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
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