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On June 11, the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) held a hearing titled “The Security, Economic and Human Rights Dimensions of U.S.-Azerbaijan Relations” at the Russell Senate Building on Capitol Hill. The purpose of the hearing as presented by Senator Ben Cardin, the Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, was to discuss key issues in the U.S.-Azerbaijani relations before the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Annual Session which will kick off in Baku at the end of June. The witnesses invited to testify were Tom Melia, Deputy Assistant Secretary at Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour of the U.S. Department of State; Eric Rubin, Deputy Assistant Secretary from the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs of the U.S. Department of State; Miriam Lanskoy, Director for Russia and Eurasia at National Endowment for Democracy (NDI); and Brenda Shaffer, Visiting Researcher at Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies of Georgetown University.
In his opening remarks, Senator Cardin stated that he would be visiting Baku at the end of the month along with the delegation from the United States, and this hearing was to update on the status of the relationship between the United States and Azerbaijan. He noted that Azerbaijan has been helpful to the United States and its allies, and its efforts in Afghanistan, especially since the Northern Distribution Network (NDN) relied heavily on Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a “strategic important partner to the United States,” underlined Senator Cardin. The chairman of the commission then expressed appreciation for the position of Azerbaijan and its vote at the United Nations General Assembly on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
He also said that the two countries had important strategic partnership on the issue of counterterrorism. Speaking of the U.S.-Azerbaijan economic relations, Ben Cardin stated that Azerbaijan’s oil and gas resources were of much interest to the United States and that it was remarkable that Azerbaijan was EITI-compliant (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) which was commendable from the standpoint of the U.S. Helsinki Commission that has always been a proponent of transparency in the extractive industries.
Speaking before the commission, Eric Rubin, Deputy Assistant Secretary from the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, stated that the partnership of the United States with Azerbaijan remained “an important aspect” of Washington’s engagement in the Caucasus. For over twenty years, the United States has been working with Azerbaijan to promote a secure, prosperous and democratic society. Since 1992, said Mr. Rubin, the United States provided approximately $1.1 billion in assistance to pursue those goals. Speaking of the importance of U.S.-Azerbaijan bilateral ties, he outlined core areas of the relationship. Mr. Rubin noted that Azerbaijan had been a “key partner for the United States and NATO from Kabul to Kosovo.” With 94 troops currently on the ground in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan has already committed to remain to post-2014 Afghanistan. It had also completed its missions to Iraq and Kosovo. The Deputy Assistant Secretary underlined the importance of Azerbaijan in the Northern Distribution Network (NDN) and air-route for non-combat goods in and out of Afghanistan, stating that “thousands of containers go through customs and thousands of state and commercial flights transit Azerbaijan each year.” Another significant set of top priorities for the United States is the cooperation of Azerbaijan on counterterrorism, Caspian security and enhancing maritime domain awareness. For those purposes, the U.S. government has been providing security assistance to Azerbaijan since 2002.
Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Mr. Rubin said that the United States, as co-chair to the OSCE Minsk Group worked diligently with its Russian and French co-chairs to facilitate a peaceful settlement to the conflict. “In doing so, we are focusing on pragmatic steps to bring the sides into negotiations on a peace agreement based on the core principles of the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act,” noted Eric Rubin.
He then spoke of long years of cooperation between the two countries in the energy sphere, where both sides saw through the realization of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) project which began transporting Azerbaijani oil from the Caspian fields to the Mediterranean in June 2006. Based of the success of BTC project, the United States and Azerbaijan are working on ever important Southern Gas Corridor which will supply Europe with 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the initial stages and will be open for more and new sources of gas in the future. Apart from the energy products, Mr. Rubin underlined the importance of business engagements in non-oil industry, such as purchasing by Azerbaijan of U.S.-made airplanes, a communication satellite and agricultural equipment and technology, as well as significance of Washington’s support for Azerbaijan being admitted to World Trade Organization (WTO).
Next witness, Tom Melia, Deputy Assistant Secretary at Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour of the U.S. Department of State, spoke of the human rights dimension in the U.S.-Azerbaijan relationship. He stated that while serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, he had visited Azerbaijan 3 times, meeting “leading government officials, including President Ilham Aliyev, as well as with opposition political leaders, civil society actors, and journalists.” He said that the United States also provided assistance to support Azerbaijan’s democratic development efforts. Mr. Melia stated that the United States government recognized that Azerbaijan was located in a very difficult neighbourhood and supported Azerbaijan’s long-term stability, security and prosperity.
Responding to the question of the Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, Senator Ben Cardin on the concern of Azerbaijani citizens on the territorial integrity of their country, Eric Rubin said “the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty that we’re defending in Ukraine applies to all of the countries of the region.” He noted that the United States was committed to helping Azerbaijan strengthen its ability to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. As far as OSCE’s role in conflict resolutions is concerned, Mr. Rubin stated that OSCE has been the premier organization mediating between Armenia and Azerbaijan through its Minsk Group and although the breakthrough was not expected this year, there has been some progress in the peace talks. He noted that the main present framework of negotiations was based on the Madrid Principles.
In response to the question from the chairman of the commission on reforms to tackle the corruption problems, Tom Melia stated that like in many other countries there is an anti-corruption legislation in Azerbaijan, including the National Action Plan on fighting the corruption, and there have been steps taken on local levels to eliminate corruption. As an example, he cited the activity of ASAN service centers which had positive impact among the ordinary public and local administrations.
Chairman Cardin then asked the witnesses to present their views on the constructive relationship between Azerbaijan and Israel. Mr. Rubin stated that the Azerbaijan-Israel relations not only benefitted both countries economically but also ensured stability in the greater region.
Speaking of Azerbaijan, as a small country which will draw the attention of Europe at the end of June, Eric Rubin said that “Azerbaijan was more important than its size, for many reasons. Location is one of them. Commitment to supporting the international community in places like Afghanistan is another. Energy diversification is the third. It is true that supporting Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and independence should be of high priority.” He concluded that spotlight on Azerbaijan’s importance is well justified. Mr. Rubin reiterated the position of the U.S. government on deep appreciation to Azerbaijan for not only facilitating shipments through southern route of NDN, but also putting Azerbaijani peacekeeping troops on the ground, as well as committing to remain in Afghanistan after 2014, when the U.S. troops are expected to pull out. Senator Roger Wicker, the member of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, who also contributed his comments, stated that “our hat is off to the Azerbaijanis for their help to us in Afghanistan”, underlining the commitment of Azerbaijan to supporting of U.S. mission in Afghanistan and the security partnership between the two nations. He also said that in spite of the fact that Azerbaijan borders Russia and Iran, it chose to cooperate with the United States, and it is a profound statement of the leadership of Azerbaijan as they view the United States.
Miriam Lanskoy, Director for Russia and Eurasia at National Endowment for Democracy (NDI) and Brenda Shaffer, Visiting Researcher at Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies of Georgetown University, spoke in the second panel of the hearing. Although Ms. Lanskoy is known for criticizing the Azerbaijani government, she also stated that the Azerbaijani government conducted a very skilful, independent and diversified foreign policy.
Professor Shaffer spoke of the religious tolerance in Azerbaijan as one of the key important attributes of the country. “Azerbaijan is not only a place with freedom of religion, but also a country free from religion,” she said underlining that secular people have the right to live without religious coercion. The expert in the Caucasus region stated that Azerbaijan was a country where universal suffrage was given to the people two years before the United States provided the same rights to its citizens. Touching upon the importance of Azerbaijan as an energy supplier, Ms.Shaffer stated that it was the country providing a new alternative source of gas, and not re-routing existing sources of natural gas to Eastern Europe, and while the initial volumes of gas are small and address the needs of the countries mostly in need of alternative sources, the volumes and sources may grow. Professor Shaffer spoke extensively about Azerbaijan’s ability in stopping the efforts of outside powers to use religion as a tool to destabilize the country.
The hearing was chaired by Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD). He was joined by Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Senator Chris Smith (R-NJ). The event was attended by staffers of officers of legislators, government officials and constituents.
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