AZG Armenian Daily #064, 08/04/2006

Karabakh issue

IRANIAN AND KARABAKH ISSUES DRAW AZERI PRESIDENT TO
WASHINGTON

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received an
official invitation to visit Washington in late April,
RFE/RL reports. Details of this meeting will perhaps
be discussed at the meeting between Azeri foreign
minister Elmar Mamediarov and US state secretary
Condoleezza Rice today. Though the Azeri side has not
yet confirmed this information, many experts consider
the visit of the Azeri president possible based on the
planning assault on Iraq and topicality of Karabakh
issue. Despite the assumptions of Azeri political
scientists that their president will not take part in
possible attack on Iran, Washington will try to draw
Azerbaijan into its alliance.

The Azeri printed media lively discusses this issue,
presuming that Washington looks down on Aliyev as an
illegitimate leader. Nevertheless, once this visit
takes place it will make the headlines in the context
of anti-Iranian campaign and Nagorno Karabakh issue.

As to the Karabakh issue, the United States is
striving to see a breakthrough in the dispute, and the
Azeri president’s visit can be viewed as a concrete
step in this direction. Following this logic, we can
expect that President Robert Kocharian will also be
invited to the US capital shortly after.

By Aghavni Harutyunian