Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

The Hawaii House of Representatives has apologized for the anti-Azerbaijani resolution adopted on March 29 as a result of the Armenian lobby’s activities in the U.S..

Joseph Souki, the speaker for the Hawaii House of Representatives issued a memorandum in which he apologized to the government and people of Azerbaijan for totally flawed and biased resolution over the illegal regime “Nagorno Karabakh Republic”, which has been established on Azerbaijan’s territory, unlawfully occupied and ethnically cleansed by Armenia in the early 1990s.

In the memorandum sent to Azerbaijan’s Consulate General in Los Angeles, Souki noted that whereas every resolution involving foreign issues should be sent to a committee to receive public input, the above-mentioned resolution was presented in the guise of a ceremonial document that is commonly used to congratulate individuals and organizations.

Thus, there was simply no information gathered by the House sufficient to make an informed opinion on the document, the official explained.

“Therefore I sincerely apologize for the fact that the resolution did not have a chance to be vetted by our Committee process before action was taken on it, and I intend to adjust our internal policies to prevent a similar occurrence,” Souki mentioned in the memorandum.

He also stressed that the adopted resolution does not have the effect of law in any way.

The speaker further emphasized the U.S. efforts aimed at resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. “I can safely speak on behalf of the members of the House that each member hopes that the strong relations of friendship between Azerbaijan and the United States will continue to grow and strengthen over the years,” Souki concluded.

Earlier, two anti-Azerbaijani resolutions were introduced at the Hawaii State Senate by legislators, who were misled by radical Armenian special interest groups. If adopted, the Hawaii State Legislature would have recognized the illegal regime established on Azerbaijan's territory occupied by Armenia.

Thanks to measures taken by the Consulate General of Azerbaijan, the Hawaii State Senate leadership has officially rejected the mentioned resolutions and issued a formal statement that expresses support for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in accordance with the U.S. policy, emphasizing that the Hawaii State Senate will not accept these resolutions.

Following this failure, Armenia and the Armenian lobby in the U.S. have appealed to the House of Representatives of the local legislative body of the Hawaii State aiming to continue the provocative and insignificant actions.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994, but Armenia has continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.

Peace talks mediated by Russia, France, and the U.S. have produced no results so far.

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Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

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