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Vestnik Kavkaza: Azerbaijan and the United States a major diplomatic row erupted
17:42 18/10/2013 » REGION
A serious diplomatic scandal arises between Baku and Washington.
Criticism of the presidential elections in Azerbaijan by U.S.
Department of State and the fact that Barack Obama hasn't
congratulated Ilham Aliyev on his third presidential term yet worsened
already less than perfect Azerbaijani-American relations, Orhan
Sattarov, the head of the head of the European bureau of Vestnik
Kavkaza writes.
The author notes that the head of the presidential administration
Ramiz Mehtiyev who usually prefers not to communicate with the mass
media has met journalists from leading Azerbaijani periodicals. At the
meeting the top official who is thought to be one of key figures in
the country expressed his disappointment and indignation on the
estimation of the presidential elections in the country by the
observing mission of OSCE/ODIHR and U.S. Department of State.
Criticizing the Americans for double standards and insincerity in
partnership with Azerbaijan, Mehtiyev doubted the adequateness of the
report by OSCE/ODIHR - the organization which works watching at the
U.S. According to Mehtiyev, Azerbaijan had doubts about inviting
observers from the ODIHR, but made the step on the recommendation of
the U.S.
`However, the most interesting thing in the interview was inside
information from Mekhtiyev that American officials `recommended' the
Azerbaijani government to falsify results of voting for the opposition
candidate Jamil Hasanly, as if he got 25% of votes,' the author
writes.
As the article notes, the U.S. Department of State quickly responded
to the interview by the head of the presidential administration and
stated that his statements on `recommended' results of the elections
were a lie. `The diplomatic fight could come to an end without serious
consequences for bilateral relations. However, tension seems to reach
the highest level. The Azerbaijani side didn't ignore the disproof of
the Americans and decided to state certain names,' the author writes
and notes that the authorities focused on the American ambassador in
Azerbaijan, Richard Morningstar.
`The figures mentioned by Ramiz Mekhtiyev were voiced by the U.S.
ambassador at meetings with the government of Azerbaijan,' Elnur
Aslanov, the head of the political analysis and information support of
the presidential administration of Azerbaijan, confirmed in an
interview to 1news.az.
Author reminds that a few days ahead of the incident, there was
another unpleasant moment which involved Morningstar. According to the
press service of the Defense Minister of Azerbaijan, the American
ambassador stated at the meeting with the minister that `the elections
have passed, and the winner is Ilham Aliyev' and actually he shut down
all political speculations on recognition or non-recognition of the
Azerbaijani elections by the U.S.
`However, the U.S. embassy decided to make a statement that the words
by the ambassador were misinterpreted. This time the Azerbaijani side
also resisted America and stated that it had an audio record of the
talk and the press service of the ministry didn't misinterpret the
message,' the material says.
According to the author, the current anti-American rhetoric can be
compared with the sharp reaction by Baku on active American lobbying
of the Armenian-Turkish peacemaking in 2008 without consideration of
the Nagorno-Karabakh topic.
`It is notable that in the context of worsened relations between Baku
and Washington the mass media is again discussing the topic of whether
Azerbaijan should take the European and Western course or the Eurasian
course, i.e. a radical turn toward Russia,' the author says and notes
that Vladimir Putin's summer visit to Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani's energy
policy which prefers to prevent development of the project of Nabucco
to avoid competition with the Russian pipeline of South Stream,
deliberation of the question on association with the EU - all these
factors give an opportunity for Baku to turn north.
Source: Panorama.am
17:42 18/10/2013 » REGION
A serious diplomatic scandal arises between Baku and Washington.
Criticism of the presidential elections in Azerbaijan by U.S.
Department of State and the fact that Barack Obama hasn't
congratulated Ilham Aliyev on his third presidential term yet worsened
already less than perfect Azerbaijani-American relations, Orhan
Sattarov, the head of the head of the European bureau of Vestnik
Kavkaza writes.
The author notes that the head of the presidential administration
Ramiz Mehtiyev who usually prefers not to communicate with the mass
media has met journalists from leading Azerbaijani periodicals. At the
meeting the top official who is thought to be one of key figures in
the country expressed his disappointment and indignation on the
estimation of the presidential elections in the country by the
observing mission of OSCE/ODIHR and U.S. Department of State.
Criticizing the Americans for double standards and insincerity in
partnership with Azerbaijan, Mehtiyev doubted the adequateness of the
report by OSCE/ODIHR - the organization which works watching at the
U.S. According to Mehtiyev, Azerbaijan had doubts about inviting
observers from the ODIHR, but made the step on the recommendation of
the U.S.
`However, the most interesting thing in the interview was inside
information from Mekhtiyev that American officials `recommended' the
Azerbaijani government to falsify results of voting for the opposition
candidate Jamil Hasanly, as if he got 25% of votes,' the author
writes.
As the article notes, the U.S. Department of State quickly responded
to the interview by the head of the presidential administration and
stated that his statements on `recommended' results of the elections
were a lie. `The diplomatic fight could come to an end without serious
consequences for bilateral relations. However, tension seems to reach
the highest level. The Azerbaijani side didn't ignore the disproof of
the Americans and decided to state certain names,' the author writes
and notes that the authorities focused on the American ambassador in
Azerbaijan, Richard Morningstar.
`The figures mentioned by Ramiz Mekhtiyev were voiced by the U.S.
ambassador at meetings with the government of Azerbaijan,' Elnur
Aslanov, the head of the political analysis and information support of
the presidential administration of Azerbaijan, confirmed in an
interview to 1news.az.
Author reminds that a few days ahead of the incident, there was
another unpleasant moment which involved Morningstar. According to the
press service of the Defense Minister of Azerbaijan, the American
ambassador stated at the meeting with the minister that `the elections
have passed, and the winner is Ilham Aliyev' and actually he shut down
all political speculations on recognition or non-recognition of the
Azerbaijani elections by the U.S.
`However, the U.S. embassy decided to make a statement that the words
by the ambassador were misinterpreted. This time the Azerbaijani side
also resisted America and stated that it had an audio record of the
talk and the press service of the ministry didn't misinterpret the
message,' the material says.
According to the author, the current anti-American rhetoric can be
compared with the sharp reaction by Baku on active American lobbying
of the Armenian-Turkish peacemaking in 2008 without consideration of
the Nagorno-Karabakh topic.
`It is notable that in the context of worsened relations between Baku
and Washington the mass media is again discussing the topic of whether
Azerbaijan should take the European and Western course or the Eurasian
course, i.e. a radical turn toward Russia,' the author says and notes
that Vladimir Putin's summer visit to Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani's energy
policy which prefers to prevent development of the project of Nabucco
to avoid competition with the Russian pipeline of South Stream,
deliberation of the question on association with the EU - all these
factors give an opportunity for Baku to turn north.
Source: Panorama.am