HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	9
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

urging the administration of the united states to strengthen its efforts to facilitate a political settlement to the armenia-azerbaijan nagorno-karabakh conflict.

     WHEREAS, the Republic of Azerbaijan is a strategic partner of the United States in a strategically important South Caucasus region bordering Iran, Russia, and Central Asia; and

WHEREAS, the United States and Azerbaijan established diplomatic relations on February 28, 1992; and

WHEREAS, the United States supports the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan; and

WHEREAS, over the past twenty years, the United States and Azerbaijan expanded their partnership and developed a cooperative relationship on issues dealing with energy security, international anti-terrorism, drug and human trafficking, and the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and

WHEREAS, United States Secretary of State John Kerry stated on June 3, 2013, that Azerbaijan has been an important partner in Afghanistan and the International Security Assistance Force, and that Azerbaijan holds great importance to distribution routes, gas lines, and other issues that are critical to the United States; and

WHEREAS, over the past decade, Azerbaijan has successfully rebuilt its economy; gained the distinction of having one of the most rapidly developing economies globally; tripled its gross domestic product; accounted for 80 percent of the gross domestic product of the South Caucasus region; and worked to become the biggest United States trade partner in the South Caucasus region; and

WHEREAS, Azerbaijan initiated a number of strategically important trans-regional energy and transportation projects such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway that contribute to the prosperity of Azerbaijan and the United States' regional allies such as Turkey and Georgia; and

WHEREAS, despite these positive developments, conflicts in the South Caucasus region, such as the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, continue to threaten regional peace and stability and impede further cooperation in the South Caucasus region; and

WHEREAS, on November 2, 2008, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the Russian Federation adopted a Joint Declaration in which they stated that the political settlement of the conflict on the basis of international law will create favorable conditions for economic development and comprehensive cooperation in the region; and

WHEREAS, the United States, France, and the Russian Federation are co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group, which is tasked to facilitate peaceful negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and to assist in a political settlement that is based on the principles and norms of international law and the decisions and documents adopted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the applicable United Nations Security Council resolutions; and

WHEREAS, United States President Barack Obama on August 5, 2013, appointed United States Ambassador James Warlick as the next United States co-chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group; and

WHEREAS, the international community, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group co-chair countries, stated that they support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and do not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent entity; and

WHEREAS, the United Nations Security Council in its resolutions 822, 853, 874, and 884 reaffirmed support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and demanded the immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of all Armenian forces from all the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan; and

WHEREAS, the international community, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Non-Aligned Movement, reaffirmed support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and recognized that the conflict should be resolved on the basis of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally-recognized borders; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, that this body supports a strategic partnership between the United States and the Republic of Azerbaijan, and that the United States administration is urged to strengthen its efforts to facilitate a political settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, Secretary of State of the United States, United States Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan, President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and Hawaii's Congressional delegation.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict