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VestnikKavkaza.net
May 4 2011
Asim Molladze: `Cultural communication is more efficient that economic
and political talks'
Asim Molladze, Azerbaijani MP, the head of the Democratic Reform
Party, tells VK about current relations between Baku and Washington.
- The US Senate will consider the appointment of Matthew Bryza as the
US Ambassador to Azerbaijan at the end of the year. What are his
chances of keeping his position?
- This issue has been discussed for a long time in the US
administration. As you may remember, Bryza's appointment faced
resistance from pro-Armenian politicians; however, they failed to
reject this candidate. The candidature was not rejected, but the
Armenian lobby managed to veto it in the Senate. Then the President
executed his right to appoint ambassadors whose candidatures were not
approved by the Senate during the Senate's vacations. The US
constitution stipulates that such an appointment should be approved by
the Senate in a year or be revoked. I think it's possible that some
Senators will be opposed to Bryza, but they will definitely be
outvoted.
Bryza is one of the most experienced Caucasus experts in the US, he
has participated in a lot of projects in the region. In particular, he
has taken part in conflict settlement programs. He's the best choice
to represent US interests in Azerbaijan, so the Armenian lobby works
against the best interests of the US.
- You have just arrived from the US, where you were on n official
visit with other Azerbaijani MPs. What were the objectives of this
visit?
- This trip was connected to the activities of the US `Karabakh
Foundation'. Apart from charity events organized to help settle the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, we discussed several issues of
Azerbaijani-American relations. We managed to meet a lot of
Congressmen and human rights activists such as the head of the Freedom
House organization, and to give several lectures in universities and
research centers.
We also attended several events aimed at promoting Azerbaijani culture
in the US: a concert of Azerbaijani jazz, the Turkish People's
Cultural Expo... These events were warmly greeted by American people. I
believe that cultural communication can prove more efficient that
economic and political talks.
Azerbaijan is the first state of the Muslim world to become secular. I
hope that Azerbaijan is important for the US not only as an oil and
gas exporter, but also as a model-state for the Turkic and Islamic
world. Azerbaijan always supports the US in its fight against
terrorism and international crime prevention.
- You visit the US and Europe often. Are people there well-informed
about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?
- As a matter of fact, the wider public is very ill-informed. And
Armenian diaspora organizations are the main source of information on
the subject for them. Therefore we are facing a task to provide the
European community and experts with accurate information. It's not a
normal conflict; it's a violation of all possible international laws:
one member-state of the UN, the OSCE and the European Council occupies
a considerable part of another one, thus breaking the basic laws of
all these organizations. Besides that, this occupation has caused a
major humanitarian catastrophe.
We expect these international organizations to respect their own
regulations. When the UN passed the Libyan resolution, action was
taken within days, yet all resolutions on Karabakh are just
waste-paper.
We have achieved considerable progress in the cause of informing the
European public, which can be seen in present resolutions of PACE and
the European Parliament. In the US we try to operate not only on a
federal level, but also at state level. We try to combat the lies that
well-financed and powerful Armenian diasporas spread.
-What is the status of Azerbaijani-US relations at the moment?
- This is a strategic partnership. At the beginning of its term, the
current administration made several mistakes regarding US relations
with its partners, Azerbaijan among them. It was unclear what
political course would be pursued in the South Caucasus. The two-year
absence of a US ambassador in Baku seriously damaged relations between
our two countries. Nevertheless, the recent visit of the US Secretary
of State to Azerbaijan demonstrates the high level of US interest in
cooperation with Azerbaijan.
Interview by Ramin Nazimov, exclusively to VK
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/interviews/politics/13514.html
From: A. Papazian
May 4 2011
Asim Molladze: `Cultural communication is more efficient that economic
and political talks'
Asim Molladze, Azerbaijani MP, the head of the Democratic Reform
Party, tells VK about current relations between Baku and Washington.
- The US Senate will consider the appointment of Matthew Bryza as the
US Ambassador to Azerbaijan at the end of the year. What are his
chances of keeping his position?
- This issue has been discussed for a long time in the US
administration. As you may remember, Bryza's appointment faced
resistance from pro-Armenian politicians; however, they failed to
reject this candidate. The candidature was not rejected, but the
Armenian lobby managed to veto it in the Senate. Then the President
executed his right to appoint ambassadors whose candidatures were not
approved by the Senate during the Senate's vacations. The US
constitution stipulates that such an appointment should be approved by
the Senate in a year or be revoked. I think it's possible that some
Senators will be opposed to Bryza, but they will definitely be
outvoted.
Bryza is one of the most experienced Caucasus experts in the US, he
has participated in a lot of projects in the region. In particular, he
has taken part in conflict settlement programs. He's the best choice
to represent US interests in Azerbaijan, so the Armenian lobby works
against the best interests of the US.
- You have just arrived from the US, where you were on n official
visit with other Azerbaijani MPs. What were the objectives of this
visit?
- This trip was connected to the activities of the US `Karabakh
Foundation'. Apart from charity events organized to help settle the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, we discussed several issues of
Azerbaijani-American relations. We managed to meet a lot of
Congressmen and human rights activists such as the head of the Freedom
House organization, and to give several lectures in universities and
research centers.
We also attended several events aimed at promoting Azerbaijani culture
in the US: a concert of Azerbaijani jazz, the Turkish People's
Cultural Expo... These events were warmly greeted by American people. I
believe that cultural communication can prove more efficient that
economic and political talks.
Azerbaijan is the first state of the Muslim world to become secular. I
hope that Azerbaijan is important for the US not only as an oil and
gas exporter, but also as a model-state for the Turkic and Islamic
world. Azerbaijan always supports the US in its fight against
terrorism and international crime prevention.
- You visit the US and Europe often. Are people there well-informed
about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?
- As a matter of fact, the wider public is very ill-informed. And
Armenian diaspora organizations are the main source of information on
the subject for them. Therefore we are facing a task to provide the
European community and experts with accurate information. It's not a
normal conflict; it's a violation of all possible international laws:
one member-state of the UN, the OSCE and the European Council occupies
a considerable part of another one, thus breaking the basic laws of
all these organizations. Besides that, this occupation has caused a
major humanitarian catastrophe.
We expect these international organizations to respect their own
regulations. When the UN passed the Libyan resolution, action was
taken within days, yet all resolutions on Karabakh are just
waste-paper.
We have achieved considerable progress in the cause of informing the
European public, which can be seen in present resolutions of PACE and
the European Parliament. In the US we try to operate not only on a
federal level, but also at state level. We try to combat the lies that
well-financed and powerful Armenian diasporas spread.
-What is the status of Azerbaijani-US relations at the moment?
- This is a strategic partnership. At the beginning of its term, the
current administration made several mistakes regarding US relations
with its partners, Azerbaijan among them. It was unclear what
political course would be pursued in the South Caucasus. The two-year
absence of a US ambassador in Baku seriously damaged relations between
our two countries. Nevertheless, the recent visit of the US Secretary
of State to Azerbaijan demonstrates the high level of US interest in
cooperation with Azerbaijan.
Interview by Ramin Nazimov, exclusively to VK
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/interviews/politics/13514.html
From: A. Papazian