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Azerbaijan deserves America’s gratitude

29 January 2015 16:37 (UTC+04:00)
Azerbaijan deserves America’s gratitude

By Trend

Azerbaijan is a reliable partner of the US, Caspian Group Holdings director general Rob Sobhani’s article in The Washington Times says.

“Azerbaijan stood by the United States immediately after the attacks of Sept. 11 and sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq to fight alongside American servicemen,” the author wrote. “In addition, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has proved a reliable energy partner to the West.”

Sobhani wrote that American foreign policy must always include cherished values of freedom and human rights.

“And yet those same values must also be balanced by the realities of an increasingly dangerous world,” he said. “At a time when America needs reliable friends on the global stage, we cannot afford to alienate our friends who have stood by us shoulder to shoulder. Azerbaijan is one such country and deserves America’s gratitude.”

“Ukraine’s crisis may never have happened had Washington given its unwavering support to Azerbaijan for delivery of gas to Ukraine,” the article says.

As President Obama laments the shrinking American middle class, President Aliyev celebrates 12 consecutive years of double-digit economic growth. While America’s leaders have failed the American people in creating good-paying jobs because of misguided economic policies, labor participation rates in Azerbaijan are high, the article says.

The author wrote that according to the World Bank, poverty rates have fallen dramatically in Azerbaijan. The US elite and those in the foreign policy establishment that point the finger at Azerbaijan should spend more time figuring out how they can eliminate the stubborn poverty levels in their own country before criticizing Azerbaijan.

Sobhani also wrote about the tolerance and multiculturalism in the Azerbaijani society.

“A few weeks ago in France, a bastion of democracy, Islamic radicals deliberately targeted a kosher supermarket and killed four Jews,” the article says. “In the frequently criticized Republic of Azerbaijan, Jews celebrated another Sabbath and prayed at Baku’s newly built synagogue. The synagogue is one of the largest outside Israel. The Chief Rabbi of Israel attended the ceremony. And yet, despite this glaring contrast, some in our media and foreign policy elite continue to single out Azerbaijan for criticism.”

The author wrote that President Aliyev provided the fundamental rights of security, peace, quality education, economic growth, poverty reduction and job creation for his people.

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