BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 1. Region Plus Azerbaijani analytic magazine called on US legislators to pay attention to the importance of maintaining a balance between the positions of the parties to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, Trend reports.
Region Plus magazine was awarded the American flag by the US House of Representatives for its contribution to the coverage of the development of Azerbaijani-American relations in 2016.
The visit of Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Armenia, on September 17-18, 2022, where she made a number of anti-Azerbaijani statements was the cause of this appeal.
Furthermore, a resolution was recently presented on the official website of US Congresswoman Jackie Speier (also signed by Congressmen Frank Pallone, Adam Schiff and Anna Eshoo), in which, again, the Azerbaijani side is presented in a negative light and there is not even any attempt to observe an objective balanced approach.
The US House of Representatives awarded Region Plus following the suggestion of Congresswoman Gwen Moore. The American flag, which was presented to the magazine, fluttered over the Capitol building in honor of the 10th anniversary of Region Plus magazine.
This was stated in a commemorative certificate signed by the architect of the Capitol, Stephen T. Ayers. The US Flag Award is given by Congress to prominent individuals, NGOs, and media around the world. Region Plus magazine became the first organization in Azerbaijan to receive this award.
The letter that was sent to US congressmen on behalf of Region Plus magazine. The letter was also sent to Congressman Kevin McCarthy, who is currently the Republican leader in the US House of Representatives. The letter is presented below:
"The US has always tried to adhere to a balanced approach in its attitude towards the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict. At least, all visits of high-ranking American politicians to the region were carried out within the framework of equidistance from the parties to the conflict.
Moreover, as a member of the UN Security Council, the US voted for all four UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884, adopted from April 30 through November 12, 1993), on the basis of which the Armenian Armed Forces were to immediately leave the territory of Azerbaijan.
Unfortunately, the official trip of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Armenia on September 17-18, 2022 for the first time showed an obvious tilt toward Armenia.
The US has always tried to adhere to a balanced approach in its attitude towards the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict. At least, all visits of high-ranking American politicians to the region were carried out within the framework of equidistance from the parties to the conflict. Moreover, as a member of the UN Security Council, the US voted for all four UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884, adopted from April 30 to November 12, 1993), on the basis of which the Armenian Armed Forces were to immediately leave the territory of Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, the official trip of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Armenia on September 17-18, 2022 for the first time showed an obvious tilt toward Armenia.
Region Plus’ staff which was awarded the American flag by the US House of Representatives in 2016 for its contribution to the coverage of the development of Azerbaijani-American relations, calls on Pelosi's colleagues in the US Congress to pay attention to the importance of maintaining a balance between the positions of the parties to the conflict.
In light of the upcoming November midterm elections in the United States, the purpose of Nancy Pelosi's visit to Armenia’s capital is quite clear - in Congress, the speaker represents the state of California, where a huge number of ethnic Armenians live. However, as a third party in the American power hierarchy, we believe that US Speaker should have tried to avoid such a one-sided approach to the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict during her visit to Armenia.
Moreover, as mentioned above, despite the resolutions of the UN Security Council, Pelosi never demanded that Armenia implement them, but now she suddenly decided to speak out sharply in support of Armenia.
We also want to remind you that during the period of almost 30 years of Armenian occupation, Azerbaijani cities and villages located in an area equal to the territory of modern Lebanon were literally wiped off the face of the earth, and Azerbaijan’s cultural, spiritual-religious, historical heritage was cynically destroyed or seriously damaged.
It’s talked about 300 settlements on the territory more than 100,000 square kilometers, and 95 percent of Azerbaijani historical and cultural monuments were destroyed or desecrated, including 63 of 67 mosques, cemeteries, several museums, including, for example, the unique Aghdam Bread Museum, the tomb of the Karabakh khans, the house of the poetess, daughter of the Karabakh khans Natavan Khurshidbanu.
Spanish reporter, having visited Aghdam city, called it the Khirosima of Caucasus. We also urge you to remember that as a result of the First Karabakh War, tens of thousands of people were killed, wounded, or taken hostage in Azerbaijan as of May 1994. The entire peaceful Azerbaijani population, about 750,000 people, were expelled from their homes in the lands occupied by Armenians.
Every single Azerbaijani (more than 220,000 people in total) were expelled from the territory of Armenia. The most monstrous episode of these ethnic cleansings was the Khojaly genocide, when 613 people were killed on the night of February 25-26, 1992. Over a million people remained in refugee status as of September 2020.
The whole generation has died and the whole generation has grown up far from home - the psychological trauma from this will never be counted and appreciated, but it’s huge. Also, huge damage was caused to the ecology of the occupied territories - polluted rivers (Okhchuchay), cut down forests and trampled pastures. We do not believe that these are not facts that can be ignored for the sake of any political calculation.
The VMedia Youtube video below shows the extent of the damage caused to the Azerbaijani side during the years of Armenian occupation, which Nancy Pelosi chose to leave out of her recent visit to Armenia."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAaPlU72Zxk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHMRk-DXpBc