Azerbaijani, U.S. officials mull bilateral military coop
Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev discussed the bilateral military cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United States with U.S. Ambassador to Baku Richard Morningstar on October 14, the ministry reported.
Speaking about the current state of bilateral military cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United States, the sides noted the positive results achieved in this field and exchanged views on the pending issues.
Noting the importance of deepening military cooperation, Abiyev also spoke about obstacles to the relation between the two states.
Abiyev said that Section 907 has a negative role in this regard and expressed regret that the U.S. government hasn't abolished this unfair amendment.
Section 907 to the Freedom Support Act, which was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1992, bans direct aid to the Azerbaijani government. In October 24, 2001, the Senate granted the U.S. President the powers to waive Section 907. That waiver has been exercised every year since 2002.
The two sides also discussed the presidential elections in Azerbaijan, which was held on October 9 and ended with an overwhelming victory of incumbent President Ilham Aliyev, who was nominated by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party.
Abiyev said the elections were held in fair, democratic and free atmosphere and the representatives of the international organizations and foreign countries observing the process expressed positive opinion about the elections.
The minister also expressed concern over the biased and untrue statements of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, as well as the U.S. Department of State in connection with the presidential elections.
He said that for some reason, the OSCE mission expresses negative opinion on a continuous basis about all elections held in recent years in Azerbaijan.
According to Abiyev, it is impossible not to feel an outburst of double standard.
As a concrete fact, Abiyev cited the positive assessment of the U.S. Department of State and OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights about the presidential elections held in Armenia in February.
Although the Armenian people protested the presidential elections, and government forces killed tens of protestors, Armenian leadership faced no serious international reaction in this regard, Abiyev said.
Noting the inadmissibility of double standards while assessing such political processes, Abiyev said that all of these need serious analysis .
Morningstar, in turn, said that he agrees with the views of the minister and stressed the importance of reviewing of Section 907.
Touching upon the presidential elections, Morningstar said it left already behind and Ilham Aliyev won the elections.