The Colorado State Senate pulled from consideration a controversial measure which would have, in the presence of a visiting Azerbaijani diplomat, praised “the strategic partnership between the United States of America and the Republic of Azerbaijan,” reported the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region.

Sources from the State Capitol report the co-sponsor of the resolution, Senator Larry Crowder, agreed to withdraw the resolution from vote schedule. The resolution has been rescheduled for a vote on May 15, 2015; the Legislature however adjourns on May 7 thus effectively signaling its defeat, Asbarez reported.

“We are pleased that Colorado joins Hawaii, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming in affirming that it too is not for sale to the oil-rich and corrupt regime of Ilham Aliyev’s Azerbaijan. We were particularly gratified to see Senator Crowder reconsider and ultimately withdraw the resolution after gaining a fuller understanding of the facts about Azerbaijan’s domestic abuses and foreign aggression,” added Asatryan.

In the days leading up to vote, ANCA-WR worked with local community leaders and activists to alert state legislators about the corrupt and authoritarian regime of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the country’s gross human rights violations, coverage of which has increased in the American press most recently in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, under the headlines, “A Thuggish Regime Challenges the U.S.” and “The Two Faces of Azerbaijan’s Mr. Aliyev” respectively.