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AZERBAIJAN PILES UP THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF DEMOCRACY
The Washington Times
October 22, 2013 Tuesday
Aliyev's re-election ensures a continued partnership with America
By Elin Suleymanov SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Azerbaijan and the United States are partners in addressing the world's
most difficult challenges from fighting terrorism internationally
to serving shoulder-to-shoulder in Afghanistan and working together
to ensure peaceful future for the Afghan people. In fact, one of
only a few nations that have made an early commitment to post-2014
Afghanistan, Azerbaijan accounts for some 40 percent of transit via
the vital Northern Distribution Network supporting the International
Security Assistance Force.
Our nations also work to together promote Europe's energy security
by bringing Caspian natural gas to the European markets through the
strategic Southern Gas Corridor, including the recently announced
Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, a choice enthusiastically endorsed by the
United States. Importantly, Azerbaijan, a nation proud of its Muslim
heritage, stands as a strong supporter of intercultural dialogue and
is a good friend of Israel. The U.S.-Azerbaijan partnership has been a
key factor in transforming our region and remains an integral part of
the international effort to bring about a lasting and international
law-based settlement to the protracted Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict,
which resulted in displacement of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani
civilians.
This partnership is part and parcel of the vision that the citizens
of Azerbaijan voted for in the recent presidential election. The
election produced no political surprises, as the incumbent, President
Ilham Aliyev, won a landslide victory on Oct. 9. Mr. Aliyev's victory
was universally predicted by an overwhelming majority of pundits as
well as by numerous pre-election surveys and polls. The incumbent's
undisputed advantage over the opposition comes, among other things,
as a result of Azerbaijan's rapid social and economic growth - the
nation's gross domestic product grew threefold over the past decade -
and Mr. Aliyev's steady leadership chartering a pragmatic, independent
course in a complicated region of the world. In addition, the confusion
among the opposition, which resulted in nominating a self-described
"backup candidate," Jamil Hasanli, a historian with rather limited
political exposure, further diminished the chances of Mr. Aliyev's
opponents. Therefore, unable to mount a credible political challenge,
the Azerbaijani opposition predictably lost by a significant margin.
However, this simple and clear reality of Azerbaijan's political
discourse seems to be frequently overlooked in the media coverage
of the election. Any nationwide election with 5.1 million registered
voters is never a perfect process. There were likely irregularities
and problems, which need to be addressed in accordance with the law.
Still, the latest election was observed by more than 50,000 observers,
including some 1,400 international observers representing 100 countries
and 50 international and nongovernmental organizations. Some 1,000
webcams in various precincts allowed real-time monitoring of the
process. The candidates campaigned and addressed rallies freely
around the country, and each was allocated the equal time free of
charge during televised debates, which were aired live on national TV
every other day during the campaign. These debates provided political
entertainment for viewers, easy quotes for Azerbaijan's critics and
illustrated the noisy pluralism of Azerbaijan's system.
Following the election, most international observers, including the
European Union, Council of Europe delegations and the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe observation mission head,
described the election as a step forward. They noted the well-organized
electoral process and called for addressing existing problems they
monitored. In a stark contrast, the OSCE mission from the Office of
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights issued a highly negative
report, unfortunately echoed by the U.S. State Department.
Interestingly, this controversial assessment of the election is not
shared by the Azerbaijani citizens, who spoke loud and clear by voting
for Mr. Aliyev.
Democracies consist of fundamental building blocks, which include
pluralism, diversity, tolerance, gender equality and economic
opportunities. Having established the first-ever democratic republic
with a predominantly Muslim population in the world in 1918 and
granted equal voting rights for women ahead of the United States, the
Azerbaijani people have established these fundamentals. In so doing,
they also shattered long-entrenched misperceptions. Likewise, today,
we should strengthen the strategic U.S.-Azerbaijan partnership and
continue making news by breaking existing convenient stereotypes,
not by imposing new ones.
Elin Suleymanov is Azerbaijan's ambassador in Washington.
The Washington Times
October 22, 2013 Tuesday
Aliyev's re-election ensures a continued partnership with America
By Elin Suleymanov SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Azerbaijan and the United States are partners in addressing the world's
most difficult challenges from fighting terrorism internationally
to serving shoulder-to-shoulder in Afghanistan and working together
to ensure peaceful future for the Afghan people. In fact, one of
only a few nations that have made an early commitment to post-2014
Afghanistan, Azerbaijan accounts for some 40 percent of transit via
the vital Northern Distribution Network supporting the International
Security Assistance Force.
Our nations also work to together promote Europe's energy security
by bringing Caspian natural gas to the European markets through the
strategic Southern Gas Corridor, including the recently announced
Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, a choice enthusiastically endorsed by the
United States. Importantly, Azerbaijan, a nation proud of its Muslim
heritage, stands as a strong supporter of intercultural dialogue and
is a good friend of Israel. The U.S.-Azerbaijan partnership has been a
key factor in transforming our region and remains an integral part of
the international effort to bring about a lasting and international
law-based settlement to the protracted Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict,
which resulted in displacement of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani
civilians.
This partnership is part and parcel of the vision that the citizens
of Azerbaijan voted for in the recent presidential election. The
election produced no political surprises, as the incumbent, President
Ilham Aliyev, won a landslide victory on Oct. 9. Mr. Aliyev's victory
was universally predicted by an overwhelming majority of pundits as
well as by numerous pre-election surveys and polls. The incumbent's
undisputed advantage over the opposition comes, among other things,
as a result of Azerbaijan's rapid social and economic growth - the
nation's gross domestic product grew threefold over the past decade -
and Mr. Aliyev's steady leadership chartering a pragmatic, independent
course in a complicated region of the world. In addition, the confusion
among the opposition, which resulted in nominating a self-described
"backup candidate," Jamil Hasanli, a historian with rather limited
political exposure, further diminished the chances of Mr. Aliyev's
opponents. Therefore, unable to mount a credible political challenge,
the Azerbaijani opposition predictably lost by a significant margin.
However, this simple and clear reality of Azerbaijan's political
discourse seems to be frequently overlooked in the media coverage
of the election. Any nationwide election with 5.1 million registered
voters is never a perfect process. There were likely irregularities
and problems, which need to be addressed in accordance with the law.
Still, the latest election was observed by more than 50,000 observers,
including some 1,400 international observers representing 100 countries
and 50 international and nongovernmental organizations. Some 1,000
webcams in various precincts allowed real-time monitoring of the
process. The candidates campaigned and addressed rallies freely
around the country, and each was allocated the equal time free of
charge during televised debates, which were aired live on national TV
every other day during the campaign. These debates provided political
entertainment for viewers, easy quotes for Azerbaijan's critics and
illustrated the noisy pluralism of Azerbaijan's system.
Following the election, most international observers, including the
European Union, Council of Europe delegations and the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe observation mission head,
described the election as a step forward. They noted the well-organized
electoral process and called for addressing existing problems they
monitored. In a stark contrast, the OSCE mission from the Office of
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights issued a highly negative
report, unfortunately echoed by the U.S. State Department.
Interestingly, this controversial assessment of the election is not
shared by the Azerbaijani citizens, who spoke loud and clear by voting
for Mr. Aliyev.
Democracies consist of fundamental building blocks, which include
pluralism, diversity, tolerance, gender equality and economic
opportunities. Having established the first-ever democratic republic
with a predominantly Muslim population in the world in 1918 and
granted equal voting rights for women ahead of the United States, the
Azerbaijani people have established these fundamentals. In so doing,
they also shattered long-entrenched misperceptions. Likewise, today,
we should strengthen the strategic U.S.-Azerbaijan partnership and
continue making news by breaking existing convenient stereotypes,
not by imposing new ones.
Elin Suleymanov is Azerbaijan's ambassador in Washington.