U.S. Azeris Network executive director: U.S. Congress assistance to Karabakh separatists is unjust, immoral, unethical move

Day.Az: What are your comments on U.S. Congress aid worth $8 million for Karabakh separatists?

Adil Bagirov: This unjust, immoral, unethical move, which is contrary to U.S. national interests and desires of all the Azerbaijani Americans and our American friends, unfortunately, is not surprising.

This step was actually expected as it happens every year – the administration always asks more equitable and proportionate amount of aid for Azerbaijan and Armenia, but members of the Armenian Caucus and Armenian lobby interfere with and change everything at the peak of U.S. national interests and demands of the administration.

Already this summer we accurately predicted that President Obama will sign a law that will provide harmonization (he actually has no alternatives, as it is  almost impossible to use veto power for the sake of a single line of the budget in the thousand-line document).

Both congressmen, members of the Azerbaijan Caucus in the U.S. Congress and all members of the USAN actively informed the entire Congress of a need to allocate the amount of assistance requested by the administration (that is, not to provide direct assistance to Karabakh region).

In particular, the chairmen and members of the Azerbaijan Caucus sent a detailed letter to all members of the Subcommittee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and USAN members sent 1,345 letters to the Congress members and the president thanking his administration for the requested level of assistance  and 9,781 letters to all members of the Committees on Appropriations of both houses Congress, protesting against actions of the Armenian lobby (15,000 letters on this issue were sent in two years).

Prior to that, letters were sent thrice to almost all 9,900 staff members of the Congress on behalf of the USAN executive director and a report was sent  to the Subcommittee on Appropriations in March this year. As you can see, this was not enough, because the other side took even more extensive efforts. In any case, it is clear that without a strong diaspora and involvement of professional lobbyists from outside, this problem will continue from year to year.

Please, tell us about the Chicago conference held by USAN in early December.

Every year we hold events in different parts of the United States. This year we decided to focus on Chicago as an important financial and economic center, once home to most of country's political elite, such as the U.S. President, Head of Administration, the second man in the Senate, as well as co-head of the Armenian Caucus in Congress, who now desperately needs votes.

The conference was success, and we are going to hold there another conference next year.

What do you expect from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s latest visit to the U.S. in terms of its impact on Armenian-Turkish normalization  and settlement of the Karabakh conflict?

Prime Minister Erdogan has kept his promise to Azerbaijan and stated outright both during the talks in Washington and to the world community that the talks on opening the borders and establishing diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia are directly linked with the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region. It was a very important step which made it clear that games behind the scenes, intrigue, vague theories and hasty actions in this matter are unacceptable and put an end to attempts to embroil the brotherly and friendly countries.

Are talks which claim that the U.S. puts pressure on Turkey through the Armenian lobby, trying to get the Armenian-Turkish border opened true?

The United States has not created the Armenian lobby, although the Armenian community has found fertile ground in America (and elsewhere) to promote its lobby. The Congress often thinks and acts unwisely guided by momentary impulse to please mobilized ethnic communities which skillfully speculate votes and financial resources and appeals to morality posing as a victim. Unfortunately, this phenomenon has a negative effect also on executive power which also makes short-sighted actions that are contrary not only to U.S. national interests, but also political course and the administration's own statements, and even those by the president.

One can cite many examples from the ill-fated 907th amendment opposed by President Bush Senior in 1992 to an unrealized "Porter's amendment" in middle of the last decade (it was prevented), two letters from the U.S. State Department and head of state corporation "Millennium Challenge" against Armenia that the country does not comply with obligations under aid worth $ 295 million, absence of U.S. ambassador in Yerevan for eighteen months because of lock of two candidates for the post of pro-Armenian senator (which irritated the Bush administration), and much, much more.

We should not forget that in America, unlike other Minsk Group member states, such as France, Armenian terrorists fully serve their prison terms as in case of Topalyan, former president of the largest Armenian diaspora and lobbying organization ANCA. Besides, according to the official sources, one of the Armenian "fedayeens" Vigen Patatanyan was deported from the country for "a crime against humanity" in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan thus creating a legal precedent, which, even Azerbaijan yet has not properly established.

As you can see, there is no conspiracy and conspiracy against Azerbaijan in America, but powerful and a good system which the Armenian lobby uses for unethical purposes at least.

It is believed that America cannot put an open pressure on Armenia in the Karabakh issue, even if it wants to do it so as not to cause anti-American sentiment in this country and make it to turn away from the United States. What do you think of this supposition?

America really wants Armenia to be its friend and ally as Turkey and Azerbaijan, as no one wants challenges with its neighbors. Azerbaijan has expressed its friendliness for the last two decades seeking to resolve all problems peacefully with Armenia at a legal level. The U.S. senior management was assured by some pro-Armenian analysts and officials such as David L. Phillips that if Armenia’s border with Turkey and then with Azerbaijan opens, it will accelerate resolution of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict (he is author of the idea about the protocols and also  initiator of the Armenian-Turkish commission on "genocide" early this decade). This is, course, unrealistic benefiting only the Armenian lobby and the Armenian government.

It is Armenia’s aggression on the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan that led to closed borders. The root cause must be eliminated first to solve this problem. Armenian lobby in the U.S. and Europe could make politicians to turn a blind eye to this common truth and believe in some sort of illusions. Armenia will never be able to turn away from the U.S. as well as Russia. Generally, Armenia's minimum geopolitical value, compared with the value of Azerbaijan, which receives disproportionate attention from leading countries like the United States, is based only on activity of the Armenian diaspora.

Can we expect a more active U.S. involvement in settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in comparison with the policies of the previous White House administration?

I think it is already noticeable. This time, there are much more  chances than during the talks in Key West in the first year of George W. Bush administration. Today, the U.S. has a lot of other problems with reducing rating of President Obama and a strong likelihood of huge losses for the Democrats during the midterm elections in Nov. 2010. Therefore,  activity is likely to reduce. One thing is clear that the President Obama will be trying hard to find a way out of the situation prior to April 24, 2010.