Shakhinoglu: appointment of US Ambassador to Azerbaijan will not solve all bilateral problems

Elkhan Shakhinoglu, head of the Research Centre "Atlas", has treated the fact of appointment of the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, after the post was vacant for 18 months, as a positive fact for bilateral relations. However, as he said, it does not mean that all the problems between the two countries will be solved.

In his opinion, there are "certain circles" in Azerbaijan, which have great hopes for appointment of Brayza as US Ambassador to Baku. However, these hopes may not come true.

"When being the American co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group on Karabakh settlement, Mr Brayza was also active; however, the expectations for progress in the peace process, which had been imposed on him, never came true, Mr Shakhinoglu has recalled.

Let us remind you that on December 29 US President Barack Obama appointed Matthew Brayza to the post of US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, without the Senate approval.

According to political scientist Vafa Guluzade, former state adviser on foreign policy, the person of the Ambassador is not of paramount importance for the US foreign policy, he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In the opinion of political analyst Leila Alieva, the use of Obama of his powers and appointment of Brayza to the post of Ambassador to Azerbaijan by bypassing the Senate is a message of Washington to the official Baku. In her view, there were certain problems in bilateral relations, including those related to violations of democratic norms in Azerbaijan.

"But, finally, the Azerbaijani government released from custody two young bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Gadjizade, which was done under the personal pressure of the Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama himself. And soon after that the ambassador was appointed," the expert believes.

On the other hand, any further protraction with appointment of ambassadors to Baku and Ankara could give rise to geopolitical problems for Washington, as both Azerbaijan and Turkey are important countries for the United States in the region.

In his turn, Ali Akhmedov, an MP and deputy chair of the ruling Party "Eni Azerbaijan", expects from Brayza's appointment some progress in the Karabakh settlement, taking into account the fact that in the past he was the US' co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"Until now, the OSCE Minsk Group had no satisfactory results; and the conflict remains unsettled. Of course, in a sense, the responsibility is also on the USA as the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. They should make conclusions. Firstly, we expect from the new ambassador a more serious US' contribution as the co-chair of the Minsk Group into the settlement of the Karabakh conflict," the "www.mediaforum.az" quotes Mr Akhmedov as saying.

According to Elkhan Polukhov, head of the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, in Baku Brayza's appointment was perceived normally. However, the Azerbaijani diplomat also noted that the current US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group could make a bigger contribution to settling the Karabakh conflict than the ambassador.

In his turn, Keys Bean, press secretary of the US Embassy in Baku, explained that Brayza's appointment is called "a temporary appointment". That is, as soon as the new Senate session starts, the approval process of Brayza and others appointed ambassadors will resume. Nevertheless, Mr Brayza for at least one year will be the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan.

As to the influence of Mr Brayza's appointment on settling the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, then, according to Mr Bean, the main US official in charge of the Karabakh problem is the current US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassador Robert Bradtke.

Let us remind you that the post of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USA to Azerbaijan remained vacant for over a year.