U.S. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland at the daily briefing on Monday said that U.S. non-governmental organizations in their activities, do not go beyond the law.
She commented on the issue, through Voice of America, ??on the claims by the Azerbaijani government to U.S. National Democratic Institute in Baku.
Diplomatically, noting that no information was forthcoming about the claims from official Baku, Nuland also stated that "all democratic projects funded by the U.S. operate within the strict limits, and they do not fund any particular party or ideological line."
She also stressed that the U.S. NGOs provide financial support for the democratic electoral process and party building across the political spectrum on the basis of balance.
Earlier, the U.S. Embassy and NDI have rejected the accusations, saying that the "National Democratic Institute and its director, work in support of civil society of Azerbaijan and its democratic development" in terms of transparency.
After the unsanctioned rally in Baku against young soldiers' death on March 10, the head of the Presidential Administration, Ramiz Mehdiyev, accused the NDI of destructive activities and infringement of local law.
Information about the financial side of the NDI, particularly its representative in Baku, Alex Grigoryevs, was published through the site Haqqin.az by the journalist Eynullah Fatullayev. The journalist claimed that for the "Facebook revolution" youth organisations received $ 2 million.
Later it turned out that the amount of funds transferred to youth organizations in the form of grants, amounted to little more than $ 1 million for the period 2010-12 years or 270 thousand manats per year. This is minuscule compared to what the Azerbaijani government allocates to its youth organizations. So, last year, to support youth projects "for the youth involvement in public life, patriotic education and the expansion of international cooperation", 20 million manat was allocated from the Ministry of Youth and Sports. However, year-end efficiency was questioned by the head of the socio-political department of the Presidential Administration, Ali Hasanov. -0 -
Politics
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