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AAA: Caucus Co-Chairs, Members Urge President To Condemn Azeri Actio

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  • AAA: Caucus Co-Chairs, Members Urge President To Condemn Azeri Actio

    Armenian Assembly of America
    1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
    Washington, DC 20036
    Phone: 202-393-3434
    Fax: 202-638-4904
    Email: [email protected]
    Web: www.armenianassembly.org


    PRESS RELEASE
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    April 27, 2006
    CONTACT: Karoon Panosyan
    E-mail: [email protected]

    CAUCUS CO-CHAIRS, MEMBERS URGE PRESIDENT BUSH TO CONDEMN AZERI ACTIONS AGAINST ARMENIA, KARABAKH

    President Bush, Azeri President to meet tomorrow

    Washington DC - On the eve of President Bush's meeting with Azerbaijani
    President Ilham Aliyev, Members of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian
    Issues are calling on the U.S. leader to firmly denounce Azerbaijan's
    ongoing war mongering, and other actions, against the Republic of
    Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

    Caucus Co-Chairs Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ),
    along with Caucus Members George Radanovich (R-CA) and Adam Schiff
    (D-CA), sent a letter to the President that states in part:

    "Azerbaijani government officials have consistently threatened war and
    fostered anti-Armenian intolerance. Ignoring international criticism,
    President Aliyev has repeatedly declared that Azerbaijan could launch
    a new military offensive against Karabakh, and that he is waging a
    'cold war' against Armenia where the ongoing negotiations are only a
    way to achieve unilateral Armenian concessions." (The complete text
    of the congressional letter is attached below.)

    "We thank Congressmen Knollenberg, Pallone, Schiff and Radanovich for
    expressing their strong concerns regarding Azerbaijan to President
    Bush," said Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. "Rather than
    continuing to threaten military aggression and blockade Armenia,
    Azerbaijan should instead adhere to the standards of democracy, human
    rights, and justice as espoused in our National Security Strategy
    which was announced by President Bush last month."

    In a speech before the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington
    today, Aliyev continued making bellicose statements against Armenia,
    saying that the "war is not over," and that the "patience of the
    Azerbaijani people has limits."

    The congressional letter also notes that in the past year, Baku has
    increased its military spending by 100 percent and is working with
    Turkey to push forth an $800 million railroad proposal aimed at
    isolating Armenia from East-West commercial corridors.

    The lawmakers also highlight Azerbaijan's continued human rights
    violations, specifically a disturbing film which captured Azerbaijani
    soldiers destroying historical Armenian monuments in the medieval
    cemetery of Julfa, Nakhichevan in Azerbaijan.

    The Congressmen also underscored the fact that Azerbaijan's actions
    are counterproductive to the stability of the South Caucasus as well
    as U.S. objectives in the region.

    ###

    NR#2006-043

    Editor's Note: Attached is the full text of the congressional letter
    to President Bush.

    April 26, 2006

    The Honorable George W. Bush President of the United States The White
    House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

    Washington, DC 20500

    Dear Mr. President,

    It is our understanding that you will be meeting with President
    of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev later this week. We urge you to take
    this opportunity to condemn the Azerbaijani war rhetoric and other
    actions taken against the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh
    which undermine U.S. objectives in the region.

    In the years since the 1994 cease-fire agreement in the Nagorno
    Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani government officials have consistently
    threatened war and fostered anti-Armenian intolerance. Ignoring
    international criticism, President Aliyev has repeatedly declared that
    Azerbaijan could launch a new military offensive against Karabakh,
    and that he is waging a "cold war" against Armenia where the ongoing
    negotiations are only a way to achieve unilateral Armenian concessions.

    As part of this campaign, this year Azerbaijan has increased its
    military spending by 100% over the previous year to more than $600
    million. It has also tightened the seventeen year economic blockade
    against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Moreover, President Aliyev has
    indicated he would not engage in any confidence-building measures with
    Armenia and he had "no desire" to tone down his country's war-mongering
    and anti-Armenian propaganda.

    Under the backdrop of the peace talks last December, eyewitnesses
    captured on film Azerbaijani soldiers destroying historical Armenian
    monuments in the medieval cemetery of Julfa, Nakhichevan of the
    Azerbaijan Republic. Condemned by the European Parliament, this
    incident is not isolated. A Scottish expert on Armenian architecture,
    who traveled through Nakhichevan in the summer of 2005, found that a
    number of Armenian monuments that were intact as late as the 1980s
    were razed to the ground. Knowingly expunging traces of Armenian
    presence also raises serious questions about Azerbaijan's commitment
    to engage in the peace process.

    We acknowledge and appreciate the assurances of the Administration that
    U.S. opposition to such tactics has been officially conveyed. However,
    the United States will be unable to advance its policy objectives and
    the OSCE Minsk process will achieve nothing if Azerbaijan is allowed
    to risk war with impunity. These counterproductive strategies are
    undermining the stability of the South Caucasus region.

    We urge you to condemn these actions and call upon President Aliyev
    and Azerbaijan to desist from making any further threats against its
    Christian neighbors Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

    We look forward to working with you on this issue and look forward
    to your response.

    Sincerely,

    Rep. Joe Knollenberg Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr.

    Rep. George Radanovich Rep. Adam Schiff
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