“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,” as was reflected in the Statement by Dona Gracia Center for Diplomacy on US Congress Initiative, published on Economic Peace Center, Report informs.
“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 750,000 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,” reads the statement.