Azerbaijan National NGO Forum Appeals to US President and DOGE Head Regarding USAID

On February 13, the Azerbaijan National NGO Forum made an appeal to Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, and Elon Musk, Head of US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) regarding the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Ramil Iskandarli, Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan National NGO Forum, read out the appeal, The Caspian Post reports, citing local media.

The appeal said: “We, the Azerbaijan National NGO Forum, as the flagship of Azerbaijani NGOs, would like to express our profound gratitude for the determination and strong will you have demonstrated in investigating and exposing the criminal activities of USAID in the global arena.

Unfortunately, over the past several years, U.S. taxpayer money has become the breeding ground for corruption through USAID, being used to form the shadow network of the Biden-Blinken Administration. During the Biden-Blinken era, which marked the lost years in Azerbaijan-U.S. relations, calls for the expulsion and cessation of USAID's activities in the country have grown stronger, and public outrage has intensified. USAID grants, with their essence of insulting traditional, national, and moral values in Azerbaijan, have struck a blow to the image of the United States and its strategic interests in the region.

Publicly disclosed facts indicate that since 1991, USAID has spent over 410 million U.S. dollars on various projects in Azerbaijan under different names. New evidence shows that Azerbaijan is also mentioned in current U.S. grant projects, totaling 17 million dollars.

We hope that you will also look into USAID’s crimes in Azerbaijan and issue instructions for the auditing of the allocated grants.

As an organization with over 600 member NGOs, we express that the Azerbaijani public eagerly awaits the results of such an investigation and the unmasking of grant intermediaries and fraudsters.”