US Senate Foreign Relations Committee postponed a vote on nomination  of Ambassador to Azerbaijan 

ArmInfo..In a move welcomed by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), the Senate Foreign Relations Committee postponed a vote on President Trump's nomination of Earle Litzenberger to serve as Ambassador to Azerbaijan  - amid growing concerns across Capitol Hill over a recent call by  National Security Advisor John Bolton for U.S. arms sales to the  increasingly reckless and aggressive Aliyev regime.  The press  service of ANCA told ArmInfo about this. 

ANCA notes, that Mr. Litzenberger was the only one of 19  ambassadorial nominations to be postponed, very likely until next  year, when the panel will hold its next business meeting.  

"We welcome this opportunity for more careful Congressional oversight  of our country's increasingly challenging bilateral ties with  Azerbaijan's aggressive and abusive Aliyev regime, particularly in  light of National Security Advisor John Bolton's controversial  suggestion that the U.S. start selling arms to Baku," said ANCA  Executive Director Aram Hamparian. 

  "We join with our Senate friends in seeking greater clarity on this  point, and, more generally, regarding the Administration's policy on  Aliyev's worsening pattern of aggression against Artsakh and Armenia,  incitement of hatred against all Armenians, unapologetic blacklisting  of U.S. legislators, obstruction of the Royce-Engel peace proposals,  threats to shoot down civilian aircraft, the destruction of the  Djulfa cemetery and other Christian heritage sites, and - of course -  his severe crackdown against domestic dissidents and ethnic-religious  minorities." To recall, during the October 4th confirmation hearing,  Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Democrat Bob Menendez  (D-NJ) grilled Mr. Litzenberger about President Aliyev's "bellicose  rhetoric and sporadic outbursts of violence," securing from the  nominee a commitment that he would urge the Azerbaijani government to  step back from any threatening behavior that disrupts the line of  contact.  Asked by Sen. Menendez whether U.S. security assistance to  Azerbaijan should be curtailed based on human rights abuses,  Litzenberger responded that the State Department will be "very  careful to ensure that nothing that we do or provide [in terms of  U.S. security assistance] to Azerbaijan undermines the effort to  reach a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict." He  went on to note that U.S. security assistance to Azerbaijan will  continue to include training in human rights, a point of heightened  concern since the Safarov scandal.  

Following the hearing, both Sen. Menendez and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA)  submitted written questions to Mr. Litzenberger - and may follow up  with additional inquiries regarding statements made by National  Security Advisor John Bolton during his late October trip to the  Caucasus calling for arms sales to Azerbaijan and Armenia.