Elkhan Suleymanov: ACSDA project enjoys great importance irrespective of White House response
Against the background of long-term and ongoing global political pressure to our country by power states and international organizations,
I seriously question an objective response by the US to ACSDA’s petition. For example, US State Secretary Mr. John Kerry congratulated the Azerbaijani people on the occasion of the Republic Day. He also noted that the US is as always committed to help to the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The same day, Mr. Kerry’s statement published on the website of State Department reads that the US unconditionally supports the independence and territorial integrity of Georgia within the internationally recognized borders. The fact that Mr. Kerry takes a different position on two neighboring South Caucasian countries seriously affects my optimistic expectations regarding the objectivity of the response to ACSDA’s petition.
According to Rules of Procedure, the relevant authorities of White House Administration review the response to our petition. With regard to the fact that Mr. James Warlick, US Co-Chair of OSCE Minsk Group, is an authorized person on Karabakh issue, it?s imminent that his opinion will guide the response to the petition. It?s obvious that the OSCE Minsk Group played an unprecedented role in the ongoing occupation of our territories by Armenian state for over 23 years. The fact that the response to the petition depends on Mr. Warlick?s position questions our positive expectations in this regard.
Following 4 days? war on the frontline in April, the USA, as a Minsk Group Co-Chair, made a neutral statement again. It didn?t distinguish between occupier Armenia and Azerbaijan, the country subject to occupation; and didn?t request the unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories. This and other multiple facts increase the probability of a formalistic response of the US to our petition.
I guess that White House Administration will not explicitly endorse PACEResolution 2085 (2016). It will probably neglect the part of our call in petition expressing the assistance for preventing humanitarian catastrophe due to the current condition of Sarsang reservoir, and divert the attention from the main provisions of the resolution, by stating the importance of inspections by independent experts and dialogue hosted by OSCE Minsk Group over the discussion of the issue of water release.
However, it should be highlighted that this ACSDA project enjoys great importance irrespective of the White House response. And we won?t stop our struggle for the liberation of Azerbaijani territories from occupation. This is also an intellectual struggle, and thanks to this petition, we carried PACEResolution 2085 (2016) to the other side of the ocean and presented in American context. On the other hand, the facts that Armenia is an aggressor, that Nagorno-Karabakh and other territories of Azerbaijan are under the control of Armenian armed forces on White House official website and that millions of people visiting the website obtain this information for over 2 months are very important, and a significant activity on the way to the liberation of our territories from occupation.
If White House Administration gives a formalistic response to our petition as we expected, it will not only turn a blind eye to the fact of occupation, but also neglect PACE, one of the influential international bodies, and its document signed by the parliamentarians of 45 Member States. It will show that White House makes calls on human rights and democracy not in action, but in a word.
