BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 21. Milli Majlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan has adopted a statement in connection with the "Act for the Protection of Armenians 2023" adopted by the U.S. Senate.

TurkicWorld presents the full text of the statement.

"Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan expresses categorical protest in connection with the adoption of the "Armenian Protection Act of 2023" by the U.S. Senate on November 15 and strongly condemns this step directed against our country. At the same time, the Parliament considers the hearings held on the same day by the Subcommittee on Europe of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives and the statements made against our country, as well as the recent biased statements against our country by the U.S. state officials as a serious blow to the strategic relations of the two countries," the Parliament said.

The act, based on fabricated information and adopted at the instigation of the Biden administration by anti-Azerbaijani, corrupt, Islamophobic senators, is yet another vivid example of double standards and selective approach. The hearings, which looked like a scene from the absurd theater, are a new manifestation of hypocritical U.S. policy.

When the Armenian occupation against Azerbaijan expanded in 1992 and, along with the Khojaly genocide, acts of mass extermination of the Azerbaijani population were committed in the villages of Malibayli, Ashaghi Gushchular and Yukhari Gushchular of the Shusha district, in the villages of Kalbajar district, the American side, being a permanent member of the UN Security Council, instead of making efforts to stop the extermination of the people of Azerbaijan, under the influence of Armenian propaganda in the legislative body of this country adopted the 907th amendment to the "Freedom Protection Act".

The American side, which has shown indifference to the suffering, ethnic cleansing, the Khojaly genocide and other massacres resulting from the almost 30-year occupation of 20 percent of the internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan, as well as to the fate of more than one million refugees and internally displaced persons is also responsible for the fact that since the end of the 44-day second Karabakh war in 2020 it has never called on the aggressor Armenia to act in accordance with international law. On the other hand, by adopting such an act after conducting anti-terrorist activities against the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia and illegal Armenian detachments remaining on Azerbaijani territory, the U.S. Senate openly supports revanchist forces.

Unfortunately, by lifting the moratorium on the 907th Amendment to the "Freedom Defense Act" the American side repeats the historical mistake it already made in 1992. And this is despite the fact that the same U.S. decided to suspend the 907th Amendment when Azerbaijan supported the U.S. efforts to combat terrorism after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

It was Azerbaijan that gave the U.S. a helping hand by opening its airspace to the relevant routes and providing logistics facilities and the Northern Distribution Network. Azerbaijan was also the first state to stand shoulder to shoulder with the U.S. in the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan. At the same time, Azerbaijan was the last partner state to leave Afghanistan.

The Azerbaijani State is implementing a set of measures to resolve social, humanitarian, economic and infrastructural issues in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region in order to ensure the sustainable reintegration of the Armenian residents of the Karabakh region into Azerbaijani society and so that these people can enjoy the protection of the State.

Completely contrary to the opinion of the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other international organizations, the statement about the forced eviction of the Armenian residents who voluntarily left the region is intended to mislead the international community.

Azerbaijan, based on its own national interests, forms transportation corridors with the countries of the region, and from this point of view, the Azerbaijan-Iran transport corridor is a sovereign choice of Azerbaijan. The US, which is not a country of the region, by its steps and statements strikes a blow to the efforts of regional states to ensure transportation security.

"The U.S. side is well aware that Armenia's failure to fulfill its obligations arising from paragraph 9 of the 2020 Trilateral Statement prompted Azerbaijan to decide to build alternative roads. It is the sovereign right of Azerbaijan to agree on the procedure for laying communication lines with neighboring States, including the conclusion of an agreement with Iran in connection with the route to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Azerbaijan's Parliament will always react decisively and adequately to all negative steps contradicting its national interests, while acting on the basis of norms and principles of international law and in accordance with its international obligations," said the statement.