MP urges EU, U.S. to cease financial aid to Yerevan
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijani MP has called on the European Union and the United States to stop financial aid to Yerevan.
Zahid Oruj said at a plenary session of parliament on December 16 that the foreign ministers of the EU member states in Brussels agreed on new round of sanctions against the Crimea, however, there are no similar sanctions in respect to Nagorno-Karabakh separatists.
“They have banned diplomats to visit Crimea, imposed a ban on the purchase of 50 items of goods and agreed on a total ban on cooperation in financial and banking sector. Good or bad, the future will show,” Oruj said.
He went on to say that the EU should adopt similar sanctions in respect to Nagorno-Karabakh separatists.
Oruj further said three days ago the U.S. Congress has decided to provide financial aid to foreign countries.
“It was decided to assist Georgia in the amount of $ 75 million, Armenia - $ 25 million, Azerbaijan - $ 13 million,” he said.
He said if the United States will stop aid to Armenia (more than two billion dollars has been allocated to Yerevan over the years), it will bring positive results, said Oruj.
Oruj noted that the allocated funds are not contributing to the democratization of Armenia and strengthening security in the region.
“If the EU and the U.S. stop their assistance to Armenia, it will affect the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In this case, we will witness a new period of development of relations between the U.S. and Azerbaijan. Therefore, I urge the U.S. and the EU to stop providing assistance to Armenia,” Oruj said.
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.