AZERBAIJAN CAN 'RELY ON' USA AS FRIENDLY PARTNER
news.az
July 21 2010
Azerbaijan
The US charge d'affaires in Azerbaijan has said that Azerbaijan can
rely on the US as a friendly country and a partner.
Adam Sterling was speaking at a reception at the US embassy in Baku
to mark American Independence Day.
Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov who attended the reception
said that Azerbaijan attached special importance to relations with
the United States and considered the USA its friend.
He said that the countries had signed 68 agreements since the opening
of the US embassy in Baku.
Sharifov said that Azerbaijan had great hopes that the US Congress
would lift the Jackson-Vanick amendment and Section 907 to the Freedom
Support Act.
Jackson-Vanik, first passed in 1975, imposes trade restrictions on
countries that limit human rights, especially on emigration. Section
907, adopted in 1992, prohibits direct US aid to the Azerbaijani
government and prevents the development of strategic relations between
the countries. The Section has been waived by the president since
October 2001 but remains on the statute book.
The Azerbaijani minister hoped that the US would continue its
efforts as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group mediators to resolve
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The appointment of former US Minsk Group co-chair, Matthew Bryza,
as US ambassador to Azerbaijan now depends only on the US Senate,
Adam Sterling said. Referring to protests from Armenian Americans
against Bryza's appointment, Sterling said that American society was
an open society, so such protests were common, but the Senate took
independent decisions.
From: A. Papazian
news.az
July 21 2010
Azerbaijan
The US charge d'affaires in Azerbaijan has said that Azerbaijan can
rely on the US as a friendly country and a partner.
Adam Sterling was speaking at a reception at the US embassy in Baku
to mark American Independence Day.
Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov who attended the reception
said that Azerbaijan attached special importance to relations with
the United States and considered the USA its friend.
He said that the countries had signed 68 agreements since the opening
of the US embassy in Baku.
Sharifov said that Azerbaijan had great hopes that the US Congress
would lift the Jackson-Vanick amendment and Section 907 to the Freedom
Support Act.
Jackson-Vanik, first passed in 1975, imposes trade restrictions on
countries that limit human rights, especially on emigration. Section
907, adopted in 1992, prohibits direct US aid to the Azerbaijani
government and prevents the development of strategic relations between
the countries. The Section has been waived by the president since
October 2001 but remains on the statute book.
The Azerbaijani minister hoped that the US would continue its
efforts as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group mediators to resolve
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The appointment of former US Minsk Group co-chair, Matthew Bryza,
as US ambassador to Azerbaijan now depends only on the US Senate,
Adam Sterling said. Referring to protests from Armenian Americans
against Bryza's appointment, Sterling said that American society was
an open society, so such protests were common, but the Senate took
independent decisions.
From: A. Papazian