U.S. congressmen urge Senate to support Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh

In a period prior to the U.S. Senate consideration of the draft budget for foreign operations in 2010, a group of the U.S. congressmen called on the subcommittees of the Senate and House of Representatives for Assignments to support the article stipulating assistance to Azerbaijan, as well as other steps to enhance the U.S.-Azerbaijani relations, the Azerbaijani embassy in the U.S. said.

It implies extending moratorium on the 907th amendment. Members of the Azerbaijani working group in the House of Representatives Congressmen Bill Shuster, Solomon Ortiz, Robert Wexler, and Virginia Fox deem it necessary to leave the right to make a decision to the president of the United States, not including any preconditions to text of the bill, according to the a message addressed to the Senators Patrick Leahy and Judd Gregg and members of the House of Representatives Mrs. Nit Lowe and Mrs. Kay Granger.

The authors of the message consider it intolerable to provide U.S. government assistance exclusively to Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh pointing to the hardships and destitute suffered by the Azerbaijani displaced persons driven out of Nagorno-Karabakh. They emphasize that the U.S. government should assist both Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh as one-sided support for the Armenian community has a negative impact on the image of the United States as co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group.

U.S. lawmakers stressed the important role that Azerbaijan has played in many international projects, including strengthening of energy security and cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

The assistance that Azerbaijan provides the U.S. in Afghanistan was places special emphasis. Congressmen reminded that senior administration officials have repeatedly pointed to the value of such an ally  as Azerbaijan during numerous hearings on Capitol Hill.

Day.Az