AGBU President Berge Setrakian wrote the following letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, calling on the Biden administration to facilitate the release of Armenians now detained in Azerbaijan.

Dear Secretary Blinken,

As the president of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), the world’s largest Armenian non-profit organization, headquartered in New York, I am writing to first thank you for your efforts to facilitate peace negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

In your June 20, 2024 call with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, you stated that the United States was committed to helping make the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29), set for this November in Azerbaijan’s capital city Baku, a success. To that end, you urged Azerbaijan to adhere to its international human rights obligations and commitments and release all those unjustly detained, and you called for Azerbaijan to do so expeditiously. That was two months ago. The U.S.’s “clear and consistent” position regarding detainees was stated again by your spokesperson just two weeks ago.

I speak on behalf of AGBU’s large and diverse membership from across the globe, but especially in the U.S., when I say we are growing increasingly concerned that your words have gone unheeded and will continue to be ignored. 

Importantly, we have not heard any news about the imminent release of Armenian prisoners, including eight former members of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) government, who were detained as they sought to flee along with more than 120,000 Armenians following the Azeri military assault last September. In one day, three former presidents of the Republic were arrested: Arayik Harutyunyan; Bako Sahakyan; Arkadi Ghukasyan; as well as other former officials, David Babayan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, Davit Ishkhanyan, and Davit Manukyan.  These are in addition to Ruben Vardanyan, former State Minister, and a former Board member of AGBU as well as a leading philanthropist who has done so much for Armenia and international humanitarian causes.

Equally disturbing is the fact that a number of Armenian prisoners of war remain held in violation of Azerbaijan’s 2020 pledge to release them, not to mention an unknown number of civilian hostages. These prisoners are being detained in clear violation of domestic and international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and European Convention on Human Rights, on which peace and stability in the region depend, and to which Azerbaijan is a state party. Every day matters for the lives of these young Armenian soldiers whose families have waited for almost four years for their safe return. The release of these prisoners is essential to achieving peace.

Certainly, the hosting of COP29 this November in Baku, much less Azerbaijan’s goal of making it the “COP of Peace,” will be seriously undermined should these prisoners remain in detention. And we have every reason to believe that if the prisoners are not released prior to COP, they certainly will not be released afterwards when there is no incentive for President Aliyev to act. 

Now is the time for the United States to exercise its leadership to maintain the international world order, especially with so many conflicts around the world that challenge the rules of engagement. America’s reputation as leader of the free world appears to be on the line in the face of so many wars and hostile aggressions destroying innocent lives. 

Armenians in the U.S. and across the globe remain deeply concerned about the fate of their fellow Armenians who have been held in captivity for far too long. We would appreciate an update of what is being done through your efforts to ensure the immediate release of all Armenian prisoners from Azerbaijan.

Many thanks for your attention and consideration.

Respectfully yours, 

Berge Setrakian, AGBU President