WASHINGTON DENIES PRO-ARMENIA BIAS

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
April 6 2006

A high-ranking US official has said Washington supports a fair and
peaceful settlement to the long-standing Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh conflict that meets the interests of both sides,
despite some analysts describing US government’s financial aid to
Armenia as an indicator of bias.

The allocation of more financial assistance to Armenia than Azerbaijan
does not imply that the United States favors this country on the
conflict resolution, said the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza. Washington backs
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and a conflict resolution based
on the United Nations resolutions, Bryza said during his visit to
Baku jointly with a State Department Policy Planning Director Stephen
Krasner on Monday.

“The UN Security Council resolutions represent worldwide laws and we
support them. We are interested in the continuation of peace talks.

The key issue here is for the sides to reach agreement that would
benefit both of them,” the American official added. Commenting on the
operation of the self-proclaimed Upper Garabagh republic’s office in
the U.S., Bryza said this is in line with American laws. He said US
legislation does not ban the opening of any entity’s representation
in his country despite certain restrictions. “We allow any given
organization to operate in the United States unless this runs counter
to our laws. There is nothing illegal about the activity of an
organization from the Garabagh region or the Cyprus Turks’ community
in the U.S. But personally, I have not had any officially meetings
with the Upper Garabagh representatives.” In a meeting with President
Ilham Aliyev, the head of state said the successful development of
multi-lateral US-Azeri relations was essential for the whole region
and expressed hope for further expansion of cooperation. Heisner
thanked Azerbaijan for its contribution to the anti-terror campaign in
Afghanistan, Kosovo and other hot spots and said bilateral relations
were of strategic importance for his country.

‘Double standards’ The American officials met with opposition leaders
to exchange views on the social and political situation in Azerbaijan
after last year’s parliamentary elections, as well as democracy
and human rights. The current status of the Garabagh talks was
also reviewed during the meetings with the leaders of major Musavat,
Popular Front and Azerbaijan Democratic Parties, and the National Unity
Movement, according to the US embassy. A source from the PFPA said
the opposition raised the issue of what they described as a double
standard policy pursued by the U.S. with regard to Azerbaijan. The
US officials are expected to attend an international conference on
transparency in extractive industries. The event focusing on the
experience of pilot countries will take place next Thursday as part
of the fourth meeting of the Coalition on the Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative (EITI).

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress