Parliament bemoans Congress plans to `aid separatists`
The Azerbaijani parliament has forwarded an appeal
to US Congress expressing concern over the planned allocation of
financial aid to the self-proclaimed Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh
republic operating in the Armenia-occupied Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh
region.
The document, adopted by the Milli Majlis committees on international relations and inter-parliamentary ties and on economic policy, says the recent decision of a Senate subcommittee to provide aid to Upper Garabagh is actually tantamount to supporting separatism and runs counter to Washington`s foreign policy.
The subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs of the Senate Committee on Appropriations has suggested raising the amount of aid to Armenia from $30 million offered by the White House to $48 million in 2010. Moreover, under pressure from the subcommittee`s pro-Armenian members, it supported allocating $10 million in direct assistance to the self-proclaimed Upper Garabagh republic, though the US government earlier recommended not allotting any financial aid to the separatist regime next year. However, the decision is not final and will continue to be discussed in both chambers of the US legislature.
Samad Seyidov, who chairs the international relations committee, reminded that the United States, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group brokering settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, supports Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity, and the two countries are strategic partners. He pointed out that the bill on allocating $10 million to the separatist regime passed on June 17 by the mentioned subcommittee does nothing to further a solution to the long-standing Garabagh conflict, and, on the contrary, complicates the situation.
The appeal says further that the move contradicts mediating efforts by the U.S. in the resolution of the dispute and questions its impartiality.
The Azerbaijani legislature noted that Upper Garabagh, which is receiving US humanitarian aid, is not settled by the Armenian community alone. About 65,000 Azerbaijanis, driven out of their homes in the region due to the Armenian invasion, continue to live in more challenging conditions and are deprived of the opportunity to receive US assistance. This being said, Washington`s assistance to the separatist regime, along with questioning Azerbaijan`s sovereignty, precludes mutual confidence and the emergence of favorable conditions for the co-existence of Azerbaijani and Armenian residents of Upper Garabagh.
The appeal says that any possible humanitarian aid by the U.S. to the region must be agreed with the Azerbaijani government, and actions in this respect should underscore the fact that the region is part of Azerbaijan.
"We believe that spending humanitarian aid provided to Upper Garabagh through US government agencies operating in Azerbaijan could be considered among such activities, and this would meet both US humanitarian concerns and show respect for Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity."
Upper Garabagh is an Azerbaijani region occupied by Armenia since a 1994 cease-fire ended separatist hostilities that killed an estimated 30,000 people and ousted about a million Azerbaijanis out of their homes. Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Years of peace talks have brought few tangible results.
The document, adopted by the Milli Majlis committees on international relations and inter-parliamentary ties and on economic policy, says the recent decision of a Senate subcommittee to provide aid to Upper Garabagh is actually tantamount to supporting separatism and runs counter to Washington`s foreign policy.
The subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs of the Senate Committee on Appropriations has suggested raising the amount of aid to Armenia from $30 million offered by the White House to $48 million in 2010. Moreover, under pressure from the subcommittee`s pro-Armenian members, it supported allocating $10 million in direct assistance to the self-proclaimed Upper Garabagh republic, though the US government earlier recommended not allotting any financial aid to the separatist regime next year. However, the decision is not final and will continue to be discussed in both chambers of the US legislature.
Samad Seyidov, who chairs the international relations committee, reminded that the United States, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group brokering settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, supports Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity, and the two countries are strategic partners. He pointed out that the bill on allocating $10 million to the separatist regime passed on June 17 by the mentioned subcommittee does nothing to further a solution to the long-standing Garabagh conflict, and, on the contrary, complicates the situation.
The appeal says further that the move contradicts mediating efforts by the U.S. in the resolution of the dispute and questions its impartiality.
The Azerbaijani legislature noted that Upper Garabagh, which is receiving US humanitarian aid, is not settled by the Armenian community alone. About 65,000 Azerbaijanis, driven out of their homes in the region due to the Armenian invasion, continue to live in more challenging conditions and are deprived of the opportunity to receive US assistance. This being said, Washington`s assistance to the separatist regime, along with questioning Azerbaijan`s sovereignty, precludes mutual confidence and the emergence of favorable conditions for the co-existence of Azerbaijani and Armenian residents of Upper Garabagh.
The appeal says that any possible humanitarian aid by the U.S. to the region must be agreed with the Azerbaijani government, and actions in this respect should underscore the fact that the region is part of Azerbaijan.
"We believe that spending humanitarian aid provided to Upper Garabagh through US government agencies operating in Azerbaijan could be considered among such activities, and this would meet both US humanitarian concerns and show respect for Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity."
Upper Garabagh is an Azerbaijani region occupied by Armenia since a 1994 cease-fire ended separatist hostilities that killed an estimated 30,000 people and ousted about a million Azerbaijanis out of their homes. Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Years of peace talks have brought few tangible results.
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