U.S. embassy says Washington’s foreign policy unchanged
By Sara Rajabova
The resolution passed by the California State Senate regarding Nagorno-Karabakh is an expression of opinion by a state legislative body and does not change U.S. foreign policy on the matter.
The U.S. embassy in Azerbaijan made such an announcement on August 28.
"The U.S. foreign policy is determined by the federal government," the embassy said. "The States are free to express their opinions but those opinions do not represent national foreign policy."
The racist anti-Azerbaijani resolution AJR 32 on Nagorno-Karabakh has been on the agenda of the California State Senate for some time. The resolution, calling to recognize a separatist regime in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan was introduced by Assemblyman Mike Gatto at the behest of the Armenian lobby.
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Elman Abdullayev, in turn, said the resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh, passed by the California State Senate, is declarative in nature and has no legal force.
"This fact calls into question the honesty of the senators who voted for passing this document," he added. "This was possible thanks to the financial support of the Armenian lobby in the U.S."
Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s.
Long-standing efforts by U.S, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.
As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing and almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.
The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.