Chairman Menendez Grills State Department Officials on U.S. Aid to Azerbaijan; Lack of US assistance to Artsakh
FILE PHOTO: Democratic Senator from New Jersey and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez, walks to the Senate chamber to deliver remarks and open debate in support of Senate ratification of the NATO accession protocols for Sweden and Finland, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA. EPA, MICHAEL REYNOLDS
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WASHINGTON, DC – Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-NJ) led a stinging indictment of the U.S. policy on Azerbaijan, charging that the State Department witnesses testifying at the November 16th hearing were “wholly unresponsive” to concerns about the ongoing waiver of Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan and the lack of meaningful U.S. assistance to Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and Armenia following Azerbaijani attacks, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
“We want to thank Chairman Menendez for holding this hearing and shining a much-needed spotlight on our State Department’s deeply flawed policies in the Caucasus region,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “The inability of either witness to answer straightforward questions speaks to the incoherence of our present State Department policy – how very far the Administration’s reckless and irresponsible approach toward the region has drifted from actual U.S. interests and core American values.”
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried and State Department Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations Philip Reeker were witnesses at the November 16th Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing titled “Assessing U.S. Policy in the Caucasus.”
Chairman Menendez summed up their responses this way: “This has been one of the most disappointing hearings I’ve ever held, but it has crystalized some things for me. One is, it seems to me the United States is in bed with Azerbaijan.”
Watch the full Senate hearing video here.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez shares his frustration with the evasive responses by State Department witnesses during the November 16th hearing on “U.S. Policy on the Caucasus.”
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