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BAKU: US Azeris Praise Decision Not To Give Aid To Karabakh In 2012

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  • BAKU: US Azeris Praise Decision Not To Give Aid To Karabakh In 2012

    US AZERIS PRAISE DECISION NOT TO GIVE AID TO KARABAKH IN 2012

    news.az
    Aug 1, 2011
    Azerbaijan

    Azerbaijani diaspora organizations in the USA have welcomed Congress'
    omission of occupied Karabakh from the list of recipients of US aid
    in 2012.

    Board Members of the Pax Turcica Institute, Azerbaijan Society of
    America and Azerbaijani-American Council welcomed the recent decision
    by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations
    and Related Programs to exclude the wording of direct US assistance
    to the Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh from the FY 2012 budget
    appropriations for the South Caucasus.

    The organizations said the community members actively participated
    in the relevant Pax Turcica advocacy campaign, "in achieving this
    major milestone for the first time in 2011".

    The US Congress has been allocating funds to address humanitarian
    needs of the victims of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict
    over Nagorno-Karabakh since 1992. In 2005, under pressure from
    Armenian-American interest groups, the wording of the State, Foreign
    Operations and Related Programs Appropriations bills was revised to
    provide US funds only to the Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh,
    while over 600,000 Azerbaijanis expelled from the region in the course
    of the conflict remained deprived of assistance.

    "In the absence of a political settlement to the conflict, the
    ethnicity-driven US assistance to one conflict party not only
    undermined the original Congressional intent, but also questioned
    the US role as an impartial mediator," the diaspora organizations
    said in their statement.

    Despite the annual Congressional testimonies and campaigns by
    Azerbaijani-American organizations opposing the direct US aid to
    Nagorno-Karabakh, in the past six years, the Armenian-American lobby
    succeeded in increasing the allocation from $3 million to $8 million.

    Since February 2011, over 6,000 letters sent via the newly-launched
    Pax Turcica CapWiz system to members of Congress highlighted the fact
    that the US aid to Nagorno-Karabakh unfairly excluded the Azerbaijani
    victims of the conflict and that the annual allocation exponentially
    exceeded the programmatic capacity on the ground.

    "Its noteworthy that these PTI arguments became compelling for many
    Americans of non-Turkic heritage to also join in expressing their
    concern about the waste of US taxpayer money for satisfying the whim of
    one ethnic special interest group in Congress," the organizations say.

    They urge more action action before the financial appropriations are
    discussed again in Congress.

    "Ahead of the upcoming 3 August vote on the FY 2012 foreign aid bill
    in the full House Appropriations Committee, we once more call upon
    all Azerbaijani- and Turkic-Americans to build up on our initial
    success by sending the following PTI Capwiz action letter."

    APA

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