AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT ISSUES PROTEST AGAINST US CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Trend
June 30 2009
Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani Parliamentary Committee on International Relations
and Inter-Parliamentary Relations and Committee on Economic Policy
issued protest against the House of Representatives of the US Congress.

The Azerbaijani parliament expressed its anxiety and protest against
the Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations and relevant programs
of the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress which decided to
allocate $10 million financial aid to the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh
regime as part of the 2010 budget of the Department of State.

The parliament believes that in reality, this is a decision in favor
of separatism runs counter the system of international relations
of the United States and does not contribute to the development of
relations of strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and the United
States at a time when cooperation between the two countries in the
fields of energy, regional security, combating international terrorism
and weapons of mass destruction military operations in Afghanistan,
the dialogue with the Islamic world reached a level of strategic
partnership, the process of negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict entered a very important stage, as well as at a time when
the U.S.’s mediation is necessary as co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Such assistance is contrary to the whole essence of the U.S.’s
activities as one of the mediators in the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and calls into question their objectivity
and impartiality, the Azerbaijani parliament said.

Any humanitarian assistance that the U.S. can render to
Nagorno-Karabakh must be coordinated with the Azerbaijani government
and the United States should give priority to activities highlighting
the fact that the Nagorno Karabakh is a territory of Azerbaijan,
the parliament said.

The parliamentarians also urged their American counterparts to cancel
the 907th amendment.