U.S. EMBASSY REPRESENTATIVE SPEAKS ABOUT DELAY IN MATTHEW BRYZA’S CONFIRMATION PROCESS
Azeri Report
Aug 5 2010
BAKU. August 5, 2010: At the request of some of its members, the U.S.
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations postponed voting on the candidacy
of Matthew Bryza to the position of ambassador to Azerbaijan, said
Keith Bean, the press-secretary of the U.S. Embassy to Azerbaijan.
Some local experts in Azerbaijan relate the delay in Bryza’s
confirmation process to the tensions in bilateral relations of
Azerbaijan and the United States. Commenting on such opinion, Bean said
the visit of the U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton to Azerbaijan
last month testified to the development of bilateral relations. “She
touched upon and discussed certain spheres, including questions on
democracy and human rights,” Bean said. “U.S. always stated that
the most reliable partners are the countries devoted to democracy,
” – he added.
During her visit to Baku Clinton spoke about some progress in the
sphere of democracy, and expressed hope on the quick release of
the bloggers from jail. However, after her visit the bloggers were
not released, and a new verdict was passed against the imprisoned
journalist Eynulla Fatullayev.
Commenting on these questions Bean said that there was a special
statement of the U.S. Government calling Azerbaijan to respect its
international obligations. Bean also expressed a hope that the bloggers
would be released soon.
“Media questions have also been important for us, because free media
are constituent parts of developed democracy. And we will always be
on this position,” the diplomat said.
Ketih Bean did not comment on the questions why the assistance
allocated by the Congress for Armenia in 2011 was twice higher than
for Azerbaijan. “American lawmakers deal with these issues”, he noted.
The U.S. diplomat also noted that U.S. did not recognize Nagorno
Karabakh/Mountainous Garabagh, and that U.S. allocated them money only
for humanitarian projects by NGOs. The similar sums are allocated
for people who suffered from the Karabakh conflict in Azerbaijan,
said Keith Bean (Turan).
From: A. Papazian