Baku, June 22, AZERTAC.
“One of the important political events of recent days was President Ilham Aliyev’s reception of Abraham Hamadeh, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. At the same time, the meetings held by Abraham Hamadeh during his visit to our country with Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova and Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov are also of great significance. These meetings reflect the new dynamics and mutual interests observed in Azerbaijan–U.S. relations,” said Gunay Afandiyeva, Member of the Milli Majlis and Deputy Chair of the Committee on Culture, in a statement to AZERTAC.
“One particularly noteworthy point is that Abraham Hamadeh is one of the co-authors of the bill aimed at repealing Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which was adopted by the U.S. Congress against Azerbaijan and for many years negatively affected bilateral relations.
Section 907 reflected a completely unjust approach toward Azerbaijan. However, today, new realities have emerged in the region. Azerbaijan has fully restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty and acts as one of the main initiators of peace and cooperation in the South Caucasus. In such circumstances, it is natural to reconsider outdated approaches and political decisions that have lost their relevance.
Of course, in a country like the United States, with its large and complex political system, legislative changes do not occur overnight. Broad political support must be secured both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. There are senators and congressmen with differing views, and this process requires time. However, the very fact that such initiatives are already being put forward demonstrates the positive prospects for bilateral relations.
As President Ilham Aliyev emphasized during the meeting, Azerbaijan–U.S. relations have been developing successfully since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office for a second term. In the congratulatory letter addressed by the head of state to Donald Trump, special importance was attached to advancing the peace agenda in the region through Washington’s mediation, supporting the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as initiatives aimed at strengthening cooperation and ensuring stability and security in the region.
I believe that Abraham Hamadeh’s visit to Baku, the discussions on repealing Section 907, and, in general, the political dialogue observed in recent months involving senior U.S. officials are important signals that relations between the two countries are entering a new stage. As always, Azerbaijan is capable of contributing to the strengthening of relations based on mutual trust and strategic cooperation,” she emphasized.