WASHINGTON—Representative Eliot L. Engel, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement regarding the release by the Government of Azerbaijan of human rights activists Leyla and Arif Yunus:

“Earlier this year I met with Dinara Yunus, who told me her parents’ heartbreaking plight: jailed, ailing, and worried they’d never see their daughter again. So I share in Dinara’s relief that she has been reunited with her parents Leyla and Arif Yunus in Amsterdam, and that they will finally receive the medical treatment they need. 

“As a friend of Azerbaijan, I hope that these positive gestures will continue.  After all, the United States shares an important partnership with the government and people of Azerbaijan—a partnership that has the potential not just to benefit our two countries, but to help build lasting peace and prosperity for the entire region.”

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