisoners – with many still unaccounted for, given Azerbaijan’s refusal to acknowledge or confirm their status. International human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have noted that these POWs have been subject to abuse and torture in detention – in brazen violation of international law.
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