Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.14
By Sabina Ahmadova - Trend:
The authors of "Time for Sanctions on Baku" article, David Kramer and Richard Kauzlarich decided that the US should sanction its tested regional ally and the most independent nation in the post-Soviet space.
The remarks were made by a member of Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis (parliament), political scientist Asim Mollazade in this article published in The Hill newspaper.
Apparently oblivious to the happenings in the world from Russia's intervention in Ukraine leading to potential destabilization of the entire region of Eastern Europe and the wars flared up by the 'Islamic State' in the Middle East, the authors seem enviably engrossed in their own myopic view of the world, according to Mollazade.
The author said he can understand and accept criticism of Azerbaijan's shortcomings. However, according to the MP, Azerbaijan doesn't accept a coordinated, selective and special agenda-driven campaign of intimidation.
Such campaigns sharpen divides in the society and the criticism by the authors of the article doesn't serve the US interests, according to Mollazade.
Pushing away of the US from the most valuable ally in the region - Azerbaijan - serves only the Kremlin's or Tehran's interests.
"It also puzzles me why they chose as their target the most prosperous nation in the former Soviet Union, a widely acknowledged tolerant society, a strategic partner of the West in the countering terror."
"The authors seem to ignore the fact that Armenia, which continues to illegally occupy 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, voted against Ukrainian territorial integrity along with nations like Cuba, North Korea, Sudan and Russia, and has just gave up on its sovereignty by joining Putin's Customs Union," Mollazade added.
"Such engagement cannot, however, ignore strategic issues, such as the need for a peaceful, international law-based solution to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, or the threats posed by Russia to its neighbors."
The author also emphasized Azerbaijan's geostrategic significance as a country located between Russia and Iran.