Azerbaijan America Alliance Hosts Inaugural Event in Washington, DC

Senator John McCain and Ambassador Elin Suleymanov call for strengthening the friendship between U.S and Azerbaijan

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Members of Congress, State Department officials, American business leaders, and leaders of Azeri-American organizations came together last night for the inaugural event of the Azerbaijan America Alliance, a new non-profit organization dedicated to forging closer ties between the peoples of America and Azerbaijan.

Keynote speaker Senator John McCain (R-AZ) told the guests at the Reserve Officers' Association in Washington, DC that he shared the goal of "promoting a lasting partnership between the people of Azerbaijan and the people of America....We need to build our alliance, we need friends in the region, and our relationship between the U.S. and Azerbaijan has nowhere to go to but up."

Elin Suleymanov, Azerbaijan's new U.S. Ambassador to the United States, welcomed the Azerbaijan America Alliance and reiterated the enduring ties between the U.S. and Azerbaijan. He noted how quickly Azerbaijan had offered its help to the U.S. hours after the attacks on September 11, 2001 and hoped that the friendship would deepen between the two nations.

Justin Friedman, the head of the U.S. State Department's Caucasus Division, said that the "bonds of friendship between the U.S. and Azerbaijan are deep and enduring" and that the two nations "have shared interests in building regional security and shared energy security."

Several of the members of Congress who attended the event to lend their support to the Azerbaijan America Alliance included Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), Michael Grimm (R-NY), Randy Hultgren (R- IL), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Corrine Brown (D-FL), and Joe Wilson (R-SC).

The Azerbaijan America Alliance is a non-partisan, non-profit organization providing information broadly about the people, culture, society, industry, history and current events of the Azeri people. Its mission is to foster an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect between the people of Azerbaijan and America. Through academic discussion, cultural programming, and political discourse, the Alliance aims to become the premier organization dedicated to promoting a lasting partnership between Azerbaijan and America.

SOURCE Azerbaijan America Alliance

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