Domestic

Domestic

John Hopkins Universityâ€™s Central Asia and Caucasus Director says the brief flurry of concern over Department of Stateâ€™s report further strengthened relations between Azerbaijan and the Unites States

03 May 2007 15:04 (UTC +04:00)

He added that the issue has been resolved as it should have been. Several conclusions are warranted.
â€œThe first is scarcely worth mentioning: all human beings make mistakes and the U.S. Department of State is staffed by normal mortals. No surprise there. The second is more interesting: once this error occurred, the governments of the U.S. and Azerbaijan were immediately in direct contact, beginning with our two very effective ambassadors, of whom both Azeris and Americans can be proud. No one pounded the table, no one lectured. The problem was solved. The third conclusion is yet more important: the surest sign of friendship is not the absence of problems but the readiness of both parties to resolve them in a spirit of good will. Looking back, it is clear that this brief experience reinforced the good will that prevails today between Azerbaijan and the United States, and strengthened our mutual ability to address the next issue whenever it should arise,â€ he added. /APA/