U.S. Rep. Mike Carey Raises Armenian POWs Held in Baku During Congressional Trade Hearing
U.S. Rep. Mike Carey raised the continued detention of Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan during a congressional hearing on trade and critical supply chains, bringing the issue before a House committee that oversees U.S. trade policy.
Carey, an Ohio Republican, addressed the issue during a Sept. 2 House Ways and Means Committee hearing on strategic partnerships and access to critical resources.
He began by pointing to Armenia’s Christian heritage. Armenia is widely recognized as the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, traditionally dated to 301.
Carey then turned to Armenians imprisoned in Baku, including former political and military leaders of Artsakh, also known internationally as Nagorno-Karabakh.
Officially 19 Armenian captives are known to remain in Azerbaijani custody. Among them are former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan and former presidents Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan and Arayik Harutyunyan.
Azerbaijan occupied Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023 after a military offensive that forced the region’s more than 120,000 ethnic Armenian residents to flee to Armenia.
Azerbaijani authorities subsequently detained several members of the region’s former leadership.
The remarks brought the prisoners’ fate into a hearing centered on U.S. economic interests, supply-chain security and partnerships involving critical resources. The Ways and Means Committee has jurisdiction over U.S. trade policy.
The Armenian National Committee of America, which shows Carey’s remarks, welcomed his intervention and urged Congress to press Azerbaijan for the release of all Armenian captives held in Baku.
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