Updated after first paragraph
Azerbaijan, Baku, January 28 / Trend , S.Agayeva/
The U.S. Administration does not recognize the structure named Nagorno-Karabakh, the United States Department of State's response to the note of Azerbaijan says, press secretary of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Elkhan Polukhov told Trend .
According to him, the Department of State's response was received by the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the United States on Jan. 26. U.S. reiterates that Washington is committed to the principles of openly and transparently informing Azerbaijan of U.S. projects realized in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Earlier, the Ambassador of Azerbaijan Yashar Aliyev to Washington submitted an official note of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry to U.S. Department of State in connection with the U.S. Congress's adoption of a bill providing $8 million financial aid to Nagorno-Karabakh.
The note states that the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, along with seven other surrounding districts, is under illegal occupation of Armenia and conducting any programs and activities by the U.S. government in Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan without adequate prior consultations with Azerbaijan contradicts to officially stated position of U.S. on support to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. General Assembly's resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied territories