US institutions contradict strategic Azerbaijani partnership

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Some state structures and institutions of the U.S. have been recently making biased and false statements on Azerbaijan, said a high-ranking official in Azerbaijan.

Azay Guliyev, Member of Parliament, Chairman of the Council on State Support to NGOs under the President of Azerbaijan said these statements do not reflect the strategic partnership of the US with Azerbaijan and spark concerns in the Azerbaijani society, at the hearings held in Baku under the title of "Human Rights situation in the U.S.: paradoxes of the country’s foreign policy.”

“Following the appeals from NGOs, we decided to hold these hearings, study the situation of human rights in the U.S. in an effort to find out on what grounds they are making such statements about Azerbaijan,” Guliyev said.

Human rights are violated in the U.S. on racial and religious grounds, added Guliyev.

“Why do the US "think tanks" target Azerbaijan while there is Guantanamo Bay in the U.S. and human rights are violated in Ferguson city?,” Guliyev said.

Guliyev noted that as a strategic partner, Azerbaijan has fulfilled all its obligations.

“Armenia made a strategic decision on membership in the Eurasian Economic Union. Did the U.S. protest it? Why doesn’t the U.S. express opinion on the NGO announcements about 78 political prisoners in Armenia and 102 in Georgia?," Azayev added.

Guliyev blamed former U.S. diplomats, including Kauzlarich, Kramer for making such statements, since they are unable to make those statements on their own behalf.

“I believe that these state representatives can’t make such biased statements against Azerbaijan on their own will,” he said.

Guliyev said that Azerbaijan pursues a policy to protect its national interests, adding that such pressure can by no means affect the country’s political course.

Meanwhile, Azer Hasret, Chairman of the Central Asian and Southern Caucasian Freedom of Expression Network, said there was still a censorship in the U.S.

“The obstacles are created for media activity in the U.S., as journalists and ordinary citizens can not fully enjoy freedom of expression,” he said in his speech at the hearings.

Hasret noted that the U.S. is promoted as a country where the rights and freedoms of citizens are undeviatingly ensured.

"On the contrary, human rights and freedoms, including the freedom of expression and freedom of media are grossly violated in the U.S. almost every day,” he added.

The most interesting fact is that the international structures which claim that human rights are protected in the U.S., do not even react to these developments, trying to prove that such events do not happen in this country, said Hasrat, adding: "It means that these structures are also controlled by those who define the official political line of the US.”

At an other meeting dedicated to the outcomes of 2014, Guliyev also highlighted the numerous projects implemented by the council to protect Azerbaijan's national interests inside and outside of the country.

Guliyev said the amendments to the legislation, which envisages to eliminate the shortcomings in the activity of civil society institutes, as well as increase the effectiveness and ensure the transparency, have assigned several important tasks to the council.

"President Ilham Aliyev's several orders to expand the authorities and budget of the council last year is an example of great attention and trust to NGOs," Guliyev noted.

Farasat Gurbanov, Executive Director of the Council's Secretariat, said the council has co-organized informative sessions about the e-registration of the labor contracts together with the Labor and People's Social Protection Ministry for the NGOs in Baku, Gabala, Shirvan, Guba and other regions.

Farid Rustamov, Lawyer of the Council's Secretariat, said about 386 projects of the national NGOs have been financed in 2014.

At the end of the even, some employees of the council's secretariat have been awarded with diplomas for their excellence in service.

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