Milli Majlis: US Congress committee bill serves Armenian lobby interests

Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis (parliament) has strongly condemned a bill approved by the US House Foreign Affairs Committee on July 22, 2026, rejecting unfounded allegations against the country, Report informs.

In a statement, the parliament said it firmly rejects the claims contained in H.R. 9087, calling the initiative another attempt to use the US Congress as a political tool against Azerbaijan in the interests of the Armenian lobby.

The statement accused the bill's sponsor, Congressman Brad Sherman, of consistently advancing the political agenda of Armenian lobbying groups and described him as a political successor to former Senator Robert Menendez.

"It is clear that such initiatives put forward on the eve of the upcoming elections to the US Congress are by no means related to the intention of ensuring the national interests of the United States and aim to gain the political and financial support of influential lobby circles. Such a practice, which calls into question the objectivity of the adopted decisions, should be seriously investigated by the law enforcement agencies of the United States and receive the necessary legal assessment.

The initiative in question has been put forward within the framework of the long-standing campaign carried out by the Armenian lobby to discredit Azerbaijan. Exactly such a dirty mission is being carried out by Luis Moreno Ocampo, the former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. It is known to the international community that he prepares politically motivated opinions with the financial assistance of persons connected to Armenian chauvinist circles, including the Russian oligarch of Armenian descent Samvel Karapetyan. The same political line is also visible in the activities of a number of European parliamentary institutions, including the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Individual deputies of this institution, especially persons like Frank Schwabe, have been coming forward with unobjective and biased initiatives regarding Azerbaijan for a long time. All these actions are components of a precisely coordinated campaign carried out by the Armenian lobby across various international parliamentary platforms."

According to the Milli Majlis, the concerning fact is that such steps are being taken at a time when the peace agenda between Azerbaijan and Armenia is being consistently advanced:

"International efforts aimed at establishing a firm and long-term peace, especially the mediation initiative and direct support of United States President Donald Trump, have opened real opportunities for the normalization of relations between the two states. Under such circumstances, the attempts of individual congressmen to push through politically motivated unilateral decisions not only disrupt the atmosphere of trust, but also create an obstacle to the peace process.

Such actions only serve the interests of the radical chauvinist circles of the Armenian lobby. For decades, these circles have hindered the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and tried to maintain the confrontation, and now they are using regional tension to achieve their political and financial goals."

The Milli Majlis stated that the use of terms such as "prisoners of war" and "political prisoners" in the draft law regarding persons convicted by the courts of Azerbaijan causes particular outrage:

"These persons are not prisoners of war or political prisoners. They have been brought to criminal responsibility for committing military aggression, war crimes, enforced disappearance, torture, terrorism and other crimes stipulated by the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan and norms of international law. Attempts to portray them as victims of political persecution are a deliberate distortion of facts and a direct interference with the administration of justice by an independent state."

The Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan has called on the congressmen of the United States of America to abandon the practice of adopting decisions under the influence of organized Armenian lobby groups, to show respect for international law and the sovereignty of Azerbaijan, as well as not to become a tool in the hands of forces interested in disrupting the peace process and maintaining the confrontation in the South Caucasus.