Diaspora

Diaspora

US Azerbaijani Diaspora expresses discontent for the event hosting Nagorno Karabakh separatistsâ€™ leader in California

11 November 2010 08:32 (UTC +04:00)

Washington. Isabel Levine â€“ APA. The Azerbaijani Diaspora in US sent a letter to the California based World Affairs Council (WAC) to express their deep regrets and discontent for the event hosting Mr. Bako Sahakian by the WAC, next week, APAâ€™s Washington DC correspondent reports. According to the organizationâ€™s website, the conference called "Turmoil in the Caucasus - A Nationsâ€™ Right for Self Determination and Prospects for Regional Stability" will hold on November 19th.

â€œBako Sahakian is not a "president" of any republic, but a leader of a separatist puppet regime installed by the Armenian authorities in occupied Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan Republic. He is travelling and getting a US visa into his Armenian passport, not some â€œArtsakh â€“ Nagorno-Karabakh Republicâ€ nonexistent passport. No one, including U.S. government, recognize this regime, and everyone in the world recognizes Karabakh region as de jure part of Azerbaijanâ€ â€“ says US Azeris Networkâ€™s (USAN) letter to WAC Chairman Timor Rafig.

The Diaspora members also remind that, the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan was not fought as "liberation from Azerbaijan", but an outright aggression against sovereign Azerbaijan and its population, who were forcibly expelled from their homes before and throughout the war. It was a war resulting in ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, with Khojaly Massacre of 1992 being the most infamous.

â€œAzerbaijan is a strategic U.S. ally in the War on Terror and a reliable partner in energy sector, with an independent and flourishing economy several times the size and potential of Armenia. Meanwhile, Armenia and its separatist regime in Karabakh region of Azerbaijan experience arrested development, stalled economy, large emigration and high debts, all because the military occupation of a part of Azerbaijan taxes its economyâ€, -the letter says.

Diaspora calls on WAC to cancel the event as it is an insult to the memories of those massacred by the Armenian armed forces during the war, as well as not identify Mr Sahakyan as â€œpresidentâ€ of a non-existent pseudo-nation of â€œArtsakh - Nagorno-Karabakh Republicâ€:

â€œThis event adds nothing to the conflict resolution efforts brokered by U.S. Government, and in its current form contradicts U.S. Governmentâ€™s official policyâ€.