{"id":15314,"date":"2018-10-05T06:17:41","date_gmt":"2018-10-05T06:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=15314"},"modified":"2018-10-05T06:17:41","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T06:17:41","slug":"senator-menendez-presses-u-s-ambassadorial-nominees-on-azerbaijani-aggression-turkeys-invasion-of-cyprus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=15314","title":{"rendered":"Senator Menendez Presses U.S. Ambassadorial Nominees on Azerbaijani Aggression; Turkey\u2019s Invasion of Cyprus"},"content":{"rendered":"

— Secures Commitment from Nominee to Urge Baku to \u201cStep Back\u201d from Threatening Behavior<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON, DC<\/strong> \u2013Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Democrat Bob Menendez (D-NJ) grilled U.S. Ambassador-designate to Azerbaijan Earle Litzenberger today about President Aliyev’s “bellicose rhetoric and sporadic outbursts of violence,” securing from the nominee a commitment that he would urge the Azerbaijani government to step back from any threatening behavior that disrupts the line of contact, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).<\/p>\n

\u201cIf confirmed, what steps will you take to urge the Azerbaijani government to step back from its threatening behavior and permit necessary monitoring along the line of contact,\u201d asked Senator Menendez during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee nomination hearing. Litzenberger responded that the U.S. is working along three lines \u2013 the non-use of force, respect for territorial integrity, and the right to self-determination. Litzenberger noted that the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs condemn \u201cany violence and any threat of the use of violence along the line of contact,\u201d without specifically citing Azerbaijan\u2019s attacks. In response to a follow up question from Senator Menendez as to whether he would, as U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, \u201curge the Azerbaijanis to step back from any threatening behavior that disrupts the line of contact,\u201d Litzenberger responded, \u201cthat\u2019s a fair statement, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Asked by Senator Menendez whether U.S. security assistance to Azerbaijan should be curtailed based on human rights abuses, Litzenberger responded that the State Department will be “very careful to ensure that nothing that we do or provide [in terms of U.S. security assistance] to Azerbaijan undermines the effort to reach a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.” He went on to note that U.S. security assistance to Azerbaijan will continue to include training in human rights, a point of heightened concern since the Safarov scandal.<\/p>\n