ANCA-Led Capitol Hill Observance Highlights Calls for POW Release and the Right of Return for Artsakh Armenians
Congressional leaders joined with Armenian Americans and allies from across the country on April 2nd for the annual Capitol Hill observance of the Armenian Genocide, issuing bipartisan calls for Azerbaijan’s immediate release of Armenian prisoners, the right of return for displaced Artsakh Armenians, and U.S. sanctions on both the Aliyev and Erdogan regimes for war crimes and genocidal ethnic cleansing, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
The solemn remembrance – titled “Reversing the 2023 Artsakh Genocide | Remembering the 1915-23 Armenian Genocide,” held in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center’s HVC-215 room, featured powerful testimony and policy demands to hold Turkey and Azerbaijan accountable for their genocidal crimes against the Armenian nation.
“The crime did not end in 1915 — it continues today,” stated ANCA Chairman George Aghjayan, who offered a poignant personal reflection on genocide survival, sharing the story of his great-aunt, who witnessed the beheading of her father and spent six years enslaved before being rescued. Then, recalling his 2020 trip to Artsakh just days after the war, he described seeing the same fear and devastation on the faces of displaced children that his grandmother had once carried. “These are not separate events. They are tied together,” he stressed. “What Armenians have always wanted is to live in peace — but that peace must be just, and it must be durable. As Armenian Americans, we demand action.”
Hosted by the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues with the support of the ANCA and the Armenian Assembly, the Capitol Hill program served as the capstone to two days of intensive grassroots advocacy organized by the ANCA Eastern Region and Western Region. As part of ANCA Advocacy Days, hundreds of activists from across the U.S. met with their Senators and Representatives on April 1st and 2nd to advance pro-Armenian legislative priorities.
The event was live-streamed on ANCA’s social media platforms and is available for viewing on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQVg4Xu9t_w.
A dozen U.S. Senate and House members shared remarks and offered support for the event including Senators Cory Booker (NJ), Andy Kim (NJ), Ed Markey (MA), and Adam Schiff (CA), Congressional Armenian Caucus Founding Co-Chair Frank Pallone (NJ) and Vice Chair Brad Sherman (CA) and Representatives Gabe Amo (RI), Herb Conaway (NJ), Jim Costa (CA), Laura Friedman (CA), George Latimer (NY), and Jim McGovern (MA).
Sen. Ed Markey reaffirmed his long-standing support for the Armenian American community, condemning Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and urging immediate U.S. action to defend Armenian rights and sovereignty. “Azerbaijani forces have committed documented war crimes… These crimes demand accountability,” stated Sen. Markey, as he announced a letter to the State Department urging Global Magnitsky sanctions on Azerbaijani officials responsible for atrocities. He also called for the release of Armenian POWs, noting Azerbaijan’s recent expulsion of the International Committee of the Red Cross and ongoing violations of international law. “The United States must use every diplomatic and economic tool at its disposal to secure the immediate release of these detainees,” he urged. Recounting his recent trip to Baku with Rep. Frank Pallone to participate in the United Nations COP-29 summit, Markey described the heightened security required during their visit — including government-assigned bodyguards who insisted on sweeping their hotel rooms for threats — as a stark reflection of the regime’s oppressive environment. “We went to deliver the message to the Azerbaijani government that Armenia and its rights must be protected,” he said. Concluding on a note of determined solidarity, he pledged: “We must ensure a resolution that guarantees Armenian sovereignty, the release of prisoners, and the right of return for the people of Artsakh.”
Sen. Adam Schiff delivered a stirring message centered on historical justice, cultural memory, and urgent policy action. He chronicled the Armenian Genocide through the story of Leo Kolegian, a survivor who rebuilt his life in California, and tied that history directly to modern-day ethnic cleansing in Artsakh. “Turkey’s denial has become a genocide on top of a genocide… an erasure of memory and of history,” stated Sen. Schiff. He condemned Azerbaijan’s 2023 assault and blockade, describing how “the Aliyev regime took control of Artsakh… and ethically cleansed the indigenous Armenian population.” Schiff also announced that he had submitted a provision to this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) directing the U.S. to prioritize securing the release of Armenian POWs and missing persons. “Congress must remain focused on those being held and those still missing… I am standing firm, and you have my word, that I will always stand firm alongside the Armenian community.”
Sen. Andy Kim, newly elected to the U.S. Senate, offered heartfelt remarks rooted in his academic and diplomatic background focused on preventing genocide and mass atrocities. A former U.S. State Department official and national security expert, Kim emphasized that the Armenian Genocide is not just a historical tragedy, but a living lesson in preventing future atrocities. “I actually dedicated my entire academic work, my entire PhD dissertation to genocides and mass atrocities throughout history,” stated Sen. Kim. “I stand before you to pay tribute and recognize the past, but also to stand alongside you going forward to make sure that we have to be able to deliver for your kids and your grandkids a better peaceful world that you and your families deserve.”
Rep. Frank Pallone offered a sweeping assessment of U.S. policy challenges and reiterated bipartisan support for Armenian rights and regional security. He condemned Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and expressed grave concern about the broader goals of Armenia’s adversaries. “Our fear is that Azerbaijan and Turkey—Armenia’s neighbors who are not friends—have an ultimate goal to just eliminate the Republic of Armenia itself,” warned Rep. Pallone. He reaffirmed support for international pressure to release Armenian political prisoners and restore the right of return for Artsakh Armenians. “We still believe that Artsakh should be its own Armenian Republic… We still believe people should have the right to return,” stated Pallone. He concluded by urging deeper U.S.-Armenia ties, including military assistance: “We have to arm Armenia… to make them strong militarily as well as economically.”
Rep. Brad Sherman, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs, delivered an unflinching indictment of Azerbaijan’s crimes and Turkey’s active complicity in the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh. “Yes, Aliyev displaced the people of Artsakh, but he didn’t do it without Erdogan,” stated Rep. Sherman, condemning Turkey’s military support for Azerbaijan. Drawing on his 28 years of service on the committee overseeing arms exports, Sherman made his position on weapons sales to Turkey unmistakably clear: “F-16s? No. F-35s? Hell no!” He also underscored the ongoing humanitarian crisis facing over 100,000 displaced Armenians and stressed that “until Artsakh’s Armenians are able to return to their homes, the United States must provide aid to Armenia.” Looking to the future, Sherman closed with a hopeful pledge: “I look forward to visiting Stepanakert when once again the people who live there can live there in peace and in freedom.”
Rep. Jim McGovern, a longtime ally of the Armenian American community, delivered a passionate call for U.S. action rooted in both remembrance and accountability. Representing Worcester, home to the oldest Armenian community in the United States, McGovern reflected on years attending Genocide commemorations where survivors once filled the front pews. “It took far too long to acknowledge what some wanted the world to forget,” said Rep. McGovern, underscoring the importance of grassroots advocacy in achieving Armenian Genocide recognition. Turning to the present crisis, he urged immediate action to “free the Armenians still being held prisoner in Azerbaijan” and condemned the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Artsakh. As international actors discuss a potential peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, McGovern stressed that any such deal must be durable, enforceable, and grounded in justice. “We want a peace agreement that is real… not just a peace agreement on paper,” he said, pledging, “You have my word that I will be wind at your back.”
Rep. Laura Friedman, representing the largest Armenian American constituency in the United States, offered powerful, deeply personal remarks rooted in decades of public service alongside the Armenian community. From her early work in Glendale to her leadership in California’s Legislative Armenian Caucus, Friedman has championed Genocide recognition, cultural preservation, and justice for Artsakh. She recalled her travels to Armenia and Artsakh, where she visited centuries-old churches, graveyards, and heritage sites tied directly to her constituents’ ancestors. “To now see photos of those very same cultural legacy sites destroyed by Azerbaijan is absolutely heartbreaking,” stated Rep. Friedman. “This is being done… to erase the history of that region and to try to pretend as though Artsakh and Armenia are not the absolute heart and soul of the Armenian people.” Emphasizing both the right to return and self-determination, she pledged to ensure U.S. leadership in any peace process involving Armenia and Azerbaijan: “I will do my best to ensure that when Armenia is at that negotiating table, it’s the full force of the United States standing beside and behind Armenia… and the people of Artsakh get the justice that so long has been denied.”
Rep. Herb Conaway delivered principled remarks grounded in his understanding of history, justice, and the fight against authoritarianism. A son of a history teacher and newly pledged member of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, he emphasized the need to protect truth from erasure and preserve the dignity of oppressed peoples. “People who engage in aggression strike at the history of a people—they want to erase the history,” stated Rep. Conaway. “The United States must exert its leadership… working with others to ensure that free peoples remain free, and that we always stand for what is true and what is right.” He reaffirmed his commitment to human rights and pledged to be a reliable ally in advancing Armenian American priorities in Congress.
Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) sent a poignant poster featuring the Armenian Genocide Memorial at Fresno State University—the only such memorial on a U.S. college campus.
Actor, writer, and producer Joe Manganiello offered a moving reflection on his great-grandmother’s survival of the Armenian Genocide and the legacy of generational trauma it left behind. In recounting her harrowing escape from Kharpert, Manganiello described how she survived a bullet wound, swam across the Euphrates River with her last remaining child, and ultimately came to the United States — only to lose that child to drowning along the way. “I feel like I answered a message in a bottle that was thrown out by her in 1915,” he said, describing his recent journey to Armenia and the emotional moment of planting a tree at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan. “We’re in danger of the culture being lost,” he warned. “As the turbulence rises in that area of the world, we have to get out there and protect that homeland.” Emphasizing the need for truth and advocacy, he added, “There are so many people out there that don’t know that the genocide exists until we say it. So let everybody know. Make sure that they do know. And let’s all heal together.”
The evening began with an invocation by Rev. Father Sarkis Aktavoukian of Soorp Khatch Armenian Church in Bethesda, MD. “We ask you, Lord, to look with your mercy on the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh, whose sovereign territory has been breached by those who would see the entire Armenian nation and its people erased from the face of the earth,” prayed Rev. Aktavoukian. “We also pray for a just solution for the people of Artsakh, as well as for the return of the prisoners of war captured by Azerbaijan during the 44-day war of 2020 and have yet to be released.”
Keith Nahigian, president of Nahigian Strategies and co-founder at Big Whig Media, served as master of ceremonies for the evening. He reflected on his Armenian American journey and the enduring mission to preserve truth, justice, and memory. He praised the ANCA and Armenian Assembly for educating generations of elected officials and youth alike about the Armenian Genocide and the modern-day threats faced by Armenia and Artsakh. “This mission will never be over because the threat against the Christian people will never end,” Nahigian said, recounting the story of his great-grandfather’s murder and the miraculous survival of his grandfather during the Armenian Genocide. “It was these two organizations that helped educate us when we came to Washington to learn about our heritage. That’s why I was honored to help shine a light on the ethnic cleansing in Artsakh over the past few years through the 120,000 Reasons campaign.”
Taleen Yacoubian, Co-Chair of the Armenian Assembly of America, emphasized that the Capitol Hill observance was not only a moment of mourning, but also a mobilization for justice. Reflecting on her testimony earlier that day before the House Appropriations Subcommittee and her meetings with dozens of Armenian American college students, Yacoubian spoke to the heartbreak of continuing to advocate for fundamental rights more than a century after the Armenian Genocide. “The Armenian people have endured genocide, exile, and erasure. But we are still here. And we are not asking for charity. We are demanding accountability, security, and peace,” she stated. “We ask America not just to remember history, but to help shape its course… to secure the release of the hostages, and to ensure a lasting peace for a people who have suffered too long.”
The annual Capitol Hill commemoration serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for justice—not just remembrance. The ANCA’s focus remains clear: enforce the statutory prohibition on U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan, impose Magnitsky sanctions on Azerbaijani war criminals, ensure the release of Armenian prisoners of war, secure the right of return for Artsakh’s displaced Armenians under international protection, and press for a balanced peace that rejects threats of force and affirms Armenia’s sovereignty. The ANCA will continue to demand accountability from Turkey and Azerbaijan and urge the U.S. to take decisive action against their genocidal policies.