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U.S. DESCRIBES AZERBAIJAN AS STRATEGIC IMPORTANT PARTNER
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
June 12 2014
12 June 2014, 18:14 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova
The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki
Commission) has held a hearing on security, economic and human rights
dimensions of the U.S.-Azerbaijan relations.
Hearing titled "The Security, Economic and Human Rights Dimensions
of U.S.-Azerbaijan Relations" was took place at the Russell Senate
Building on Capitol Hill on June 11, AzerTag news agency reported.
The purpose of the hearing as presented by Senator Ben Cardin, the
Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, was to discuss key issues in
the U.S.-Azerbaijani relations before the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
Annual Session which will kick off in Baku at the end of June.
The witnesses invited to testify were Tom Melia, Deputy Assistant
Secretary at Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the U.S.
Department of State; Eric Rubin, Deputy Assistant Secretary from the
Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs of the U.S. Department of
State; Miriam Lanskoy, Director for Russia and Eurasia at National
Endowment for Democracy (NDI); and Brenda Shaffer, Visiting Researcher
at Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies of Georgetown
University.
Senator Cardin noted at the event that Azerbaijan has been helpful
to the United States and its allies, and its efforts in Afghanistan,
especially since the Northern Distribution Network (NDN) relied
heavily on Azerbaijan. "Azerbaijan is a strategic important partner
to the United States."
Cardin expressed appreciation for the position of Azerbaijan and
its vote at the United Nations General Assembly on the territorial
integrity of Ukraine.
He also said that the two countries had important strategic partnership
on the issue of counterterrorism.
Speaking of the U.S.-Azerbaijan economic relations, Cardin said
Azerbaijan's oil and gas resources were of much interest to the U.S.
and that it was remarkable that Azerbaijan was EITI-compliant
(Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) which was commendable
from the standpoint of the U.S. Helsinki Commission that has always
been a proponent of transparency in the extractive industries.
Rubin, in turn, said the partnership of the U.S. with Azerbaijan
remained "an important aspect" of Washington's engagement in the
Caucasus.
Rubin said for over twenty years, the U.S. has been working with
Azerbaijan to promote a secure, prosperous and democratic society,
noting that since 1992, the U.S. provided approximately $1.1 billion
in assistance to pursue those goals.
Rubin noted that Azerbaijan had been a "key partner for the United
States and NATO from Kabul to Kosovo."
With 94 troops currently on the ground in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan
has already committed to remain to post-2014 Afghanistan. It had also
completed its missions to Iraq and Kosovo.
Rubin also underlined the importance of Azerbaijan in the NDN and
air-route for non-combat goods in and out of Afghanistan, stating that
"thousands of containers go through customs and thousands of state
and commercial flights transit Azerbaijan each year."
Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, Rubin said the United States, as co-chair to the OSCE
Minsk Group worked diligently with its Russian and French co-chairs
to facilitate a peaceful settlement to the conflict.
He further spoke of long years of cooperation between the two countries
in the energy sphere, where both sides saw through the realization of
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) project which began transporting Azerbaijani
oil from the Caspian fields to the Mediterranean in June 2006.
Apart from the energy products, Rubin underlined the importance of
business engagements in non-oil industry, such as purchasing by
Azerbaijan of U.S.-made airplanes, a communication satellite and
agricultural equipment and technology, as well as significance of
Washington's support for Azerbaijan being admitted to World Trade
Organization (WTO).
Next witness, Melia spoke of the human rights dimension in the
U.S.-Azerbaijan relationship.
Melia said the U.S. government recognized that Azerbaijan was located
in a very difficult neighborhood and supported Azerbaijan's long-term
stability, security and prosperity.
Furthermore, responding to Cardin's question on the concern of
Azerbaijani citizens on the territorial integrity of their country,
Rubin said "the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty
that we're defending in Ukraine applies to all of the countries of
the region."
He noted that the United States was committed to helping Azerbaijan
strengthen its ability to defend its sovereignty and territorial
integrity. As far as OSCE's role in conflict resolutions is concerned,
Rubin said OSCE has been the premier organization mediating between
Armenia and Azerbaijan through its Minsk Group and although the
breakthrough was not expected this year, there has been some progress
in the peace talks. He noted that the main present framework of
negotiations was based on the Madrid Principles.
In response to the question on reforms to tackle the corruption
problems, Melia stated that like in many other countries there is
an anti-corruption legislation in Azerbaijan, including the National
Action Plan on fighting the corruption, and there have been steps taken
on local levels to eliminate corruption. As an example, he cited the
activity of ASAN service centers which had positive impact among the
ordinary public and local administrations.
While Cardin asked the witnesses to present their views on the
constructive relationship between Azerbaijan and Israel, Rubin said
the Azerbaijan-Israel relations not only benefitted both countries
economically but also ensured stability in the greater region.
Rubin further reiterated the position of the U.S. government on deep
appreciation to Azerbaijan for not only facilitating shipments through
southern route of NDN, but also putting Azerbaijani peacekeeping
troops on the ground, as well as committing to remain in Afghanistan
after 2014, when the U.S. troops are expected to pull out.
Shaffer spoke of the religious tolerance in Azerbaijan as one of the
key important attributes of the country. Touching upon the importance
of Azerbaijan as an energy supplier, Shaffer said it was the country
providing a new alternative source of gas, and not re-routing existing
sources of natural gas to Eastern Europe, and while the initial volumes
of gas are small and address the needs of the countries mostly in
need of alternative sources, the volumes and sources may grow.
The event was attended by staffers of officers of legislators,
government officials and constituents.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
June 12 2014
12 June 2014, 18:14 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova
The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki
Commission) has held a hearing on security, economic and human rights
dimensions of the U.S.-Azerbaijan relations.
Hearing titled "The Security, Economic and Human Rights Dimensions
of U.S.-Azerbaijan Relations" was took place at the Russell Senate
Building on Capitol Hill on June 11, AzerTag news agency reported.
The purpose of the hearing as presented by Senator Ben Cardin, the
Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, was to discuss key issues in
the U.S.-Azerbaijani relations before the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
Annual Session which will kick off in Baku at the end of June.
The witnesses invited to testify were Tom Melia, Deputy Assistant
Secretary at Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the U.S.
Department of State; Eric Rubin, Deputy Assistant Secretary from the
Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs of the U.S. Department of
State; Miriam Lanskoy, Director for Russia and Eurasia at National
Endowment for Democracy (NDI); and Brenda Shaffer, Visiting Researcher
at Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies of Georgetown
University.
Senator Cardin noted at the event that Azerbaijan has been helpful
to the United States and its allies, and its efforts in Afghanistan,
especially since the Northern Distribution Network (NDN) relied
heavily on Azerbaijan. "Azerbaijan is a strategic important partner
to the United States."
Cardin expressed appreciation for the position of Azerbaijan and
its vote at the United Nations General Assembly on the territorial
integrity of Ukraine.
He also said that the two countries had important strategic partnership
on the issue of counterterrorism.
Speaking of the U.S.-Azerbaijan economic relations, Cardin said
Azerbaijan's oil and gas resources were of much interest to the U.S.
and that it was remarkable that Azerbaijan was EITI-compliant
(Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) which was commendable
from the standpoint of the U.S. Helsinki Commission that has always
been a proponent of transparency in the extractive industries.
Rubin, in turn, said the partnership of the U.S. with Azerbaijan
remained "an important aspect" of Washington's engagement in the
Caucasus.
Rubin said for over twenty years, the U.S. has been working with
Azerbaijan to promote a secure, prosperous and democratic society,
noting that since 1992, the U.S. provided approximately $1.1 billion
in assistance to pursue those goals.
Rubin noted that Azerbaijan had been a "key partner for the United
States and NATO from Kabul to Kosovo."
With 94 troops currently on the ground in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan
has already committed to remain to post-2014 Afghanistan. It had also
completed its missions to Iraq and Kosovo.
Rubin also underlined the importance of Azerbaijan in the NDN and
air-route for non-combat goods in and out of Afghanistan, stating that
"thousands of containers go through customs and thousands of state
and commercial flights transit Azerbaijan each year."
Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, Rubin said the United States, as co-chair to the OSCE
Minsk Group worked diligently with its Russian and French co-chairs
to facilitate a peaceful settlement to the conflict.
He further spoke of long years of cooperation between the two countries
in the energy sphere, where both sides saw through the realization of
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) project which began transporting Azerbaijani
oil from the Caspian fields to the Mediterranean in June 2006.
Apart from the energy products, Rubin underlined the importance of
business engagements in non-oil industry, such as purchasing by
Azerbaijan of U.S.-made airplanes, a communication satellite and
agricultural equipment and technology, as well as significance of
Washington's support for Azerbaijan being admitted to World Trade
Organization (WTO).
Next witness, Melia spoke of the human rights dimension in the
U.S.-Azerbaijan relationship.
Melia said the U.S. government recognized that Azerbaijan was located
in a very difficult neighborhood and supported Azerbaijan's long-term
stability, security and prosperity.
Furthermore, responding to Cardin's question on the concern of
Azerbaijani citizens on the territorial integrity of their country,
Rubin said "the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty
that we're defending in Ukraine applies to all of the countries of
the region."
He noted that the United States was committed to helping Azerbaijan
strengthen its ability to defend its sovereignty and territorial
integrity. As far as OSCE's role in conflict resolutions is concerned,
Rubin said OSCE has been the premier organization mediating between
Armenia and Azerbaijan through its Minsk Group and although the
breakthrough was not expected this year, there has been some progress
in the peace talks. He noted that the main present framework of
negotiations was based on the Madrid Principles.
In response to the question on reforms to tackle the corruption
problems, Melia stated that like in many other countries there is
an anti-corruption legislation in Azerbaijan, including the National
Action Plan on fighting the corruption, and there have been steps taken
on local levels to eliminate corruption. As an example, he cited the
activity of ASAN service centers which had positive impact among the
ordinary public and local administrations.
While Cardin asked the witnesses to present their views on the
constructive relationship between Azerbaijan and Israel, Rubin said
the Azerbaijan-Israel relations not only benefitted both countries
economically but also ensured stability in the greater region.
Rubin further reiterated the position of the U.S. government on deep
appreciation to Azerbaijan for not only facilitating shipments through
southern route of NDN, but also putting Azerbaijani peacekeeping
troops on the ground, as well as committing to remain in Afghanistan
after 2014, when the U.S. troops are expected to pull out.
Shaffer spoke of the religious tolerance in Azerbaijan as one of the
key important attributes of the country. Touching upon the importance
of Azerbaijan as an energy supplier, Shaffer said it was the country
providing a new alternative source of gas, and not re-routing existing
sources of natural gas to Eastern Europe, and while the initial volumes
of gas are small and address the needs of the countries mostly in
need of alternative sources, the volumes and sources may grow.
The event was attended by staffers of officers of legislators,
government officials and constituents.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress