Azerbaijani-American Council concerned over U.S. Congress aid to Nagorno-Karabakh separatist regime

Azerbaijani Diaspora in the U.S. directly reacted on this decision voicing its concerns.

The Azerbaijani-American Council (AAC) has released a statement in this regard.

"To remind, in March 2009, the representatives of AAC and other Azeri-American organizations submitted witness testimonies to the U.S. Congress calling to stop the allocation of direct U.S. aid to Nagorno-Karabakh based on the fact that this unrecognized regime was established illegally, as a result of military occupation and ethnic cleansing," the statement said.

"Also in May of this year, reflecting upon these realities, President Obama’s FY 2010 proposal called for $4 million to Azerbaijan and $3 million to Armenia in Foreign Military Financing (FMF), $900,000 to Azerbaijan and $450,000 to Armenia in International Military Education and Training (IMET) assistance, $30 million in aid to Armenia and no aid for Nagorno-Karabakh."

“But the recent decision of U.S. lawmakers regarding the FY 2010 budget disregard these proposals on all counts, allocating aid to Nagorno-Karabakh, maintaining military parity and increasing aid to Armenia to $41 million," says the AAC statement.

Authors of the statement state that “The move adopted under the lobbying of paid special interest groups in the U.S. Congress not only maintains but increases the amount of U.S. taxpayers’ money sent to an unrecognized illegal entity established by Armenia on the occupied Azerbaijani territories."

AAC also says that “the position taken by the U.S. Congress contradicts the official position of the country expressed by the U.S. State Department that is, recognizing the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. But most importantly, at a time of severe economic recession and unprecedented increase in unemployment rate that our nation is experiencing, the U.S. legislators are essentially rewarding the regime responsible for acts of mass ethnic cleansing and are prolonging the suffering of over 800,000 Azeri IDPs unable to return to their homes."


/APA/