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Members of U.S. Congress call to repeal Section 907 adopted with respect to Azerbaijan

29 April 2010 13:10 (UTC +04:00)

The letter signed by co-chairs of the Caucus Bill Shuster, Solomon Ortiz, activists Michael McMahon and Eddie Bernice Johnson says that the lawmakers call on the chair of the subcommittee to support the assistance programs serving to strengthen US-Azerbaijan relations while considering 2011 fiscal year budget.

They consider that a number of important points should be taken into consideration, no aid should be allocated to the separatist Nagorno Karabakh regime. Expressing their concern about it, the congressmen say there is no ethnic Azerbaijani in Nagorno Karabakh recognized by the international community as the territory of sovereign Azerbaijan. The conflict is a sensitive issue both for Armenia and Azerbaijan. Some groups use the will of the Congress for their political purposes. The members of the Congress mention that the US being OSCE Minsk co-chair has neutral position on the conflict. The Subcommittee should refrain from any step violating this neutrality, damaging the relations with Azerbaijan, the reliable partner of the US.

The members of the Congress also call to repeal the Section 907 to Freedom Support Act. They note that Section 907 bans any kind of direct United States aid to the Azerbaijani government, impedes extension of the strategic partnership between our countries.

They say as improvement of the relations with the Muslim world is one of the priorities of the policy of Obama administration, the US should strengthen the relations with Azerbaijan, its reliable partner in energy security, struggle against the international terrorism

The members of the Caucus call on Nita Lowey to take into consideration all these points and include these notes into 2011 fiscal year budget.