AZERI TV ACCUSES US ENVOY OF MAKING IRRESPONSIBLE STATEMENTS ON KARABAKH

Lider TV, Baku
30 May 04

A commercial Azerbaijani TV channel has accused the US ambassador of
making inconsistent statements on the unrecognized Nagornyy Karabakh
Republic and on the role of US companies in Karabakh’s economy. As
part of its weekly analytical programme “167th hour”, broadcast on
30 May, Lider TV looked at some of the ambassador’s remarks and named
US companies which it said were active in Karabakh.

Introducing the topic, the presenter said, “And now we would like to
show you an analysis of how and why the US ambassador to Azerbaijan,
Reno Harnish, is making contradictory statements.”

A correspondent’s report followed over video of the US embassy
compound. “The US ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to
Azerbaijan, Reno Harnish, has been creating truly extraordinary
situations recently,” the correspondent said. “Diplomats are usually
noted for not saying what they actually think, but this is true of
situations when at issue are the national interests of the state they
represent. In the case of Reno Harnish it is the other way round,
as the scandalous and inconsistent statements he has recently made
have discredited not only him, but also his country. A professional
diplomat should at least be able not to create such tension and
misunderstandings. For instance, let’s recall his answer to the
question about the work of US companies in Nagornyy Karabakh.”

A clip was then shown of Reno Harnish speaking to microphone in
English, with an Azeri voice-over. “The United States government
believes in free trade,” the ambassador said. “We do not believe in
applying trade restrictions on any country.”

The correspondent continued: “Not only does Harnish support economic
relations with Karabakh, it even appears from his words that he
considers the self-styled entity to be an independent state. He goes
on to say that no sanctions will be applied against the companies
cooperating with Karabakh. According to the ambassador, the sanctions
should have been applied against Azerbaijan. In other words, Harnish
considers that a country which is recognized all over the world and is
a member of most of the international organizations, including the UN,
is equal in status to a separatist entity which is not recognized by
anyone in the world. No other US ambassadors have made such illogical
statements since the establishment of the US embassy in Azerbaijan.

“But the lack of logic does not end here. When the ambassador was
asked immediately after all these statements whether he recognized
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity after all, he said there was no
point in discussing politics. It seems, doesn’t it, that the support
for Nagornyy Karabakh on the part of American companies is more of an
economic issue, while the expression of an attitude to Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity is a political matter.

“Quite naturally, this position of the head of the US diplomatic
mission in Azerbaijan has caused profound public outrage in
the country. The issue was even brought up in the Milli Maclis
(parliament). And after all this, Reno Harnish denied having said
anything to this effect at a meeting with students of Baku State
University.”

Another clip shows Harnish, speaking to camera, again with an Azeri
voice-over: “The United States does not support or encourage investment
or trade in Nagornyy Karabakh. I would like to emphasize again that
whether the issue is raised by Parliament Speaker Murtuz Alasgarov
or by others, the gist of the issue is that the USA does not have or
support any investment in Nagornyy Karabakh.”

“Apparently, the statements made by Harnish were either nothing but
a collective hallucination of journalists, or the ambassador has a
short memory,” the correspondent said. “A normal diplomat representing
a superstate such as the United States of America cannot and must
not make such irresponsible and contradictory statements, not least
because any careless statement by a representative of a superpower
is capable of undermining all the ongoing processes. It is highly
unlikely that Harnish is unaware of that. If so, then how can his
actions be explained? Maybe the fact that he used to lead the State
Department’s political and economic programmes in Central Asia and
then worked as environment, science and technology counsellor in Rome
has overshadowed his diplomatic skills. Or maybe the ambassador, who
came to Baku directly from Kosovo, got so carried away by his previous
mission that he cannot distinguish between Karabakh and Kosovo.”

Another correspondent’s report then looked into companies cooperating
with the separatist Karabakh regime. These include the Karabakh Telecom
mobile communication operator, which maintains roaming cooperation
with 65 companies in 43 countries worldwide.

The presenter than interviewed the director of the international
strategic research centre in Azerbaijan, Rovsan Novruzoglu. Novruzoglu
said that US companies had invested in gold mining, the timber industry
and carpet-weaving in Karabakh.