The United States of America have continued a policy of putting pressure on Baku that was launched around the summer of last year. The offensive statements of former acting Assistant Secretary of State Yuri Kim have been supplemented by equally offensive statements of Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien. However, a dialogue has since begun to recover. After O’Brien had paid a visit to Azerbaijan and a telephone conversation had taken place between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev regarding the possibility of normalizing the Azerbaijani-American dialogue, a slight hope emerged that the US may have revisited its attitude towards Azerbaijan and embarked on a more constructive path that would meet the interests of both countries. Regrettably, however, the latest statement shows that the United States continues to live by the narratives dictated to it by representatives of the Armenian lobby and pro-Armenian circles and circulates increasingly ludicrous statements about Azerbaijan. The latest statement is evidence of a complete lack of understanding of the specific processes taking place in Azerbaijan and the region and an attempt to exert pressure on Baku, Azerbaijani political scientist Ilgar Valizadeh has told AZERTAC while commenting on the statement of the US State Department, according to which Azerbaijan has been put on a “list of countries for special monitoring of serious violations of religious freedom or tolerance towards them”.

According to him, ironically, the statement was made on the eve of the Orthodox Christmas, which is also celebrated in Azerbaijan. The President of Azerbaijan has addressed a traditional message to the Orthodox citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan with wishes for good, peace and prosperity, as he has been doing over the past decades. Recalling that National Leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev had always highlighted the role and importance of the Orthodox community in the life of Azerbaijani society, the expert noted that the President of Azerbaijan traditionally congratulated representatives of the Jewish community of Azerbaijan on its religious holidays as well, which is evidence of inter-confessional peace and dialogue in the country and an indicator of the absence of any problems on religious grounds in Azerbaijan.

“This is also acknowledged by leaders of world religions, who always emphasize that Azerbaijan is a country with the most favorable climate for representatives of different religions and faiths. The American leaders, however, are turning a blind eye to the statements of the world’s authoritative religious figures. As a matter of fact, Azerbaijan has repeatedly hosted congresses of leaders of world religions, which is also evidence of tolerance in Azerbaijan society and the fact that interfaith dialogue is the foundation of civil accord and tranquility.

The American side pays no heed to that. Instead, it seems to notice the biased and prejudiced statements of Armenian figures and pro-Armenian circles, who, unfortunately, call the shots not only in the US Congress, but apparently in the State Department as well. This, of course, causes irreparable damage to Azerbaijani-American relations and affects the interests of the United States in our region. It should be noted that this practice contributes to the escalation of the situation in the region, does not serve peace and stability,” the expert said.

Ilgar Valizadeh also drew attention to the fact that the State Department issued the statement in the run-up to the next meeting of foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Washington. “At any rate, such a meeting has been announced, but the American side seems to be doing everything it can to disrupt it, which is quite unfortunate. If the State Department had assessed the current situation more rationally and objectively, it would have reached different conclusions and would probably have been more cautious in its statements,” Ilgar Valizadeh said.

As far as Azerbaijan’s attitude to the Armenian population of the Karabakh economic region of Azerbaijan is concerned, the political scientist noted that Baku had repeatedly declared its readiness to reintegrate these people into Azerbaijani society on the basis of principles enshrined in the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the fact that they should become citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan in order to be integrated into Azerbaijani society. However, they chose to reject this proposal, which is not Azerbaijan’s fault. It is the fault of the separatist elements who forced them to do so.

“Therefore, in this case, all claims should be addressed to these people and circles, but if the United States fails to understand this, it is probably the problem of the State Department and those who are implementing this policy. I would like to hope that the State Department draws certain conclusions from the current situation and the negative attitude not only of the state of Azerbaijan but also of the country’s population towards the statement. I also hope it revises its conduct and adheres to a more objective assessment of the processes taking place in Azerbaijan,” the expert concluded.