Azeri pundit slams USA for aiding Karabakh

Zerkalo, Baku
6 Jul 04

An Azeri political scientist has criticized the decision of a US
Congress subcommittee to allocate aid to the disputed territory of
Nagornyy Karabakh. Vafa Quluzada told Azerbaijani daily Zerkalo: “The
allocation of 5m dollars to terrorists in Nagornyy Karabakh is the
equivalent of the Azerbaijani parliament collecting a similar sum to
be sent to Usamah Bin-Ladin as aid to ‘religious brothers’.” Quluzada
said that Azerbaijan should keep to its pro-Western policy, but take a
“principled stance” towards its friends. He said that in the media and
at international summits Azerbaijan should tirelessly criticize Russia
for “being the author of the Armenian aggression and America for not
condemning this aggression”. The following is the text of
M. Yasaroglu’s report in Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo on 6 July
headlined “You should sometimes slap friends” and subheaded “Political
scientist Vafa Quluzada sees the USA and Russia among our friends”;
subheadings inserted editorially:

The allocation of 5m dollars to the separatist regime in Nagornyy
Karabakh by the US Congress has not surprised ordinary Azerbaijanis,
as we have long ago got used to the fact that “friends of Azerbaijan”
regard this friendship as a one-way street.

USA is no good friend of Azerbaijan

Despite the considerable distance between Azerbaijan and Iraq, we
support the anti-terrorist coalition for the friendship with the USA;
we implement the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, giving out our
interest rates to other friends of the USA, Georgia; we mourn with the
Americans, condemning the terrorist attacks in New York and so on. And
in exchange, we receive humanitarian aid, lots of statements about
support for democracy, which is often sacrificed to oil interests, the
rousing of “expectations” that the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict will
be settled peacefully and that’s it. In addition, financial aid
systematically goes to our territories which remain under occupation
without serious objections from the USA, and this aid increases every
year.

USA disregards Azerbaijan’s sovereignty

It is interesting that when Azerbaijani officials make rare attempts
to oppose it and express their negative attitude to this, the USA
replies with terse phrases, the essence of which means the following:
“we do what we want to do”.

The recent statement by US ambassador Reno Harnish is one of the
answers of this sort. Commenting on the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s
statement on the draft law adopted by a house subcommittee on
allocating 5m dollars to Nagornyy Karabakh, Harnish said that specific
figures had not been endorsed yet. This is a “preliminary” figure, he
said. This proposal can be endorsed only after joint discussion at the
Senate and House of Representatives.

It seems that the ambassador acted against his conscience here. As an
experienced diplomat, he certainly understands that the question is
not about the sum of the aid, but about the allocation of this aid
that shows vividly the mite that the White House contributes, OK then,
intends to contribute, to the flourishing of the separatist regime in
Nagornyy Karabakh.

According to Harnish, the USA renders assistance to the victims of
conflicts, irrespective of where they are. He said it is planned to
allocate 13m dollars in aid to the Azerbaijani victims of the
conflict. He said he had a conversation with the foreign minister and
is aware of official Baku’s position.

It turns out from the aforementioned statement, in which Harnish
unsuccessfully tried to justify “the world’s policeman”, that this
“tender-heartedness” gives them the right to render assistance to the
terrorists in Nagornyy Karabakh, who by the way are an integral part
of international terrorism, only because they allegedly suffered. We
wonder what would be the United States’ reaction if the state of Texas
had revolted and Azerbaijan had backed the revolt on various pretexts,
calling its deeds “restoration of communications” or something else?
We think there would be a negative reaction, as such a policy actually
proves disrespect for the country’s sovereignty and territorial
integrity.

US aid to Karabakh is like Azerbaijan helping Bin-Ladin

The former state adviser, political expert Vafa Quluzada, who is noted
for his pro-Western stance, has commented for the Zerkalo newspaper on
this step by the White House. In our view, his opinion can be regarded
as the position of most of the Azerbaijani public on the rendering of
aid to the Karabakh separatists.

“The US Congress is preparing to give 5m dollars to terrorists, who
are to blame for the Xocali tragedy, mass killings, numerous blasts on
public transport, the list is endless. The separatists of Nagornyy
Karabakh are citizens of Azerbaijan who rose against their own
state. Showing no remorse, the USA breaks international law and the UN
Charter for the only reason that they are a great power which does
what it wants to do. I do not know what causes this policy – Christian
sympathies or the fact that the Armenian lobby is among other lobbies
governing the USA. I think that the allocation of 5m dollars to
terrorists in Nagornyy Karabakh is the equivalent of the Azerbaijani
parliament collecting a similar sum to be sent to Usamah Bin-Ladin as
aid to ‘religious brothers’. A similar sum can be allocated to anyone
who is fighting against the USA today,” Quluzada said.

However, he said, it should be taken into account that Arab terrorists
caused less damage to the USA than Armenians did to us. “Bin-Ladin
blew up the World Trade Centre and a couple of US embassies in
different countries, whereas Armenia together with Nagornyy Karabakh,
having Russia behind it, razed to the ground 20 per cent of our
territories – 1,500 towns and villages. As a result, there are one
million Azeri refugees who were subjected to ethnic cleansing. The
USA turns a blind eye to this. How can one call it a super power, the
stronghold of freedom, and a guarantor of independence and human
rights?” Quluzada said.

Azerbaijan should show principled stance

The pro-Western way is the only way to prosperity and development for
Azerbaijan, he said. But on the other hand, one should show a
principled position to one’s friends: “If a friend insults you, you
should give him a slap.”

“No-one wants to give anyone a slap” in our country, he said. Not even
to slap Moscow, whose soldiers and officers were taken captive by our
troops during the war in Nagornyy Karabakh. Quluzada said that for the
sake of friendship with Moscow we should not turn a blind eye to the
fact that Moscow was the main player in the occupation of our
territories: “Armenia would have not dared to do it on its own.”

Quluzada said that while we keep to this model of friendship, we will
be treated the way we are being treated now.

And how can we slap Moscow or Washington? Quluzada said that the
Azerbaijani leadership should tirelessly publicly criticize the
leadership of countries which pursue this policy towards us. This
should be covered by all TV channels and media, including foreign
ones. The president should voice his position regarding this at all
international summits and all meetings he takes part in. “We should
criticize Russia for being the author of the Armenian aggression and
America for not condemning this aggression,” Quluzada said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress