CONGRESS DECISION TO ALLOCATE $8 MILLION TO KARABAKH A GREAT MISTAKE
Leyla Tagiyeva
news.az
Dec 18 2009
Azerbaijan
Mark Katz News.Az interviews Mark N. Katz, Professor of Government
and Politics at George Mason University (USA).
How would you comment decision of Congress about allocation of 8
million dollars to Nagorno-Karabakh in 2010? I’ll remind that there
is a great protest in Baku and Azeri Diaspora of U.S. about that.
The decision by Congress to allocate $8 million to Nagorno-Karabakh
was a great mistake. Up to now, the U.S. Government has been careful
not to take any steps indicating that it recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Obama Administration should have acted to forestall this. Now there
is a serious problem in US-Azeri relations at a time when Washington
very much wants good relations with Baku.
U.S. always supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and
don’t recognize Karabagh as independent state. Does the decision of
Congress mean that there are changes in U.S. approach to the settlement
of the conflict?
In my view, the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government has not changed
its policy toward Nagorno-Karabakh. This move by Congress, though,
could be seen as a change, but as the U.S. Embassy in Baku stated,
this money will not be used to support the Karabakh government, but
for humanitarian purposes. The Embassy is clearly attempting to limit
the damage to U.S.-Azeri relations caused by Congress.
Armenian separatist say that U.S. (after Kosovo) and Russia (after
Abkhazia and Sought Ossetia) must recognize the independence of so
called "Nagorno-Karabagh Republic". Do you see any similarities or
links between these conflicts?
The recognition of secession is always an exceptional circumstance,
not the norm. The recognition of Kosovo’s secession by many countries
(and of Abkhazia’s and South Ossetia’s by just a few) does not
necessitate the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh by anyone.
U.S. and Russia (the two main co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk group,
dealing with Karabagh conflict) still have many problems in bilateral
relations. Does in make problem in U.S.-Russia peace-keeping
cooperation in Karabagh issue?
The fact that America and Russia have many differences clearly does
not help them in resolving the Karabakh issue. Still, Russian-American
relations have improved somewhat since President Obama came to office.
Even if Russia and America completely agreed upon the Karabakh issue,
though, will not necessarily lead to its resolution. Azerbaijan and
Armenia must also agree.
What kind of influence had a war between Russia and Georgia on
Karabagh conflict?
This is a very interesting question. Before the 2008 Russia-Georgia
War, Moscow seemed more focused on isolating Azerbaijan. Since the
August 2008 War, though, Moscow has focused more on isolating Georgia
and has consequently been much friendlier to Azerbaijan.