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

IV 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. CA´RDENAS, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LAN- GEVIN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. MENG, Mr. COX of California, Mr. ROUDA, Ms. GABBARD, Ms. OMAR, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, 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 Af- fairs 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 sign- ing of the cease-fire agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1994; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1165.IH HR1165 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 1165 IH Whereas this attack follows increasingly aggressive rhetoric and destabilizing actions on the part of Azerbaijan Presi- dent 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 in- cludes 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 hun- dreds 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 ac- tions 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 Wash- ington 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1165.IH HR1165 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 1165 IH down an Armenian Su–25 fighter jet in Armenian air- space, 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 sta- bility 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 sup- port a peaceful resolution and immediate cease-fire: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) condemns Azerbaijan’s continued aggressive 2 military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh and 3 breaches of the cease-fire agreement; 4 (2) denounces Turkey’s reported participation 5 in and escalation of the conflict under President 6 Tayyip Erdog˘an; 7 (3) supports an immediate return to the cease- 8 fire agreement along the line of contact between 9 Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan and a peaceful 10 solution which protects all parties’ human rights and 11 joins with other countries supporting the same goals; 12 and 13 (4) reaffirms United States support of the Or- 14 ganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe 15 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1165.IH HR1165 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 1165 IH Minsk Group efforts to secure an agreement from 1 Azerbaijan to cease offensive military operations 2 against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia and to ac- 3 cept independent third-party monitoring along the 4 line of contact. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR1165.IH HR1165 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS