ArmInfo.The head of the intelligence committee of the US House of Representatives, Republican Devin Nunez, has called on the Trump administration to block all US arms sales to Turkey and suspend military aid to Azerbaijan. ArmInfo was informed about this by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
In a letter to Assistant Secretary of State Clark Cooper, who oversees issues such as military aid, arms sales and arms export controls, Congressman Nunez asked for an announcement that the US government "will block any new, pending or pending contracts for the sale or transfer of technology or equipment. military or dual use to Turkey or any other country that may transfer them by third parties to the government of Azerbaijan. "
ANCA Chairman Raffi Hambaryan announced his intention to work with Congressman Nunez to ensure that the Department of State immediately takes appropriate action related to the sale of US military equipment to Turkey and Azerbaijan, including sophisticated drone parts.
The ANCA - in addition to backing Congressman Nunes' calls for an end to arms sales to Ankara and military aid to Baku - is calling on the administration to immediately withdraw its waiver of section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, and Congress to revoke the White House's powers to suspend the full application of that law.
ANCA also calls on the administration to enact global Magnitsky sanctions against senior leaders of the Erdogan government in Turkey and the Aliyev government in Azerbaijan, based on their responsibility for serious human rights violations during Azerbaijan's aggression against Artsakh. IN ANCA also recalled that thanks to their efforts, a number of American companies have stopped or suspended the supply of components to Turkey. These firms include Garmin, Xilinx, Trimble, Beringer and ViaSat.
Amendment 907 was adopted by Congress in 1992 and prohibited the US administration from providing government assistance to Baku in connection with the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. For many years, Azerbaijani diplomacy has been striving to abolish the 907th amendment.
As ArmInfo previously reported, during his visit to Yerevan in 2018, the then US President's National Security Advisor John Bolton, did not rule out the cancellation of Amendment 907 by President Donald Trump and the sale of weapons to Azerbaijan. Suspension decision action has not yet been taken, and I cannot predict what it will be in terms of increasing the sale of weapons. But the situation is such that Armenia purchases most of its weapons from Russia, Azerbaijan also purchases more than 80% from the Russian Federation. This circumstance, of course, does not contribute to the settlement of the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict, "Bolton said then. And already in 2019, the Trump administration suspended the implementation of this amendment. This year, its non-implementation was extended for another year.