ArmInfo. The Armenian Assembly of America opposed the consideration by the US legislature of a malicious amendment to the Law on National Defense, initiated by the co-chairman of the US Congress Azerbaijan-Turkey Group, Steve Shabo.
The AAA message to ArmInfo notes that this amendment, included in the package of amendments (in total, about 100 amendments) on amendments to the National Defense Law (NDAA), requires a report on internally displaced persons in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Azerbaijan since 1991, and puts the cart in front of the horse in relation to Azerbaijan.
"First, there were internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan back in Soviet times at the end of 1991. Secondly, the people and government of Nagorno-Karabakh acted on the basis of preventing another genocide of the Armenian people, since in the period from 1988 to 1991 more than 300,000 Armenians were deported from Azerbaijan, which were accompanied by pogroms in Sumgait, Kirovabad and Baku. Thirdly, the amendment does not mention that Azerbaijan, despite its oil wealth, did nothing to help its people, and instead, the Aliyev clan spent millions to purchase apartments in different parts of the world, "the AAA statement said.
Fourth, the AAA stressed, this amendment, if included in the final bill, would seriously damage the US's credibility as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group working towards a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict.
The Organization also noted that this amendment ignores the fact that as recently as last week Azerbaijan launched an aggression against Armenia, which was accompanied by strikes against civil infrastructures and the population, including kindergarten.
"The amendment also does not mention the fact that Azerbaijan threatened to attack the Armenian nuclear power plant, or the fact that Azerbaijan destroyed Christian churches, as well as completely destroyed thousands of khachkars, protected by UNESCO, in the centuries-old Armenian Christian cemetery. The Armenian Assembly strongly opposes this amendment, inspired by the Laundromat lobbyist. This is incorrect and counterproductive and should not be included in the final version of the document, "the AAA noted, expressing the conviction that these actions are an attempt to revive the terrible situation that reigns in Azerbaijan in the field of human rights.
At the same time, the Organization is convinced that it is impossible to draw parallels between the situations in Nagorno-Karabakh and in the other above-mentioned countries, if only because there are no Russian troops in the NKR.
"Moreover, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are not an occupying force. They are the indigenous population of the region, which in 1991-1994 was dragged into the war by Azerbaijan, and which negatively affected the region and led to the displacement of a significant part of the Armenian population. Only by protecting their lives and By creating a buffer zone, the Armenians managed to end this conflict, which was backed up by a ceasefire agreement under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. The assumption that the self-governing people of Nagorno-Karabakh is under occupation is an insulting notion. And it insults the value of freedom and self-determination. " , - AAA emphasized.