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A leader of Azerbaijani Diaspora in US: â€œDefense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel is an objective and unbiased person, who does not express the interests of ethnic lobbiesâ€

31 January 2013 09:21 (UTC +04:00)

Washington. N. Kazimova-APA. Hearings on confirmation of Senator Chuck Hagel as defense secretary will start in Washington in a few hours. Incumbent defense secretary Leon Panetta is retiring. APA’s Washington correspondent reports that Hagel’s nomination has caused discrepancy among conservative and liberal government representatives and experts. Chuck Hagel is famous for his statements regarding Israeli lobby’s influence on the Capitol and he was accused of anti-Semitism. He also disappointed those supporting the use of force when did not demonstrate tough position on the military operations in Iran.

Hagel also disappointed the Armenian lobby with his position on the events of 1915 and when voted against the bill on the so-called “Armenian genocide” at the Congress in 2005. Hagel, who visited Armenia the same year, said: “What happened in 1915 happened in 1915. As one United States senator, I think the better way to deal with this is to leave it open to historians and others to decide what happened and why.”

Co-founder and managing director of the U.S. Azeris Network (USAN) Adil Bagirov characterized Chuck Hagel as an objective and unbiased person, who does not express the interests of ethnic lobbies. According to him, Secretary of State John Kerry often expressed contrary position, when he was a senator from Massachusetts densely-populated by Armenians.

“Very few people may remember now that section 907 of Freedom Support Act was introduced by John Kerry in 1992. Therefore, this is also called Kerry’s 2686 amendment. In order to win the votes of the Armenian Americans in 2004, he spoke much about these achievements. Recently, he has demonstrated more modest and balanced position with respect to Azerbaijan, he even had his photo taken with a group of Azerbaijani Americans in Washington in 2012,” he said.

Ross Wilson, former US ambassador to Azerbaijan and current director of the Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council chaired by Hagel commented on the nomination of Hagel and Kerry: “Both appointments have great importance for the world, as well as for the South Caucasus. John Kerry and Chuck Hagel are deeply versed in international politics and know what questions they will face in the region. They are personally familiar with representatives of the South Caucasus countries, paid visits several times and know with whom they will meet. I think that no radical changes are expected in the US relations with Azerbaijan and Armenia. The direction of foreign policy is chosen by the US President and both ministers will adhere to Obama’s course. One can understand the essence of Obama’s course by analyzing his last four year activities. After the resignation of Robert Bradtke, who worked longer than his predecessors, Kerry and his team will have a great opportunity to appoint their person as a co-chair, who will likely be able to facilitate the peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.”