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U.S. ambassador Anne Derse: There should be a good basis to strengthen the partnership between the United States and Azerbaijan - INTERVIEW

U.S. ambassador Anne Derse: There should be a good basis to strengthen the partnership between the United States and Azerbaijan -<font color=red> INTERVIEW</font>

26 January 2009 17:18 (UTC +04:00)

-What policy will new U.S. President Barack Obama pursue and what will be the priorities the new administrationâ€™s policy with respect to Azerbaijan?

-It is early for me to give you details on specific policy issues. But I think we can see from some of the early steps that president has taken and from some of his statements in the early days of this administration and some of the directions. Barack Obama said our foreign policy will be based on diplomacy, development and defence. He has emphasized the importance of addressing issues of development, the global challenges of development, poverty, disease. And of course defence he said a very strong, clear, unequivocal message to those who will consider themselves enemies of the United States that the United States will defend its security. President Obama has made clear that we will promote our interests, ideals and values. He took a couple of specific steps when he went to the State Department that show his interest in moving quickly to address some very pressing global problems. He appointed a Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, Senator George Mitchell. He appointed Ambassador Richard Holbrooke to be a Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to deal with that issue. And early in his administration he signed three Executive Orders that underscore our commitment to promote our interests and our ideals, and those were the Executive Orders prohibiting torture, closing Guantanamo, and launching an executive review of how we address the issue of terrorism. All this, of course, in the context of an absolute steadfast commitment to fight extremists, terrorists, and maintain the security of the United States.

I donâ€™t have details for you on what his specific policies will be for the Caucasus and for Azerbaijan. But I think we can state with a fair degree of certainty that our interests here remain. They are important. And they will take a high priority in the foreign policy agenda. Energy security is an important issue for the United States and for the world. Our continued cooperation with good partners to fight terrorism, to fight proliferation and other global threats, those interests endure. Weâ€™ll continue to work with our partners like Azerbaijan on them.

The United States has had a longstanding policy across several administrations of supporting the peaceful and independent and democratic development of the new states in this part of the world. That too is an enduring interest.

And just to close on this subject let me mention that as you know, President Obama has been to Azerbaijan. He traveled to Azerbaijan, and he traveled here with Senator Richard Lugar. I have seen some of the pictures of his visit to Sangachal and elsewhere, and in connection with his trip to Azerbaijan Iâ€™m sure he was fully briefed on all of the important issues for your country.

So given the enduring interests we have in Azerbaijan, given President Obamaâ€™s familiarity with Azerbaijan, there should be a good basis to strengthen the partnership between the U.S. and Azerbaijan.

-How is the United Statesâ€™ attitude towards the referendum on proposed amendments to Azerbaijanâ€™s Constitution in March?

-With respect to changes to Azerbaijani Constitution only the people of Azerbaijan can make the decision as to whether these changes should be made or not. I am not going to comment on the substance of the proposed changes. But I would like to note that for international partners who are interested in Azerbaijanâ€™s democratic development, the process by which these amendments are considered and decided is very important. Azerbaijani people need to hold debates. They need to have the people who support the amendments, outline their position and why they support them, they need to have the people who oppose the amendments, outline their positions, and why they oppose them. Independent media facilitates this kind of debate and exchange an examination of ideas. Importantly citizens need to exercise their rights to assemble, associate and express their views. As a strong supporter of Azerbaijanâ€™s development we hope that the government will support a transparent and fair process.

-The US has recently signed a charter with Georgia and Ukraine. Is the Unites States going to sign similar document with Azerbaijan?

- I donâ€™t have any details about a specific initiative at this time, but that may just be because we have a new administration and theyâ€™ll be defining their policy towards Azerbaijan.

As you know, we have cooperation across a range of issues from support for Azerbaijanâ€™s economic and political development to our energy cooperation to our cooperation on economics, to our cooperation on security. All of those things are the pillars of a strong relationship.

As I said before, the best partners, however, are those who share not just our interests, but also our values.

-How can the suspension of foreign radio stations in Azerbaijan impact on the relations between Baku and Washington? Can we expect some changes in U.S. relations, U.S.-Azerbaijani ties?

I think itâ€™s an issue that we need to work together to resolve â€“ we and Azerbaijan.
As you know, the whole issue of media and freedom of the media and freedom of speech has been a sensitive and difficult issue in our relations for some time. It will remain a focus of U.S. policy because freedom of speech and freedom of the press is a fundamentally important value to Americans. So letâ€™s hope that we can find a constructive way to resolve this issue soon so that we donâ€™t have to see any negative effects over the long run.

- Your attitude towards the information regarding Russiaâ€™s supplying Armenia with $800 million arms and ammunitions?

- I donâ€™t have any information other than what has been in the press on this issue. Obviously the United States goals are for the Nagorno Karabakh conflict to be justly and peacefully resolved. We have worked hard as a member of the Minsk Group for years and we will continue to be committed to working for a peaceful and just solution.

Anything that would serve to disrupt that process of negotiation for a peaceful solution or to destabilize the situation we would look at very negatively. We would oppose. But as I said, I have no information other than whatâ€™s in the press on that subject.

- Does the United State intend to give more attention to its energy policy after the problem occurred in gas transport to Europe?

- I think this recent dispute simply highlighted what we all knew to be true and what the United States has said for many years â€“ that it is important to have a diversity of sources and routes of supply for energy. And that was graphically illustrated this year as it was in 2006.

So I think that Azerbaijanâ€™s role as a potential energy supplier and transit country, which has always been important, was highlighted by this recent incident. And as I said at the beginning, energy security will be an important focus for this administration. So I am confident that we will continue to work with Azerbaijan on matters of energy security.