December 14, Azeri mass media appealed to U.S. Embassy in Baku, attempting to learn Washington’s position on publication of Freedom House NGO. NGO published map of Azerbaijan indicating disputable Karabakh status and stated about allocation of U.S. aid totaling $8m to NKR.

PR Officer of the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan Terry Davidson stated that official stance of U.S. on Karabakh remains unchanged. “U.S. does not recognize Government under Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. As for assistance allocated by the Congress, our country grants it not to government, but people. It is intended exceptionally for humanitarian aid and projects like mine clearing. These projects are implemented by NGOs. Simultaneously, U.S. also renders assistance to internally displaced Azerbaijanis. I would like to restate that in last years we supported large projects on mine clearing, built schools for internally displaced people and sought to improve their living conditions through various programs,” said Davidson.

Commenting on Azeri’s discontent with the map published by Freedom House as well as harsh criticism on critical state of democracy in the country, Davidson advised to forward all questions to the organization, emphasizing that U.S. Government bears no relation to it.

A.G.