Ambassador of Azerbaijan in USA Hafiz Pashayev met with congressmen

This explanation was given by the extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of Azerbaijan in USA Hafiz Pashayev in the meeting held with the representatives of the working group of Azerbaijan and the foreign affairs committee of the Representatives Chamber in the USA Congress.

According to the information spread by AzerTAJ, the diplomat specially stressed that conditions for holding march-rallies in the pre-election period, all candidates’ using the mass media means were provided. He reminded the last visit of the chairman of the Administrative Personnel of the USA National Democracy Institute lady Madeline Albright to Baku and informed that the former state secretary met with the heads of the opposition parties and non-governmental organizations and president of the country and she valued democratic reforms realized in Azerbaijan positively.

Hafiz Pashayev noted in his explanation to the correspondent of AzerTAJ that taking into consideration great interest in Washington to the parliamentary elections to be held in November, the embassy plans to hold meetings with the governmental structures of USA and systematically give information about the pre-election situation.

“Our first such meeting was very interesting. The Congress representatives asked me many questions and wanted to get information about not only elections, but also about economic development in Azerbaijan, relations of our country with the neighbor countries, existing situation in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and situation in the region”.

We should note that the foreign affairs committee of the Representatives Chamber of the Congress made a resolution on July 18 and called on the government of Azerbaijan to hold free and fair elections. The congressmen making speech in the sitting of the committee Ileana Ros-Letinen, Christopher Smith, Tom Lantos, Josef Krauli and Benjamin Cardin valued positively Azerbaijani government’s releasing several prisoners, opposition’s being able to use TV and radio, citizens’ using the right of freedom of speech and assembly widely. The members of the congress stressed that USA is interested in successful democratization and integration to the West of the society of Azerbaijan.

/APA/