Azeri pundit says US president neither pro-Armenian, nor pro-Azeri

MPA news agency
8 Nov 04

Baku, 8 November: Eldar Namazov, chairman of the public forum
For Azerbaijan, held a press conference today (8 November) on the
results of his visit to the USA. The objective of the three-week
stay in America at the invitation of the US State Department was
to familiarize himself with the US election techniques and undergo
training, MPA news agency reports.

The election system of America is very complex. The majority of the
population does not seek to change it and, on the other hand, some
of the states are also unwilling to make changes on their own and,
by doing so, to limit their own powers, Namazov said. The chairman
of the forum has had meetings in the US State Department, Congress,
National Democratic Institute, and the [International] Republican
Institute. The meetings showed that the Americans are closely
monitoring the processes in Azerbaijan.

Namazov said that the Armenian diaspora of America has made a big
mistake by giving all its votes and financial support to [Democratic
contender] John Kerry. Until now, the Armenians used to divide their
vote equally between the two candidates but this time round they
decided to change their tactics.

Namazov explained the Armenian support for the Democratic candidate
by the fact that [American President] George Bush had paid no
attention to their opinion. However, this does not mean that Bush is
pro-Azerbaijani, Namazov said. During the first tenure of Bush no
progress has been made in the resolution of Azerbaijan’s problems.