We, Board Members of Dona Gracia Center for Diplomacy strongly condemn the
known US Congress initiative providing for allocation of financial aid to Armenian
separatists.
The draft bill presents uninformed and discriminatory act which promotes unilateral
and out-of-context narratives that completely disregards the distressful situation and
suffering of over 750 000 Azerbaijani IDP-s but favors Armenian separatists.
We consider that ethno-religion grounded compassion serves as a key reason for the
indicated discrimination against Azerbaijan. In the event of such a document is put
forward, it will manifest as an insult to human rights and international law, a
precursor of instability, human suffering, and damage to the regional role of the
United States. And all this is happening to the detriment of the universal values and
principles that the United States defends.
Given that an author of this initiative relies on Armenian lobby groups, such a
discriminatory approach to the right of Azerbaijanis forcibly displaced by Armenia
to return to their homes emerges morally repugnant. Those who took this initiative
were absolutely silent when 750 thousand Azerbaijanis had undergone ethnic
cleansing as well as ethnic-grounded genocide in Khojaly having been denied their
basic right to return for over 30 years. Now they too remain silent as landmines laid
by Armenia continue to kill and maim innocent civilians who are simply exercising
their right to return.
We reiterate that it is never too late to take a morally strong, non-discriminatory and
fair position. And if the priority is given to the interests of the United States, long
deserved peace and well-being of the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan, then the
withdrawal of this discriminatory draft bill will not be the issue.
