US lawmakers urge to lift Section 907
Members of the US House of Representatives taskforce for Azerbaijan
have called for cancelling across the board the infamous Section
907 banning direct US aid to the Azerbaijan government, which was
supplemented to the Freedom Support Act in 1992.
The call was made in a letter addressed to Nita Lowey, chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee’s state and foreign operations subcommittee, Azerbaijan’s state-run AzerTAj news agency reported.
The letter says Section 907 is posing major hurdles for closer strategic partnership between the two countries.
The congressional group’s co-chairs, Bill Shuster, Solomon Ortiz, as well as its active members, Michael McMahon and Eddie Bernice Johnson, called on the subcommittee chair to support aid programs that promote strengthening US-Azerbaijani relations while reviewing the budget for the 2011 fiscal year. They pointed out that a number of key points should be considered in passing this decision, including refraining from allocations to the separatist regime operating in the Armenia-occupied Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh region. The letter emphasizes that no Azerbaijanis reside any longer in the region, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
The congressmen wrote, further, that the Garabagh conflict is an extremely sensitive issue for both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Some groups of people are abusing the leverage wielded by Congress for their political aims. The lawmakers reminded that the U.S., which co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group brokering the peace process, is adhering to an impartial stance on the issue, saying the subcommittee should refrain from any steps that could challenge this impartiality and harm US relations with Azerbaijan, Washington’s reliable partner in the region.
The letter also said that, since improving US relations with the Islamic world is one of the priorities in the Obama administration’s foreign policy, the U.S. should further bolster its relations with Azerbaijan, which is a crucial ally for Washington on a wide range of issues including energy security and combat against international terror.*
The call was made in a letter addressed to Nita Lowey, chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee’s state and foreign operations subcommittee, Azerbaijan’s state-run AzerTAj news agency reported.
The letter says Section 907 is posing major hurdles for closer strategic partnership between the two countries.
The congressional group’s co-chairs, Bill Shuster, Solomon Ortiz, as well as its active members, Michael McMahon and Eddie Bernice Johnson, called on the subcommittee chair to support aid programs that promote strengthening US-Azerbaijani relations while reviewing the budget for the 2011 fiscal year. They pointed out that a number of key points should be considered in passing this decision, including refraining from allocations to the separatist regime operating in the Armenia-occupied Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh region. The letter emphasizes that no Azerbaijanis reside any longer in the region, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
The congressmen wrote, further, that the Garabagh conflict is an extremely sensitive issue for both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Some groups of people are abusing the leverage wielded by Congress for their political aims. The lawmakers reminded that the U.S., which co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group brokering the peace process, is adhering to an impartial stance on the issue, saying the subcommittee should refrain from any steps that could challenge this impartiality and harm US relations with Azerbaijan, Washington’s reliable partner in the region.
The letter also said that, since improving US relations with the Islamic world is one of the priorities in the Obama administration’s foreign policy, the U.S. should further bolster its relations with Azerbaijan, which is a crucial ally for Washington on a wide range of issues including energy security and combat against international terror.*
Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention.
Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis.
By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more.
Subscribe
You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper
Thank you!