Azeri pundit snipes at US envoy for pro-Armenian stance

Sarq, Baku
1 Mar 05

Text of Vusala Rafiqqizi’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper Sarq on 1
March headlined “All US ambassadors to Armenia have been speaking as
though they are Armenians, not Americans” and subheaded “Vafa Quluzada:
This is due to Armenian propaganda and the factor of Christianity”

While the parties are preparing for the next round of talks on Nagornyy
Karabakh, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, who has long been silent
on the topic, made a statement immediately after the US ambassador to
Armenia, John Evans, who said that the issue of Nagornyy Karabakh’s
status cannot be resolved in favour of Azerbaijan since this could
lead to a tragedy in the region.

[Passage omitted: reported details]

Political analyst Vafa Quluzada said Evans’s statement came as no
surprise. The new US ambassador to Armenia is no different from his
predecessors, Quluzada said.

“All US ambassadors to Armenia have been speaking the way as though
they are Armenians, not Americans,” Quluzada said, adding that the
former US ambassador to Armenia, John Ordway, also used to make
similar statements.

What is most interesting is that all US diplomats sent to Armenia
so far have been Armenianized in this country, Quluzada said. The
political analyst explained this with Armenian propaganda and also
with the factor of Christianity.

Commenting on the context of Evans’s statement, Quluzada said:
“The ambassador has no idea that the US State Department has recently
stated that it recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and that
Nagornyy Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan.”