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OBAMA TO TACKLE "SERIOUS ISSUES" WITH AZERBAIJAN
Reuters
June 7 2010
BAKU (Reuters) - President Barack Obama promised in a letter
released on Monday to tackle "serious issues" straining relations
with Azerbaijan, an important link in Afghan supply lines and energy
export routes to the West.
Politics | Barack Obama
Defense Secretary Robert Gates handed Obama's letter to President
Ilham Aliyev during a visit meant to ease tensions with the oil-rich
Caspian Sea country, strategically located between Russia and Iran.
A U.S.-backed push for a historic rapprochement between Azerbaijan's
foe Armenia and its historic ally Turkey has damaged ties between
Washington and Azerbaijan, which worries its interests will be damaged
by the reconciliation efforts.
Baku in April accused the United States of siding with Armenia over
Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory that has been under ethnic Armenian
control since a 1994 ceasefire in a war, and threatened to "reconsider"
its relationship with Washington.
"I am aware of the fact that there are serious issues in our
relationship, but I am confident that we can address them," Obama
wrote in the letter delivered on Sunday by Gates, the most senior U.S.
official to visit Azerbaijan since Obama took office in January 2009.
On the plane leaving Azerbaijan on Monday, Gates said his visit
"set the stage for further expansion of the relationship."
In the letter, Obama praised Azerbaijan for sending military personnel
to serve in Afghanistan and opening its land and air space to help
resupply U.S. and NATO forces there.
Since 2001, tens of thousands of military aircraft and supply trucks
have crossed the country carrying U.S. and NATO forces and equipment
to Afghanistan. The Pentagon wants to avoid problems that could slow
Obama's 30,000-troop surge.
"These guys clearly live in a rough neighborhood and I told them ...
how much the international community appreciated what they were doing
to help everybody in Afghanistan," Gates said.
He told reporters on his plane that he and Azerbaijan's leadership
had discussed ways to expand military-to-military relations, including
exercises and intelligence sharing.
Azerbaijan is also a significant oil producer and hub on a route for
Central Asia and Caspian Sea energy to Europe, bypassing Russia to
the north and Iran to the south.
"Azerbaijan's leadership in the development for a Southern Corridor
for energy has also increased regional prosperity and enhanced global
energy security," Obama wrote.
"It is my hope that we will be able to broaden and deepen our
relationship in the months and years ahead."
Obama praised Azerbaijan's commitment to a continuing effort to
resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, mediated by the United States,
Russia and France, and warned against using force.
"I ... believe that a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict is essential for the long-term stability of the South Caucasus
region, and support for this outcome will remain a priority for the
United States."
Azerbaijan has built up its military and repeatedly warned it would
have to resort to force to reclaim control over Nagorno-Karabakh if
the dispute is not resolved.
The United States has expressed concern over Azerbaijan's human rights
record in the past. Obama did not mention human rights in the letter,
which called for closer cooperation "in the interest of regional
security, democracy and prosperity."
(Additional reporting by Steve Gutterman in Moscow; Editing by Mark
Heinrich)
From: A. Papazian
Reuters
June 7 2010
BAKU (Reuters) - President Barack Obama promised in a letter
released on Monday to tackle "serious issues" straining relations
with Azerbaijan, an important link in Afghan supply lines and energy
export routes to the West.
Politics | Barack Obama
Defense Secretary Robert Gates handed Obama's letter to President
Ilham Aliyev during a visit meant to ease tensions with the oil-rich
Caspian Sea country, strategically located between Russia and Iran.
A U.S.-backed push for a historic rapprochement between Azerbaijan's
foe Armenia and its historic ally Turkey has damaged ties between
Washington and Azerbaijan, which worries its interests will be damaged
by the reconciliation efforts.
Baku in April accused the United States of siding with Armenia over
Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory that has been under ethnic Armenian
control since a 1994 ceasefire in a war, and threatened to "reconsider"
its relationship with Washington.
"I am aware of the fact that there are serious issues in our
relationship, but I am confident that we can address them," Obama
wrote in the letter delivered on Sunday by Gates, the most senior U.S.
official to visit Azerbaijan since Obama took office in January 2009.
On the plane leaving Azerbaijan on Monday, Gates said his visit
"set the stage for further expansion of the relationship."
In the letter, Obama praised Azerbaijan for sending military personnel
to serve in Afghanistan and opening its land and air space to help
resupply U.S. and NATO forces there.
Since 2001, tens of thousands of military aircraft and supply trucks
have crossed the country carrying U.S. and NATO forces and equipment
to Afghanistan. The Pentagon wants to avoid problems that could slow
Obama's 30,000-troop surge.
"These guys clearly live in a rough neighborhood and I told them ...
how much the international community appreciated what they were doing
to help everybody in Afghanistan," Gates said.
He told reporters on his plane that he and Azerbaijan's leadership
had discussed ways to expand military-to-military relations, including
exercises and intelligence sharing.
Azerbaijan is also a significant oil producer and hub on a route for
Central Asia and Caspian Sea energy to Europe, bypassing Russia to
the north and Iran to the south.
"Azerbaijan's leadership in the development for a Southern Corridor
for energy has also increased regional prosperity and enhanced global
energy security," Obama wrote.
"It is my hope that we will be able to broaden and deepen our
relationship in the months and years ahead."
Obama praised Azerbaijan's commitment to a continuing effort to
resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, mediated by the United States,
Russia and France, and warned against using force.
"I ... believe that a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict is essential for the long-term stability of the South Caucasus
region, and support for this outcome will remain a priority for the
United States."
Azerbaijan has built up its military and repeatedly warned it would
have to resort to force to reclaim control over Nagorno-Karabakh if
the dispute is not resolved.
The United States has expressed concern over Azerbaijan's human rights
record in the past. Obama did not mention human rights in the letter,
which called for closer cooperation "in the interest of regional
security, democracy and prosperity."
(Additional reporting by Steve Gutterman in Moscow; Editing by Mark
Heinrich)
From: A. Papazian