FREEDOM HOUSE OFFENDED AZERBAIJAN TWICE

News from Armenia – NEWS.am
18:13 / 12/14/2009

December 14, Azeri mass media appealed to U.S. Embassy in Baku,
attempting to learn Washington’s position on publication of Freedom
House NGO. NGO published map of Azerbaijan indicating disputable
Karabakh status and stated about allocation of U.S. aid totaling $8m
to NKR.

PR Officer of the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan Terry Davidson stated
that official stance of U.S. on Karabakh remains unchanged. "U.S. does
not recognize Government under Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. As for
assistance allocated by the Congress, our country grants it not to
government, but people. It is intended exceptionally for humanitarian
aid and projects like mine clearing. These projects are implemented
by NGOs. Simultaneously, U.S. also renders assistance to internally
displaced Azerbaijanis. I would like to restate that in last years we
supported large projects on mine clearing, built schools for internally
displaced people and sought to improve their living conditions through
various programs," said Davidson.

Commenting on Azeri’s discontent with the map published by Freedom
House as well as harsh criticism on critical state of democracy in the
country, Davidson advised to forward all questions to the organization,
emphasizing that U.S. Government bears no relation to it.