ELIN SULEYMANOV: AZERBAIJANI DIASPORA SHOULD BE MORE ACTIVE IN POLITICAL LIFE OF THE US

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Sept 7 2007

Azerbaijani Consul General to Los Angeles Elin Suleymanov’s interview
to APA

– How many Azerbaijanis live in the western coast of the US? Do all
of them have US citizenship?

– There is no statistics on the number of Azerbaijanis living in
that region, so it is difficult to say something about it. People
are regularly registered in the US, but Azerbaijanis are very
passive in this process. On the other hand, very few Azerbaijanis
introduce themselves as Azeris during population census. The great
mass of Azerbaijanis has concentrated in Washington, New York and
Los Angeles. Azerbaijanis have three organizations in California –
North California Cultural Center, Azerbaijan Council of America
and Azerbaijani Hearth. Besides, a lot of Azerbaijanis from South
Azerbaijan are living in this State. The majority of them consider
themselves Iranian, not Azerbaijani. We are not against it or voice
separatist ideas, but they would rather support us on cultural issues,
or the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Not all the Azerbaijanis living in
the US have the country’s citizenship, the majority of them live in
the US through Green Card.

– Do the Azeris living in Los Angeles have any problems? Do they have
problems with Armenians?

– The existing problems are mainly of technical character. Our
citizens sometimes need to change passports, and this is a very long
process. Of course, these are problems that can be solved, but they
need some nerves. As regards Armenians, there are many of them in
California. There are cities where the majority of its people are
Armenians. Our Diaspora can not withstand them – our Diaspora is
young and weakly represented in political circles. Armenians are
sufficiently represented in the local authorities and state bodies. I
think that the representatives of our Diaspora should be more active
in the political life of the US, and even in the issues that are
not directly connected with Azerbaijan – they should be active in
humanitarian, ecological actions. We want our Diaspora to support us
more. By the way, unlike Armenia we do not need financial support,
what we need is only solidarity.

– Do you conflict with Armenian Diaspora? What about the relations
with Turkish Diaspora?

– I would not call these conflicts. One of such events occurred on
May 28. That day is marked as a Republic day both in Azerbaijan and
Armenia. U.S. marks this day as Commemoration Day. Northern California
Culture Center of Azerbaijanis was established that day.

Armenians protested against the event of Azerbaijan, instead of marking
their own or U.S. holiday. The momentum that surprised me much was
that Armenians’ territorial claims to Nakhchivan prevailed in the
posters they raised. Such problems should worry Armenian Diaspora
at the same time. As to Turkish Diaspora, I want to say that we have
close relations with this community as well as Turkish Consulate in
Los Angeles. They are actively participating in the events we organize
and we are also participating events they organize. We always supported
each other. Moreover, we have good relations with Jewish community.

– Are any economic or cultural events held in Los Angeles regarding
Azerbaijan?

– Of course. Economic Development Ministry of Azerbaijan has recently
held a business forum in Los Angeles. Fund of Friends of Azerbaijani
Culture organized a meeting with writer, publicist, political scientist
Thomas Golts. Karen Koblich, who visited Azerbaijan, will organize
a carpet exhibition in Los Angeles on September 8. We also intend to
send Azerbaijani musicians to that event.

– The famous Silicon Valley is situated in the western coast of the
U.S. Do the organizations functioning there want to cooperate with
Azerbaijan?

– Yes. I want especially underline the activity of Azerbaijani
Communication and Information Technologies Minister Ali Abbasov. He
visited California twice, had meetings in San Hose and Los Angeles
and negotiated with CISCO, HP, Intell, Microsoft. I regard that these
negotiations will pave a way to a fruitful cooperation.

– Is local media interested in Azerbaijan?

– Of course, they are interested in Azerbaijan. I have been many
times interviewed by local radios, my interview was also published in
"Ontario" newspaper. Journalists are mainly interested in Azerbaijan’s
relations with Iran and Russia, Gabala radar station, cooperation
with Israel, Islam in Azerbaijan and some other issues.