Title: Condemning Azerbaijan's military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh and denouncing Turkish interference in the conflict.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution condemns Azerbaijan's military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed region also known as Artsakh, and denounces Turkey's participation in the conflict. The resolution reaffirms U.S. support of efforts to secure an agreement from Azerbaijan to cease military operations against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1165 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1165

  Condemning Azerbaijan's military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh and 
            denouncing Turkish interference in the conflict.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 1, 2020

 Ms. Speier (for herself, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. 
   Sherman, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. 
 McGovern, Mr. Costa, Mr. Cooper, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Mr. Ted 
 Lieu of California, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Deutch, Mr. Levin of 
   Michigan, Mr. Cardenas, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Langevin, Mrs. 
 Napolitano, Ms. Meng, Mr. Cox of California, Mr. Rouda, Ms. Gabbard, 
 Ms. Omar, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Ms. Sanchez, Mrs. 
Watson Coleman, Mr. Cisneros, Mr. Sires, Mr. Nunes, Mr. Gottheimer, and 
Ms. Pressley) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Condemning Azerbaijan's military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh and 
            denouncing Turkish interference in the conflict.

Whereas, beginning on September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan has engaged in the most 
        significant military operation along the line of contact into Nagorno-
        Karabakh since the signing of the cease-fire agreement between 
        Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1994;
Whereas this attack follows increasingly aggressive rhetoric and destabilizing 
        actions on the part of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev's government 
        toward Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, including a July 2020 Defense 
        Ministry threat to bomb Armenia's Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant;
Whereas Azerbaijan's ongoing military offensive, which includes the shelling of 
        Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh's most densely populated city with a 
        population of 55,200, has resulted in at least dozens of civilians 
        killed and hundreds wounded and, as of September 30, 2020, the threat to 
        civilians continues;
Whereas, as of September 30, 2020, the conflict has resulted in the deaths of at 
        least 84 Nagorno-Karabakh servicemembers, and both Armenia and 
        Azerbaijan have declared martial law, mobilized their Armed Forces, and 
        called up Reserve Forces;
Whereas the Guardian reports that Azerbaijan's military actions in Nagorno-
        Karabakh may be part of a planned military operation;
Whereas the conflict follows joint military exercises conducted by Turkey and 
        Azerbaijan in August 2020;
Whereas, according to multiple reports, including the Washington Post, Reuters, 
        and the Guardian, in the weeks prior to Azerbaijan's military operation 
        Turkey recruited mercenaries from Syria and, as of September 29, 2020, 
        has facilitated their deployment to Azerbaijan;
Whereas the BBC, New York Times, and Washington Post have reported on the 
        Armenian Foreign Ministry's claim that Turkey is operating F-16 fighter 
        jets in the region and the claim that on September 29, 2020, Turkey shot 
        down an Armenian Su-25 fighter jet in Armenian airspace, killing the 
        pilot;
Whereas the conflict has the potential to escalate into proxy warfare among 
        regional powers, including Turkey, and to further entrench the conflict 
        and threaten peace and stability in the region;
Whereas the United States serves as a co-chair of the Minsk Group along with 
        France and Russia, and the co-chairs have urged a cease-fire and urged 
        the parties to return to substantive negotiations as soon as possible; 
        and
Whereas the European Union and the United Nations support a peaceful resolution 
        and immediate cease-fire: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns Azerbaijan's continued aggressive military 
        operations in Nagorno-Karabakh and breaches of the cease-fire 
        agreement;
            (2) denounces Turkey's reported participation in and 
        escalation of the conflict under President Tayyip Erdogan;
            (3) supports an immediate return to the cease-fire 
        agreement along the line of contact between Nagorno-Karabakh 
        and Azerbaijan and a peaceful solution which protects all 
        parties' human rights and joins with other countries supporting 
        the same goals; and
            (4) reaffirms United States support of the Organization for 
        Security and Co-operation in Europe Minsk Group efforts to 
        secure an agreement from Azerbaijan to cease offensive military 
        operations against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia and to accept 
        independent third-party monitoring along the line of contact.
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