ArmInfo. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today sent a letter, cosigned by seven of his colleagues, calling on the Pentagon and State Department to cease providing Azerbaijan with "United States security assistance as it continues to attack Armenia and ethnic Armenians," reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
Senator Markey's initiative complements the work of Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who is leading legislative efforts to enforce Section 907 restriction on U.S. military assistance to the Azerbaijani government. The Markey letter states that, "in light of Azerbaijan's recent and repeated acts of aggression toward Armenia, the United States should cease providing any security assistance to Azerbaijan until Armenia and Azerbaijan reach a permanent and lasting resolution that respects the will of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh."
"We thank Senator Markey and his colleagues their principled stand against recklessly shipping U.S. tax dollars to oil-rich Azerbaijan - even as its military invades Armenia, ethnically cleanses Artsakh, desecrates Christian holy sites, and tortures Armenian prisoners," said ANCA Government Affairs Director Tereza Yerimyan. "Ilham Aliyev neither needs nor deserves a single American tax dollar." Joining Senator Markey as signatories of the letter are Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jackie Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) The text of the Markey letter is provided below and available at: http://anca.org/assets/pdf/092122_Markey_StopAzerbaijanAid.pdf