Top official: Azerbaijan wants its national will, policies to be respected

Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 8 Trend: Bloomberg did an interview with the Head of the Public and Political Issues Department of Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Ali Hasanov. Below is the text of the interview. - How can the tension that has recently emerged in relations of Azerbaijan and the US be explained? Who is to blame (if one may say so)? - Azerbaijan’s foreign policy is based on principles of equal cooperation, mutual trust, respect for norms of international law and non-interference in internal affairs. Azerbaijan cooperates with all the countries, including the US, exactly on the basis of these principles. Looking back at history, it is safe to say that an important role was played in the development of US-Azerbaijani relations by the convergence of positions on various global geopolitical, geo-economic and military geo-strategic matters, Caspian energy resources’ supplies and ensuring the energy security of the West in the third millennium. It was Azerbaijan, which made the Caspian region accessible for the West and ensured the participation of major US and European oil companies in the production and export of hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian Sea. In 1994, Azerbaijan joined the NATO program ‘Partnership for Peace’, and actively participated in the peacekeeping mission of this organization in such hot points as Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. President Heydar Aliyev was one of the first presidents in the world to immediately respond to the act of terror that took place in the US on Sept. 11 2001, unequivocally condemning this act, and thus demonstrated the his country’s attitude. Azerbaijan, as a modern Muslim country confidently following the path of democracy, has always closely cooperated with Western institutions, joined the Council of Europe, joined the Eastern Partnership program of the EU, and provided a comprehensive state support to the development of civil society institutions, independent media, and ensuring human rights and freedoms. Given the above mentioned, it would be logical to assume that the US-Azerbaijani relations in the future will develop taking into account the interests of both countries and peoples on the basis of principles of mutual respect and genuine partnership. But, unfortunately, in recent years, some US circles, in particular a number of NGOs, the media and some “experts” implement an unhealthy, contrary to the spirit of partnership campaign of “black PR” against Azerbaijan. Despite the fact that it is difficult to understand and explain the logic, goals and objectives of this campaign, it is obvious that it has a negative impact on bilateral relations. In addition, some officials in the US State Department, sometimes make obscure statements that are misleading to Azerbaijani public and thus harm the constructive relations between the two countries. - Do you agree that relations have never been so strained? - I don’t think that attempts of the former unsuccessful US officials, who now act as “experts”, to teach anyone sense, including independent states, which are the subjects of international law, as well as calls, contrary to the law and the corresponding adequate response to them of the opposite side can aggravate relations of the deep partnership between the two countries. Interstate relations between Azerbaijan and the United States coincide from the point of view of both the national interests and the international relations, and have the character of partnership. Today, relations between the two countries continue to develop on the main issues of common interest, including the relations in the direction of partnership and cooperation on the global transnational level, mutual contacts are intense. I think that mainly these factors will determine the trend of the future relations between the two countries. So it is a mistake to characterize the US-Azerbaijani interstate relations so pessimistic. - What are the main expectations of the Azerbaijani government from the US? For what reasons does the main discontent arise? - The US is the world’s superpower, and has significant opportunities to influence global processes. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan, as a result of successful domestic and foreign policies, has over the past 23 years turned into a country with its position on regional and international arena. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev wants all the countries respect the national will of his country and the policy, which complies with the norms of international law. Azerbaijan expects this attitude from such countries as the US, China, Russia, the UK, France – the permanent members of the UN Security Council, which shape global world politics, as well as such neighboring countries and partner states as Iran, Turkey and others, as our country treats all the countries in the world, their national interests and independent will basing on this position. Azerbaijan wants to be seen not as someone wants to, but the way the country really is. So, some circles have to understand that Azerbaijan, as an independent country, has always been guided in the foreign policy by its national interests, has never accepted and will not accept attempts of pressure and threats in the future. Bilateral relations can develop not on the basis of desire to make domination claims, but on the basis of the principles of common interests, equal cooperation, and non-interference in the internal affairs of each other. The faster those who want to see Azerbaijan as a “satellite” or an outpost abandon this idea, the sooner they can become a close friend of our country. - Do you really think that the US government wants a change of power in Azerbaijan, or wants to achieve this through its “fifth column”? - Unfortunately, in modern times, some international forces, using standard programs developed in some “political laboratories”, interfere under the guise of promoting democratic principles into the internal affairs of independent states, trying, so to speak, to take the official state policy and social processes in those countries under control, and direct and manage them. This scenario, used some time earlier in the Eastern Europe, was at a later stage extended to post-Soviet area and the Middle East. Not everywhere the results were equally positive. Such interference has led to social and political instability, civil strife, economic decline and social cataclysms in many countries. Some facts give reasons to think of the development of specific plans to implement a similar scenario in Azerbaijan as well. However, I would not want to link these efforts directly with the US president or his administration. That’s because President Barack Obama and senior US officials at various times attached great importance to the development of cooperation with Azerbaijan and expressed desire to work with the current President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and his administration. We believe in the sincerity of that