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Tribune-Review
March 8 2015
Longtime ally Azerbaijan counts on U.S. reassurance
By Salena Zito
Saturday, March 7, 2015, 10:30 p.m.
WASHINGTON -- Stranded between Russia and Iran, buffeted by the
instability of Central Asia and the Middle East, the Republic of
Azerbaijan hopes the United States will more forcefully support its
allies.
"We have all lost a significant portion of our territory to separatist
movements, and ... we don't want to see any more instability," Elin
Suleymanov, Azerbaijan's ambassador to the United States, told the
Tribune-Review in his country's embassy here.
"The United States should have a clear, consistent, forceful
condemning of any degree of separatism, extremism, and reject any
change of borders by force in the international community," Suleymanov
said.
Diplomacy is like a personal relationship, he said, and Azerbaijan --
long friendly to Washington --counts on American support to restore
stability across the region.
"You can't just take your friends for granted. You cannot say to us,
'We do what we need to do, and you do what we ask you to do,' " he
said.
"It does not work like that."
In addition to watching separatist movements in neighboring Georgia,
Ukraine and Moldova, Suleymanov said, Azerbaijan -- slightly smaller
than Maine, with rich oil and natural gas reserves -- has battled
Armenia over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh since 1988. Despite a
cease-fire agreement in 1994, in recent months fighting intensified
and the death toll rose on both sides, he said.
"An entire generation has been in exile," he said -- about 600,000
people displaced, according to Amnesty International and the United
Nations Refugee Agency.
Azerbaijan is a key American partner that "can play an important role
in assisting our allies like Ukraine with energy security by allowing
them to depend less on Vladimir Putin and Russia for their energy
supply," said U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Hollidaysburg, co-chair of the
Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus.
Shuster told the Trib that he emphasizes with colleagues "the
importance of maintaining our strong relationship with a strategic
ally that lives in a hostile region."
Azerbaijan was among the first countries to join the war on terror in
Afghanistan and Iraq because of 9/11, Suleymanov said, and some of its
troops remain in Afghanistan.
"We were the only Muslim nation to do that with combat boots. We went
to Kosovo as well," he said. "We have all seen the cost of being
America's friend."
'Land of Fire'
In the Caucasus Mountains, west of the Caspian Sea, the Azerbaijan
Democratic Republic was established in 1918, the first secular Muslim
majority with a Western-style democracy that granted rights to all
citizens, including Christians, Jews and women.
Less than two years later, the Red Army invaded and made it part of
the Soviet Union. With the 1991 collapse of the USSR, the Republic of
Azerbaijan emerged.
Azerbaijan means "Land of Fire," from the phenomena of burning
hillsides caused by gas oozing through fissures in the earth,
Suleymanov said.
A land bridge from Europe to the Silk Road for thousands of years, it
remains important because of its energy supplies, said retired Army
Gen. Tony Cucolo, who commanded troops in Bosnia, Afghanistan and
Iraq, and spent time in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan's independence from Russia came with a price, Cucolo
explained: a bloody war and perilous cease-fire with Armenia over
Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region between the Armenian capital of
Yerevan and the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.
The escalation of fighting led Secretary of State John Kerry to meet
both countries' presidents at the NATO summit in Wales in September.
Kerry expressed "strong concern" about the violence, said Marie Harf,
deputy spokeswoman for the State Department.
Cucolo described the conflict as "a powder keg" that could involve
Russia, Iran and Turkey. It could "destroy the energy bridge to
Europe," he said. "In a globally interconnected economy, that matters
and could impact the United States.
"If we are going to be a world leader, then we have to lead," he said.
"We should not be a spectator where there is an intractable conflict,
where people are displaced and lives are lost and regional instability
could reign.
"This is not something you put on auto-pilot or ignore into a crisis."
To live in peace
Suleymanov considers his nation's troubled relationship with Armenia --
and its need for relations with Russia and Iran -- as its biggest
challenge. Yet the ambassador is optimistic because his country's
fiercely independent people are survivors.
"Azerbaijan spends its money wisely. It is a prosperous country," he
said. "We invest in our neighbors, and we could have invested in
Armenia and become a partner with them in the region. Instead, Armenia
is an isolated country, which does not have independence as much as
our people."
Cease-fires and low-level talks don't work, he said.
"We need to sit down and begin working on a comprehensive decision,
which says, 'This is how we see the future. This is how these two
nations could develop and build a common region.'
"If that works, that would be fine," Suleymanov said. "Trust me, God
willing, we would have enough money to invest in Armenia's economy.
"Muslims, Christians and Jews live in peace, security and dignity in
Azerbaijan," the ambassador said. "We have been doing that for
centuries. I wish nothing was unusual about how we do things in our
country -- that it would be a normal thing that Muslims, Christians and
Jews lived together harmoniously in our region.
"To us, it is a very normal thing. ... I think the rest of the things
are abnormal -- people killing each other based on religion and
sectarian views. ... No God commands that."
http://triblive.com/politics/politicalheadlines/7809157-74/azerbaijan-suleymanov-region#axzz3TmaAvJKp
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
March 8 2015
Longtime ally Azerbaijan counts on U.S. reassurance
By Salena Zito
Saturday, March 7, 2015, 10:30 p.m.
WASHINGTON -- Stranded between Russia and Iran, buffeted by the
instability of Central Asia and the Middle East, the Republic of
Azerbaijan hopes the United States will more forcefully support its
allies.
"We have all lost a significant portion of our territory to separatist
movements, and ... we don't want to see any more instability," Elin
Suleymanov, Azerbaijan's ambassador to the United States, told the
Tribune-Review in his country's embassy here.
"The United States should have a clear, consistent, forceful
condemning of any degree of separatism, extremism, and reject any
change of borders by force in the international community," Suleymanov
said.
Diplomacy is like a personal relationship, he said, and Azerbaijan --
long friendly to Washington --counts on American support to restore
stability across the region.
"You can't just take your friends for granted. You cannot say to us,
'We do what we need to do, and you do what we ask you to do,' " he
said.
"It does not work like that."
In addition to watching separatist movements in neighboring Georgia,
Ukraine and Moldova, Suleymanov said, Azerbaijan -- slightly smaller
than Maine, with rich oil and natural gas reserves -- has battled
Armenia over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh since 1988. Despite a
cease-fire agreement in 1994, in recent months fighting intensified
and the death toll rose on both sides, he said.
"An entire generation has been in exile," he said -- about 600,000
people displaced, according to Amnesty International and the United
Nations Refugee Agency.
Azerbaijan is a key American partner that "can play an important role
in assisting our allies like Ukraine with energy security by allowing
them to depend less on Vladimir Putin and Russia for their energy
supply," said U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Hollidaysburg, co-chair of the
Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus.
Shuster told the Trib that he emphasizes with colleagues "the
importance of maintaining our strong relationship with a strategic
ally that lives in a hostile region."
Azerbaijan was among the first countries to join the war on terror in
Afghanistan and Iraq because of 9/11, Suleymanov said, and some of its
troops remain in Afghanistan.
"We were the only Muslim nation to do that with combat boots. We went
to Kosovo as well," he said. "We have all seen the cost of being
America's friend."
'Land of Fire'
In the Caucasus Mountains, west of the Caspian Sea, the Azerbaijan
Democratic Republic was established in 1918, the first secular Muslim
majority with a Western-style democracy that granted rights to all
citizens, including Christians, Jews and women.
Less than two years later, the Red Army invaded and made it part of
the Soviet Union. With the 1991 collapse of the USSR, the Republic of
Azerbaijan emerged.
Azerbaijan means "Land of Fire," from the phenomena of burning
hillsides caused by gas oozing through fissures in the earth,
Suleymanov said.
A land bridge from Europe to the Silk Road for thousands of years, it
remains important because of its energy supplies, said retired Army
Gen. Tony Cucolo, who commanded troops in Bosnia, Afghanistan and
Iraq, and spent time in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan's independence from Russia came with a price, Cucolo
explained: a bloody war and perilous cease-fire with Armenia over
Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region between the Armenian capital of
Yerevan and the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.
The escalation of fighting led Secretary of State John Kerry to meet
both countries' presidents at the NATO summit in Wales in September.
Kerry expressed "strong concern" about the violence, said Marie Harf,
deputy spokeswoman for the State Department.
Cucolo described the conflict as "a powder keg" that could involve
Russia, Iran and Turkey. It could "destroy the energy bridge to
Europe," he said. "In a globally interconnected economy, that matters
and could impact the United States.
"If we are going to be a world leader, then we have to lead," he said.
"We should not be a spectator where there is an intractable conflict,
where people are displaced and lives are lost and regional instability
could reign.
"This is not something you put on auto-pilot or ignore into a crisis."
To live in peace
Suleymanov considers his nation's troubled relationship with Armenia --
and its need for relations with Russia and Iran -- as its biggest
challenge. Yet the ambassador is optimistic because his country's
fiercely independent people are survivors.
"Azerbaijan spends its money wisely. It is a prosperous country," he
said. "We invest in our neighbors, and we could have invested in
Armenia and become a partner with them in the region. Instead, Armenia
is an isolated country, which does not have independence as much as
our people."
Cease-fires and low-level talks don't work, he said.
"We need to sit down and begin working on a comprehensive decision,
which says, 'This is how we see the future. This is how these two
nations could develop and build a common region.'
"If that works, that would be fine," Suleymanov said. "Trust me, God
willing, we would have enough money to invest in Armenia's economy.
"Muslims, Christians and Jews live in peace, security and dignity in
Azerbaijan," the ambassador said. "We have been doing that for
centuries. I wish nothing was unusual about how we do things in our
country -- that it would be a normal thing that Muslims, Christians and
Jews lived together harmoniously in our region.
"To us, it is a very normal thing. ... I think the rest of the things
are abnormal -- people killing each other based on religion and
sectarian views. ... No God commands that."
http://triblive.com/politics/politicalheadlines/7809157-74/azerbaijan-suleymanov-region#axzz3TmaAvJKp
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress