Azerbaijan is strategic U.S. ally, and deserves U.S. aid

Narguiz Birk-Petersen: Azerbaijan is strategic U.S. ally, and deserves U.S. aid

Letter to the editor — 4/01/2008 8:35 am

Dear Editor: I am an Azerbaijani-American who is concerned on the matters related to the Caucasus and Caspian regions. I recently found out a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee is under intense pressure from pro-Armenian groups to disregard the president's 2009 budget request.
I urge Congress to retain or increase programs that give $23.4 million in aid to Azerbaijan, which is a strategic ally for the U.S. with peacekeeping troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and keep economic aid to Armenia at $24 million.
Moreover, absolutely no direct aid whatsoever should given to the Armenia-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
It should be stressed that direct U.S. assistance to the NK region would exacerbate concern in Azerbaijan and especially among the Azerbaijani-Americans and their friends. Any direct assistance would inspire speculation that the United States is taking sides with Armenia. The NK region, occupied by Armenia in the early 1990s, is recognized by the U.S., the U.N. and other nations as an integral part of Azerbaijan.
I urge Congress to keep or increase the need-based amounts of aid for Azerbaijan, so that our troops could do their job more effectively with the Azerbaijani military. Doing otherwise undermines U.S. national security, and creates a very bad image of the U.S. in the Muslim world in general and in particular in Azerbaijan, its only predominantly Shiite but secular ally.

Narguiz Birk-Petersen

Fitchburg