During the hearings on South Caucasus issues in the US House of Representatives nothing new was said

PanARMENIAN.Net - "I would like to start with the most important fact; the Turkish blockade of Armenia, put into action in 1993, continues till present," with these words opened the session the chairman of the committee, the Congressman Howard Berman. "This policy hinders the economic development of Armenia and impedes its business opportunities with other countries. The blockade of Armenia makes no sense even from the point of view of Turkish interests; it's very unlikely that Ankara's policy will make the authorities of Yerevan compromise in the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh. The only political result, which it has already grown used to, is that Armenia, having no outlet to the sea, has to look for alliance with its historical enemies of Turkey; Russia and Iran. In other words, in the Caucasus regional conflicts are easily transformed into international conflicts. And Armenia is not an exception,' said the Congressman Berman.

One of the most important issues is the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict regulation. Speaking about a non-optional peaceful regulation, both Howard Berman and Daniel Fried warned Azerbaijan against its militarist rhetoric. "Permanent militarist calls reach us from certain officials of Azerbaijan. We call the Azeri government upon focusing on the peaceful regulation of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This will be useful for the regional integration, and will bring to prosperity and stability in the Caucasian region," said Fried. In his turn, Howard Berman emphasized that the militarist calls of the Azeri authorities regarding the resolution of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh cause serious agitations. "We are also concerned with the growth of the military budget of Azerbaijan in the expense of oil resources and violations of the regime of the cease-fire in the zone of Karabakh conflict in March 2008, which were cause by the provocations from the Azeri party," said the Congressman.

In his turn, the Congressman Bred Sherman announced during the session: "We must fight against the continuing blockade of the Armenian borders by Turkey, which has no justification. The co-chairs of the Armenian support group in the USA Joe Knollenberg and Frank Pallone announced that Azerbaijan is a dictatorship, which continues coming up with aggressive announcements and called the US Administration upon stopping the Azeri war machine. Frank Pallone called the USA Administration to take measures for establishing contacts between the governments of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, as well as for creating an atmosphere of trust. He also expressed his concerns about the fact that Azerbaijan puts pressure on the US State Department, trying to impede the contact between the USA and Nagorno-Karabakh.

As for the Armenian-Turkish relations, Daniel Fried thinks that the USA believes that one of the important factors of the resolution of the problem is opening the blockade of the borders. "The existing status quo is bad for both parties. Fortunately, this year there is some noticeable progress: such as opening regular charter flights Yerevan-Istanbul, as well as to Antalya, bus communication through Georgia, as well as business opportunities through Georgia are important to be mentioned among the progresses. All the countries only gain from the growth and expansion of market relations with each other, expand their electric systems. The USA also assists the dialogue and cooperation between the Armenians and Turks by the help of conferences, meetings and exchange programs. The reestablishment of the relations between Armenia and Turkey is a very sensitive issue. Turkey must make it up with the black pages of its history; mass killings and the deportation of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. This is not easy, just like it is not for the USA, when it needed time to recognize the black pages of its own history. In its turn, Armenia must be ready to recognize the borders and not to assert any territorial claims against the Modern Turkey and to show constructive approach to the efforts from the Turkish side," said Fried.

In the global level, the US policy is quite clear in the region even without any hearings; they need a complete and uncontrolled access to the Caspian oil and gas, and that is, the sooner, the better. That is why Azerbaijan and Ilham Aliyev, who leads the country according "democratic and Euro-Atlantic values", get so much praise. The truth is though, that to show that the USA sees and knows everything, Fried mentioned about the imprisoned journalists and about the pressure on the political figures. He expressed his confidence, that the elections of the President of Azerbaijan scheduled for October will be held in complete accordance with the democratic standards. However, Howard Berman, reminding about the post-election events in Armenia and Georgia, mentioned that Azerbaijan, where the authorities already try to put pressure on the opposition and mass media, may also find itself in such situation. And the fact that it is definitely going to happen, one must not have any doubts about. There is also no need to doubt that the USA will shut its eyes to the mass violations, like it happened in the elections in Baku in 2003. This gives rise to the question; if Armenia had oil, would the events of March 1, 2008 still be judged that harshly? It seems that they would not.

The American diplomat also mentioned three issues, which are very important to the USA policy in the region: walking towards freedom and democracy, security, which includes antiterrorist acts and peaceful regulation of the conflicts and energy issues. "The first strategic interest is spreading freedom and democracy from the Black up to the Caspian Seas. Each South Caucasus country has an important achievement in this issue, but each of them must still do a lot to recognize that democracy is not irreversible. We also work with the governments of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan for the peaceful regulation of the conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia, which have become after the breakdown of the USSR. We also cooperate in the fight against terrorism and spreading weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear and bacteriological weapons. And finally, we are certain that the Euro Atlantic community is interested in quick supply of the Caspian gas and oil to the world market, regardless the monopolistic tendencies and geographical location," mentioned Daniel Fried.