Radio Free Europe, Czechia
Nov. 5, 2004

Chechen President Congratulates Bush, As Do South Caucasus States

By Liz Fuller

Aslan Maskhadov (file photo)

Aslan Maskhadov has sent a telegram to George W. Bush congratulating
him on his reelection to a second term as U.S. president,
chechenpress.info reported on 5 November. Maskhadov characterizes the
United States as a country that embodies for all mankind the principles
of democracy and human rights. He said that in their unequal struggle,
the Chechen people derive inspiration from the values proclaimed by the
U.S. founding fathers. He hailed President Bush personally as embodying
“the lofty principles that are fundamental for all those who battle
against tyranny.”

In a commentary on chechenpress.info, Maskhadov’s envoy Akhmed Zakaev
explained that while many Chechens may consider Maskhadov’s words of
congratulation misplaced in light of Bush’s proclaimed support for what
Zakaev termed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “criminal regime,”
Maskhadov was in fact hailing Bush not as an individual political
figure, but as the head of a state founded on principles that are dear
to all Chechens. “The fact that Bush has retreated from those
principles does not detract from the significance of America as a
symbol of the struggle for the freedom of oppressed peoples,” Zakaev
argued. “In expressing respect for the U.S. principles of freedom and
democracy, we are simply stressing to what degree the current U.S.
administration has retreated from those principles by upholding the
Kremlin’s regime of tyranny,” Zakaev concluded.

The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan have both written to President
Bush to congratulate him on his reelection. In a letter released by his
press office, Armenian President Robert Kocharian offered “warmest
congratulations,” and expressed the hope that Armenia’s “already
extensive” relations with the United States will strengthen over the
next four years,” RFE/RL’s Armenian Service reported on 4 November.
Kocharian also expressed gratitude for Armenia’s inclusion in the U.S.
Millennium Challenge program and for Washington’s “active involvement”
in efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The radical Armenian opposition party Hanrapetutiun released a
statement in Yerevan on 4 November congratulating Bush, RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service reported. The statement expressed confidence that the
Bush administration will “bring the ongoing fight against international
terrorism to its logical conclusion.” It also expressed the hope that
U.S. efforts to ensure lasting peace in the South Caucasus and to
promote democratization in Armenia will prove successful. That latter
remark reflects Hanrapetutiun’s bitterness over last year’s
less-than-wholly-democratic presidential and parliamentary elections
and subsequent reprisals against the Armenian opposition.

Also on 4 November, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev wrote to Bush
saying he is confident that Bush’s efforts to restore peace to the
planet will continue, and stressing the importance Baku attaches to
continued cooperation with the United States, zerkalo.az reported,
citing Turan. “Azerbaijan, which is proceeding along the path of
building a democratic secular society based on the rule of law, is full
of determination to raise bilateral relations with the United States to
an even higher level,” Aliyev wrote.

Aliyev went on to stress Azerbaijan’s strategic value to the United
States, noting its unswerving commitment as a “strategic partner” of
the United States to promote peace in the region and to fight
international terrorism. At the same time, he noted that Baku continues
to place great hopes on Washington’s ongoing efforts to bring about “a
just settlement, based on international law, of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.”

Speaking in Tbilisi on 4 November, Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili characterized President Bush as “a man of great principle,
a man of great understanding of the complicated issues in our region,
and a personality without whom the fight against terror in this part of
the world would hardly be possible,” RFE/RL’s Georgian Service
reported. Saakashvili said he plans to telephone Bush to congratulate
him personally, Caucasus Press reported on 4 November.

Nov. 5, 2004