Christian Leaders Urge Trump to Help Free 24 Christian Hostages in Azerbaijan
A coalition of Christian leaders recently signed a letter to President Donald Trump to take action on behalf of 23 Christian Armenians and one Azeri Christian convert currently detained in Azerbaijan. The letter, published March 11, was led by advocacy group Save Armenia and features notable signatories, including former United States Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, Christian artist and missionary Sean Feucht, National Religious Broadcasters President and CEO Troy Miller, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Commissioner David Curry, Save the Persecuted Christians Executive Director Dede Laugesen and civil rights activist Alveda King.
The letter was also signed by former Rep. Michelle Bachman, R-Minn., who now serves as the dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University, and Jim Garlow, former pastor of Skyline Church in California, The Christian Post reported.
"Almost two years ago, Azerbaijan ethnically cleansed more than 120,000 Christian Armenians out of their ancestral homes, while the Biden administration refused to take action to stop the ethnic cleansing or punish the perpetrators of that crime," the leaders explained.
"Since then, the same regime has been holding 23 Christian Armenian hostages and one Azeri Christian convert, who are being subjected to routine torture, according to credible reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross, the only organization with access to
check on the well-being of the prisoners, was ordered to leave the country in recent days."
They also acknowledged how Trump was able to get Hamas to free the Israeli hostages "out of fear" of his administration and contended that only he can rescue the Christian hostages. Regarding the Azeri regime, the leaders noted that Hamas congratulated them and strongly supported "the ethnic cleansing of the 120,000 Armenians."
"Mr. President, we humbly ask that you utilize the authority of your office to stand for and with these 24 Christian lives and once again send a message that murder and persecution of Christians around the world will no longer be tolerated. We are one blood, one human race," the letter concluded.
In May of last year, Azerbaijan was listed as one of the world's worst violators of religious freedom by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, with the watchdog warning of a decline of religious freedom following the territorial dispute between Nagorno-Karabakh and the state.
Azerbaijan was also named on the advocacy group International Christian Concern's "Persecutors of the Year" report in 2023.
"Azerbaijan's end game is clear: to rid its borders of Christianity either by forcing the Armenian people and their faith out of Azerbaijan or destroying the people and historical sites," the ICC report stated. It cited rhetoric used by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev to describe Armenians, specifically highlighting his characterization of the group as "barbarians, rats, and vandals."
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Constantinis
Originally published March 20, 2025.
