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American Jewish Committee to Lobby for Azeri Interests, Announces Director
August 19, 2008, 7:51 am
http://ayekikan.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/american- jewish-committee-to-lobby-for-azeri-interests-anno unces-director/
BAKU (Asbarez)-The Executive Director of the American Jewish
Committee,David Harris, was in Baku Saturday where he told journalists
at a pressconference that his organization would lobby on behalf of
Azerbaijan'sinterests in the United States.Harris was visiting
Azerbaijan on the invitation of Azeri President IlhamAliyev. During
his two-day visit he met with the President, ForeignMinister, Prime
Minister and other officials.`[The] AJC has long appreciated the
importance of Azerbaijan as an exampleof religious tolerance and a
proven friend of the United States and Israel,'Harris said. `We valued
this opportunity to learn more about this strongally in a challenging
and critical region. We look forward to sharing ourviews about
Azerbaijan's key role when we return to the United States.'However,
Harris' remarks stand in stark contrast to significant
documentedevidence to the contrary. Azerbaijan's numerous political as
well as socialhuman rights abuses both against its Azeri majority as
well as its ethnicminorities, including Armenians and have been widely
reported in US press aswell as international human rights bodies.But
according to the Harris, `Azerbaijan is critical to Western
energysecurity and to the avoidance of a potentially dangerous
monopoly in themarket for natural gas.' The South Caucusus, he
explained, is witnessing ahistoric event in Georgia because the recent
outbreak of fighting in SouthOssetia is important not only for
Georgia, but also the whole region,including Azerbaijan and its
territorial integrity.The AJC will lobby for the US Government to pay
more attention to the workof the OSCE Minsk Group, mediating the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict betweenArmenia and Azerbaijan, Harris said,
adding `the Nagorno-Karabakh conflictwas the key issue of discussion
during my visit to Baku. We will work toimprove the OSCE Minsk Group's
mission in the settlement of the conflict.'The Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, which has yet to be resolved, is in danger oferupting as
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev continues to make loudercalls for
renewed war to `take back' Karabakh by force. Making the situationin
Azerbaijan more tense is the growing uncertainty over the outcome
ofAzerbaijan's upcoming Presidential elections, slated for October
15.There is a definite cult of personality that is being established
thatthreatens the viability of democratic development in
Azerbaijan. Aliyev hasbeen propping up billboards throughout the
country, depicting his father,the late president Haydar Aliyev and
himself in a manner reminiscent of theStalinist Soviet Union and 1980s
Iraq under Sadam Hussein.Aliyev has faced persistent criticism over
his heavy-handed treatment ofindependent media and opposition
parties. Meanwhile, over a million Azerirefugees from the Karabakh
Conflict still live in shantytowns and abandonedtrain carts. Human
rights violations are at an all time high, as severemedia restrictions
continue to result in the imprisonment and torture ofjournalists and
opposition activists. According to Eurasianet, Aliyev'srecent claims
that his government allegedly oversaw the creation of 650,000new jobs
by the end of 2007 are not being received well by most ofAzerbaijan's
population, which has yet to feel the affects of the country'smassive
oil revenues.With less than three months to go until elections are
held in Azerbaijan,controversy is looming over President Ilham
Aliyev's failure to solve manyof the country's social ills. With
Karabakh a major election issue inAzerbaijan, Aliyev has sought to
exploit nationalist fervor surrounding theunresolved conflict to
detract from his administrations failures at home. Inrecent months, he
has been touring the country and delivering, publiclycalling for a new
war and threatening to take Karabakh back by force.On June 26, Aliyev
staged the country's first military parade in 16 years,and announced
his intentions to build a military industrial complex thatwould
support a second round war with neighboring Armenia
andNagorno-Karabakh.Azerbaijan ethnically cleansed its Christian
Armenian minority in a seriesof pogroms and massacres as the Soviet
Union was collapsing, forcing theArmenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, an
Armenian enclave forced into Azerbaijan,to declare
independence. Karabakh's democracy movement, legal by thestatutes of
the Soviet Constitution, triggered a brutal military attack onthe
enclave by Azerbaijan, sparking a conflict that ended with a
Russianbrokered ceasefire in 1994.Azerbaijan has been using
petrodollars from the BTC pipeline to beef up itsmilitary, purchasing
armaments and vehicles from France, the United Statesor the former
Warsaw Pact. According to Stratfor, `Azerbaijan's armament nowhas many
wondering if Baku is planning another conflict against a neighborthat
has been cut out of the region's recent energy wealth.'A renewed
conflict would halt any possibility of Caspian energy reaching
thewest, and be a direct threat to U.S. and European interests in the
region.Following an unprecedented violation of the Nagorno-Karabakh
ceasefire byAzeri forces on March 5, Stratfor intelligence wrote in an
analysis piececiting the growing threat to regional security of a
richer and strongerAzerbaijan.`Azerbaijan has grown stronger and
richer following the 2006 completion ofthe Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC)
oil pipeline, which Western companiesdeveloped to feed oil to Europe,'
it said. `The BTC led to a morepro-Western Azerbaijan, and the
tremendous new wealth it generated hashelped the country increase its
defense spending from $175 million in 2004to more than $1 billion at
the start of 2008.' Azerbaijan's military budgethas since reached $2
billion.'Energy wealth has doubled Azerbaijan's gross domestic
product;Azerbaijan'sdefense budget has jumped from just a few hundred
million a year to abillion this past year,' Stratfor wrote earlier in
2007. `The country isarming itself, and neighboring Armenia is closely
watching. The twocountries have been deadlocked over the Azerbaijani
secessionist region ofNagorno-Karabakh - a conflict that has flared
into a war in the past.Azerbaijan's armament now has many wondering if
Baku is planning anotherconflict against a neighbor that has been cut
out of the region's recentenergy wealth.'Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's
longstanding insistence to isolate fellow US AllyArmenia, from
regional development projects, namely the BTC pipeline, andthe
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Ralway, have further jeopardized the security
andstability of US interests in the South Caucasus.During the planning
stages of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline,Azerbaijan pressured
British Petroleum to bypass a more economic acommercially secure route
that went through Armenia, a fellow US partner inthe region. In 2003,
New York Congressman Joseph Crowley (NY-07) criticized the routing of
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil and gas pipeline during the
HouseInternational Relations Committee markup of the reauthorization
for theOverseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). The Committee
wasconsidering the OPIC's application for political risk insurance
inconnection with construction of the BTC pipeline.At the
markup'sCongressman Crowley stated: `American taxpayers are beingasked
to help cover hundreds of million of dollars in increased costs forthe
BTC pipeline route that would bypass the more economic and
commerciallyviable route through Armenia. If the Caucasus region'sin
my opinion'sis tomove forward'swe must ensure that all countries move
forward together at thesame time. Choosing favorites in the Caucasus
will not promote regionalstability'seconomic integration'sand
peace.'Despite all this, Harris assured Azerbaijan's leadership that
hisorganization would work for the interests of Azerbaijan in the
UnitedStates.`As your friends, we will try to do something for this
but it mostly dependson Azerbaijan itself. Americans shouldn't only
know Azerbaijan as anenergy-rich country but also as a country that
made important contributionsto peacekeeping efforts in Iraq and
Afghanistan,' he said, promising to takesteps towards the
strengthening of relations between Azerbaijan and theUnited State.`We
will work to improve the relations between the United States
andAzerbaijan,' he said. `We will also pay attention to Americans'
education[of Azerbaijan] to convey to them the basic knowledge about
Azerbaijan andto inform the political circles and U.S. presidential
contenders aboutAzerbaijan.'Meanwhile, the Azerbaijan Press Agency
reported on Monday that theIzmir-based Azerbaijan Culture Center has
began a petition drive demandingthat the Turkish-Armenian border
remain closed until the withdrawal ofArmenians from the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.The head of the Center, Jamal
Mammadkhanoglu, underscored that the bordersshould not open without an
`Armenian withdrawal from Azerbaijani lands.'`Turkey has to maintain
its embargo against Armenia for that,' he said.`Otherwise, Azerbaijan
has no other option but to liberate its lands throughmilitary
force.'Azerbaijan and Turkey must unite as one nation, like `a
clenched fist,' hesaid.
American Jewish Committee to Lobby for Azeri Interests, Announces Director
August 19, 2008, 7:51 am
http://ayekikan.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/american- jewish-committee-to-lobby-for-azeri-interests-anno unces-director/
BAKU (Asbarez)-The Executive Director of the American Jewish
Committee,David Harris, was in Baku Saturday where he told journalists
at a pressconference that his organization would lobby on behalf of
Azerbaijan'sinterests in the United States.Harris was visiting
Azerbaijan on the invitation of Azeri President IlhamAliyev. During
his two-day visit he met with the President, ForeignMinister, Prime
Minister and other officials.`[The] AJC has long appreciated the
importance of Azerbaijan as an exampleof religious tolerance and a
proven friend of the United States and Israel,'Harris said. `We valued
this opportunity to learn more about this strongally in a challenging
and critical region. We look forward to sharing ourviews about
Azerbaijan's key role when we return to the United States.'However,
Harris' remarks stand in stark contrast to significant
documentedevidence to the contrary. Azerbaijan's numerous political as
well as socialhuman rights abuses both against its Azeri majority as
well as its ethnicminorities, including Armenians and have been widely
reported in US press aswell as international human rights bodies.But
according to the Harris, `Azerbaijan is critical to Western
energysecurity and to the avoidance of a potentially dangerous
monopoly in themarket for natural gas.' The South Caucusus, he
explained, is witnessing ahistoric event in Georgia because the recent
outbreak of fighting in SouthOssetia is important not only for
Georgia, but also the whole region,including Azerbaijan and its
territorial integrity.The AJC will lobby for the US Government to pay
more attention to the workof the OSCE Minsk Group, mediating the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict betweenArmenia and Azerbaijan, Harris said,
adding `the Nagorno-Karabakh conflictwas the key issue of discussion
during my visit to Baku. We will work toimprove the OSCE Minsk Group's
mission in the settlement of the conflict.'The Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, which has yet to be resolved, is in danger oferupting as
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev continues to make loudercalls for
renewed war to `take back' Karabakh by force. Making the situationin
Azerbaijan more tense is the growing uncertainty over the outcome
ofAzerbaijan's upcoming Presidential elections, slated for October
15.There is a definite cult of personality that is being established
thatthreatens the viability of democratic development in
Azerbaijan. Aliyev hasbeen propping up billboards throughout the
country, depicting his father,the late president Haydar Aliyev and
himself in a manner reminiscent of theStalinist Soviet Union and 1980s
Iraq under Sadam Hussein.Aliyev has faced persistent criticism over
his heavy-handed treatment ofindependent media and opposition
parties. Meanwhile, over a million Azerirefugees from the Karabakh
Conflict still live in shantytowns and abandonedtrain carts. Human
rights violations are at an all time high, as severemedia restrictions
continue to result in the imprisonment and torture ofjournalists and
opposition activists. According to Eurasianet, Aliyev'srecent claims
that his government allegedly oversaw the creation of 650,000new jobs
by the end of 2007 are not being received well by most ofAzerbaijan's
population, which has yet to feel the affects of the country'smassive
oil revenues.With less than three months to go until elections are
held in Azerbaijan,controversy is looming over President Ilham
Aliyev's failure to solve manyof the country's social ills. With
Karabakh a major election issue inAzerbaijan, Aliyev has sought to
exploit nationalist fervor surrounding theunresolved conflict to
detract from his administrations failures at home. Inrecent months, he
has been touring the country and delivering, publiclycalling for a new
war and threatening to take Karabakh back by force.On June 26, Aliyev
staged the country's first military parade in 16 years,and announced
his intentions to build a military industrial complex thatwould
support a second round war with neighboring Armenia
andNagorno-Karabakh.Azerbaijan ethnically cleansed its Christian
Armenian minority in a seriesof pogroms and massacres as the Soviet
Union was collapsing, forcing theArmenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, an
Armenian enclave forced into Azerbaijan,to declare
independence. Karabakh's democracy movement, legal by thestatutes of
the Soviet Constitution, triggered a brutal military attack onthe
enclave by Azerbaijan, sparking a conflict that ended with a
Russianbrokered ceasefire in 1994.Azerbaijan has been using
petrodollars from the BTC pipeline to beef up itsmilitary, purchasing
armaments and vehicles from France, the United Statesor the former
Warsaw Pact. According to Stratfor, `Azerbaijan's armament nowhas many
wondering if Baku is planning another conflict against a neighborthat
has been cut out of the region's recent energy wealth.'A renewed
conflict would halt any possibility of Caspian energy reaching
thewest, and be a direct threat to U.S. and European interests in the
region.Following an unprecedented violation of the Nagorno-Karabakh
ceasefire byAzeri forces on March 5, Stratfor intelligence wrote in an
analysis piececiting the growing threat to regional security of a
richer and strongerAzerbaijan.`Azerbaijan has grown stronger and
richer following the 2006 completion ofthe Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC)
oil pipeline, which Western companiesdeveloped to feed oil to Europe,'
it said. `The BTC led to a morepro-Western Azerbaijan, and the
tremendous new wealth it generated hashelped the country increase its
defense spending from $175 million in 2004to more than $1 billion at
the start of 2008.' Azerbaijan's military budgethas since reached $2
billion.'Energy wealth has doubled Azerbaijan's gross domestic
product;Azerbaijan'sdefense budget has jumped from just a few hundred
million a year to abillion this past year,' Stratfor wrote earlier in
2007. `The country isarming itself, and neighboring Armenia is closely
watching. The twocountries have been deadlocked over the Azerbaijani
secessionist region ofNagorno-Karabakh - a conflict that has flared
into a war in the past.Azerbaijan's armament now has many wondering if
Baku is planning anotherconflict against a neighbor that has been cut
out of the region's recentenergy wealth.'Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's
longstanding insistence to isolate fellow US AllyArmenia, from
regional development projects, namely the BTC pipeline, andthe
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Ralway, have further jeopardized the security
andstability of US interests in the South Caucasus.During the planning
stages of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline,Azerbaijan pressured
British Petroleum to bypass a more economic acommercially secure route
that went through Armenia, a fellow US partner inthe region. In 2003,
New York Congressman Joseph Crowley (NY-07) criticized the routing of
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil and gas pipeline during the
HouseInternational Relations Committee markup of the reauthorization
for theOverseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). The Committee
wasconsidering the OPIC's application for political risk insurance
inconnection with construction of the BTC pipeline.At the
markup'sCongressman Crowley stated: `American taxpayers are beingasked
to help cover hundreds of million of dollars in increased costs forthe
BTC pipeline route that would bypass the more economic and
commerciallyviable route through Armenia. If the Caucasus region'sin
my opinion'sis tomove forward'swe must ensure that all countries move
forward together at thesame time. Choosing favorites in the Caucasus
will not promote regionalstability'seconomic integration'sand
peace.'Despite all this, Harris assured Azerbaijan's leadership that
hisorganization would work for the interests of Azerbaijan in the
UnitedStates.`As your friends, we will try to do something for this
but it mostly dependson Azerbaijan itself. Americans shouldn't only
know Azerbaijan as anenergy-rich country but also as a country that
made important contributionsto peacekeeping efforts in Iraq and
Afghanistan,' he said, promising to takesteps towards the
strengthening of relations between Azerbaijan and theUnited State.`We
will work to improve the relations between the United States
andAzerbaijan,' he said. `We will also pay attention to Americans'
education[of Azerbaijan] to convey to them the basic knowledge about
Azerbaijan andto inform the political circles and U.S. presidential
contenders aboutAzerbaijan.'Meanwhile, the Azerbaijan Press Agency
reported on Monday that theIzmir-based Azerbaijan Culture Center has
began a petition drive demandingthat the Turkish-Armenian border
remain closed until the withdrawal ofArmenians from the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.The head of the Center, Jamal
Mammadkhanoglu, underscored that the bordersshould not open without an
`Armenian withdrawal from Azerbaijani lands.'`Turkey has to maintain
its embargo against Armenia for that,' he said.`Otherwise, Azerbaijan
has no other option but to liberate its lands throughmilitary
force.'Azerbaijan and Turkey must unite as one nation, like `a
clenched fist,' hesaid.