US envoy points to West’s interest in Azerbaijan

Turan news agency
6 Jun 05

BAKU

Azerbaijan has a fundamental interest in the Euro-Atlantic
community. This interest consists in the establishment of the energy
corridor which supplies Western countries with oil and gas, US
Ambassador Reno Harnish said at the NATO conference “Concept of three
seas” in Baku today.

Among other important factors contributing to closeness between
Azerbaijan and the West are Azerbaijan’s involvement in the
international antiterrorist coalition and the participation of Western
countries in resolving the Karabakh conflict, the ambassador said.

At last, the country’s authorities and almost the whole of Azerbaijani
society are unanimous in their aspirations to integration into the
West.

Speaking about the West’s interests in Azerbaijan, Harnish said the
West was interested in Azerbaijan’s support for its efforts in dealing
with issues of security and fighting terror in Iraq, Afghanistan and
in the Balkans.

Also, the West is extremely interested in stability in the South
Caucasus because it is difficult to speak about the long-term
development of the South Caucasus as long as regional conflicts remain
unresolved.

Georgia and Azerbaijan form an air corridor between Europe and Asia,
which is extremely important to the development of relations and
implementation of tasks in fighting international terrorism.

At the same time, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are playing an active role
in the fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
in the Caspian region and in the establishment of the regional
security system, Harnish said.

He also stressed that security problems are closely intertwined with
issues of democracy.

“There cannot be long-term stability in Azerbaijan or any other
country without democracy. And this is another reason why the West is
interested in the region,” the ambassador said.

As for the security of energy projects, this is a problem for all
countries, not just for the West or the USA, the ambassador said while
commenting on media reports to that effect.