[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 41 (Friday, March 19, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E420]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    COMMENDING OUR ALLY, AZERBAIJAN

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                             HON. ED PASTOR

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 19, 2010

  Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Madam Speaker, today, I would like to 
highlight the small country of Azerbaijan, wedged between Russia and 
Iran, on the Western shore of the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan has now been 
an Independent Republic for the longest time period in its history--
nearly 20 years. The Region contains oil and gas resources equivalent 
to those of Saudi Arabia, and Azerbaijan owns one-third of the oil and 
gas deposits in the Region. Their main oil pipeline runs from the 
capital city, Baku, through Georgia and Turkey, and out to the Turkish 
Port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Sea. An important oil customer of 
theirs is Israel. Azerbaijan is a Muslim country that has practiced 
complete religious tolerance for hundreds of years, with some five 
Jewish Temples in Baku alone. And of major importance, Azerbaijan has 
provided troops to support our military efforts in both Iraq and 
Afghanistan.
  Between 1991 and 1993, Azerbaijan was locked in a conflict with 
surrounding countries. A brutal act during the conflict happened at the 
Azerbaijani village of Khojaly in February 1992, when women, children, 
and old people were killed. Therefore, February is an especially 
emotional time for the people of Azerbaijan.
  With the help of the government of Russia, a cease-fire was 
negotiated in this war in 1994, leaving 16 percent of Azerbaijan, 
including the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, occupied by Armenian forces. 
Since that time, the Minsk Group of OSCE has played the lead 
negotiating role in attempting to bring about a solution to this 
situation, encouraged by numerous international resolutions including 
five in the United Nations.
  Today, some 18 years after Khojaly, there is a glimmer of hope. 
President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has been meeting regularly with 
President Sargysian of Armenia, and in a recent weekend spent with 
President Medvedev of Russia, it was reported that the two Presidents 
worked on a Preamble to an agreement that will take great political 
courage for both of them. It is important that we give them our 
encouragement and make sure that our actions with respect to the Region 
support this historic agreement.

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