Azerbaijan Society of America (ASA) attends annual congressional breakfast organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council, NY (JCRC-NY),  one of the most influential and respected organizations in the U.S.

The breakfast was also attended by the US Senator Chuck Schumer, Minority Leader of the US House of Representatives Hakeem Jeffries, NY Representatives Anthony D'Esposito, Adriano Espaillat, Daniel Goldman, Mike Lawler, Grace Meng, Jerrold Nadler and Ritchie Torres. The event was also attended by the acting Consul General of Israel in NY Honorable Tsach Saar, who is familiar with our group. 

 ASA is honored to be receiving an invitation every year to attend the breakfast meeting. Board members of ASA also joined the informative meeting and able to listen the remarks of the members of U.S. Congress. Leila Azimov, ASA co-President and media director for Youth of ASA also joined the meeting.  

This year the guests were able to submit questions to the elected officials and there were two questions submitted by the members of ASA. 

The first question submitted  "We, Azerbaijani Americans are proud of the good relations Azerbaijan and Israel have, we want the whole world to know that Azerbaijan has always been a welcoming host to Jewish people from all over, not only the indigenous Jewish population of antiquity, having settled in the region now called Azerbaijan centuries ago, but also modern European Jewry are most welcomed in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a unique country by many measures, and perhaps the most outstanding uniqueness is that Azerbaijan, 95% Muslim, by both official policy and general public sentiment, that Jewish people are to be respected and that Israel, like any country, has the right to defend itself against hostilities from any other country or group, as Americans we take pride knowing this.

Our question is, what more can we do here in America to bring awareness to just how unique Azerbaijan is especially in this one regard of sustaining ideal relations with the Jewish population of Azerbaijan."

The second question submitted  "I am a Jewish American born and raised in Azerbaijan and have only positive experiences as a Jewish person growing up in majority Muslim Azerbaijan. This is strong evidence that there is no culture of ethnic hatred or discrimination in Azerbaijan against any minorities who live in the Republic of Azerbaijan. I would ask my elected officials to take a note of this. It is of utmost importance to pursue wise policies that do not alienate U.S. partners and allies. The members of U.S. Congress should show equal understanding to the needs of all sides to any conflicts which will surely contribute to the strengthening of peace and stability in the region."

ASA values the relations with many other ethnic groups in the U.S. it gives us an opportunity to raise the profile of Azerbaijan here in America.  This is our mission.

We will build stronger relations with the newly elected CEO of JCRC Honorable Mark Treyger. Members of ASA also delivered an invitation to the Interim CEO Noam Gilboord and CEO Emeritus Michael S. Miller to be part of ASA delegation to visit Azerbaijan. It would give us great honor to introduce our homeland to them.

Azerbaijan Society of America was acknowledged and thanked for being part of the event by the Interim CEO Noam Gilboord. 

We are Proud Americans with Proud Azerbaijani Heritage!