Azerbaijan seeks to suspend ties with U.S.

PanARMENIAN.Net - A bill on suspending all relations with the U.S. and banning American officials from entering Azerbaijan has been submitted to Azerbaijani parliament on Wednesday, December 23, Daily Sabah reports.

The bill submitted by MP Rovshan Rzayev envisages a visa sanction to "individuals representing the U.S. government along with their family members, congressmen and senators, leaders of media outlets, experts conducting a smear campaign against Azerbaijan and officials cooperating with Armenian diaspora lobby groups."

Envisaging the termination of cooperation with the U.S. in trade, energy, military and security, the bill recommends that all contacts between Azerbaijani state officials and U.S. companies should be suspended, with all contracts with U.S. private sector representatives to be canceled.

The bill claims that the U.S. has been using “double-standards” against Azerbaijan, especially on “human rights.” The document openly calls for "an end to the flagrant violation of human rights" in the U.S. while asking Azerbaijan "to review the cooperation and bilateral relations formed over the years" with the country.

The bill also blames U.S. intervention in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen as the cause of civil wars and disruption of the territorial integrity of these countries.

In the bill, the U.S. is also criticized for corruption, fraud in elections, interference in other countries' internal affairs and conducting campaigns to discredit Azerbaijan.

The document ends with a call to the U.S. to take an unambiguous stance on the Armenian-Azerbaijani dispute of Nagorno-Karabakh in line with international law.