Baku. Victoria Dementieva –APA. APA interview with Ambassador of the United States to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar.
- President Obama will make one of his first trips after reelection to Turkey. Does mean that during his second term will pay more attention to the region?
- This region has always been a very high priority for this administration. It will continue to be so. The relationship between the United States and Azerbaijan is very important. We have a lot of critical regional stability issues that we work together on, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Iran, and Afghanistan where Azerbaijan has been extremely helpful. We have an important relationship in the energy area, as you know. But we also feel that it is very important that Azerbaijan further diversify its economy and we are working with Azerbaijan in that area.
Furthermore, democracy and human rights continue to be an area that we need to work on closely with the government. As Secretary of State Clinton said during her visit to Azerbaijan this past June, our closest relationships are with those countries that really emphasize the importance of democracy and human rights. I look forward to continuing to work with the government and others on those issues.
- Is the United States going to be more active in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after the elections?
- The administration will continue to view the resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a very high priority in our relationship with Azerbaijan. It has become obvious to me, during my first three months here, that the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a critical issue to everybody here in Azerbaijan, and that all Azerbaijani citizens feel the pain and suffering of that conflict—regardless of their political views.
I will continue to work with the Minsk Group in the hopes of finding a solution to this issue. The Minsk Group continues to work very hard on this issue. There were recent meetings I am sure you are aware of, and hopefully more progress will be made on this very important matter.
- After President Obama’s reelection, groups in six traditionally Republican states drew up petitions to secede from the United States. Can you comment on that? Is this a serious matter? To what consequences could it lead?
- No. It is not a serious matter at all. You are talking about a very tiny minority that would ever in fact want to secede from the United States which they could not do legally in any event. I would pay no attention to it.
- At what stage is the selection process for the next U.S. Secretary of State? Some experts believe that John Kerry is the most probable candidate, but that he would not be neutral for the region. What is your comment on that?
- First of all, the decision on who will become Secretary of State is the decision of the President of the United States subject to confirmation by the Senate. So I am not going to make any comments on who I think might be the Secretary of State or who possible candidates may be.
I will say this about John Kerry: I have known him for over 30 years. He is a very good and decent person. He is fair-minded and I can guarantee you that he will always be objective with respect to issues relating to Armenia and Azerbaijan.
- How are the negotiations on direct flights between Baku-Washington going?
- We are very hopeful that flights between Azerbaijan and the United States will begin in the not-too-distant future. It would be to the benefit of both countries.
There are a number of permits that need to be obtained. I know that we want to get into discussions about an Open Skies Agreement. I look forward to being able to fly non-stop from Baku to the United States.
- You have met with Azerbaijani opposition parties’ representatives, but you have not yet met with representatives from the ruling YAP party who could be concerned about this.
- First of all there should be no concern on the part of the YAP party. I am the Ambassador to all of Azerbaijan and I meet with any number of individuals and groups who want to meet with me. I would be very happy to meet with the YAP party.
- What is the United States government’s attitude towards the opening of the Khojali airport in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan?
- We hope that this is a situation that can be resolved between all of the relevant parties and that, whatever happens with respect to the airport, there will be no use of force if in fact the airport were to open.
Having said that, obviously, the opening of the airport and flights from the airport would not be helpful. As the Minsk Group co-chairs have said, this is something that could escalate tensions which is not in anyone’s interest. The Minsk Group participants have also made clear that the opening of the airport would have absolutely no effect on the legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh.
So the bottom line is that we hope this can be resolved through diplomatic and legal means and that no force be used. We have also made clear that the opening of the airport would not be helpful and could escalate tensions.
- How is bilateral military cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United States? Are the two countries planning to have any training or exercises in this sphere in the near future?
- I think we cooperate very well with the Azerbaijani military. We have significant training activities that Azerbaijan participates in. In most instances these exercises are in conjunction with NATO, but I think there is very important cooperation from that standpoint.
We work with Azerbaijan on security matters including security in the Caspian, which is an important matter. All of our assistance is consistent with Section 907, but we still are able to cooperate to a great extent. And we also cooperate very much in the field of counterterrorism.
- The U.S. Senate again strengthened sanctions against Iran. Does the new administration plan to increase its efforts to solve Iran problem through diplomatic means?
- Iran’s nuclear development is obviously a very huge issue and a very high priority for the administration. President Obama has made very clear that a nuclear armed Iran is unacceptable. But the administration has also said there is still time for diplomacy.
We hope that the combination of a very tough sanctions policy and diplomacy will lead to a solution without military conflict. Obviously we will have to see what happens. Hopefully progress can be made from a diplomatic standpoint.
I want to emphasize that I am not part of that process at all, so beyond that I have no information on what is happening behind the scenes.
- But do you think Azerbaijan can be useful in this matter? If so, how?
- Yes. Iran is Azerbaijan’s neighbor. Azerbaijan has a complex relationship with Iran. Azerbaijan and Iran are dealing with each other on an ongoing basis, and any influence that Azerbaijan might be able to use with respect to Iran towards changing Iranian attitudes obviously would be very helpful.
- How active does the United States plan to be in resolving the Middle East conflict between Israel and Palestine?
- It is certainly a high priority of the administration that the Israeli-Palestinian issue be solved. With respect to the specific UN Resolution that you are referring to, our position is well known and we believe that that resolution will not be helpful to the overall process.
We have made our position known to the government here in Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan will make its own decision with respect to that resolution.
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