Azeri MP rejects USA “world domination” policy

Ekspress, Baku
4 Apr 04

If hostilities were to resume between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the USA
would impose sanctions on both countries, Director of Plans and
Policy, Headquarters US European Command Jeffrey Kohler said during
his latest visit to Yerevan.

He said that the USA had not changed its position on the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict and that the problem should be resolved
peacefully. We wonder what kind of sanctions can be imposed on a
country which wants to liberate its occupied territories?

[Passage omitted: the USA, Europe imposed sanctions on Azerbaijan,
Armenia previously]

Expert in conflict studies Elxan Mehdiyev believes that even if a war
starts, there will be no serious sanctions. The USA might cease
military cooperation with the sides, which is not important at all:
“Because neither Azerbaijan nor Armenia can afford to buy weapons from
the United States, they are far too expensive. These countries buy
weapons only from Russia and other CIS countries.”

Rauf Qurbanov, a member of the Milli Maclis [parliament] standing
commission for defence and security, assessed the USA’s military
policy as world domination. “The USA has a huge appetite and even
independent countries have to consult it when solving their domestic
problems.” Qurbanov said that “when it comes to large-scale military
operations”, the statement from the Pentagon official did not come as
a surprise. He said that this was the policy the USA follows all over
the world. The MP said that this was happening in Iraq and Korea,
adding that the collapse of the Soviet Union had enabled the USA to
carry out a unipolar policy.

“The USA should not meddle in the internal affairs of independent
countries. International structures like the UN and the OSCE Minsk
Group are currently dealing with the Karabakh problem. However, this
does not mean that a country whose territorial integrity has been
infringed cannot take independent decisions,” Qurbanov said. He
believes that Azerbaijan retains this right and at any time it can
declare war on Armenia in order to restore its territorial integrity
in line with appropriate UN regulations.