2024-08-01 22:43:40
Author: Elchin Alioglu, Trend
US officials are again making strange statements regarding the South Caucasus, especially the Azerbaijan-Armenia issue.
James O’Brien, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs of the United States of America, spoke about the importance of achieving peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia for the countries of Central Asia.
Speaking at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s hearing, the diplomat noted that currently the main routes for Central Asian countries to access the world markets essentially pass through Russia or China.
“If we can ensure the opening of the route through Azerbaijan and Armenia, then they (Central Asian countries – ed.) will have access to world markets (alternative – ed.) and will become less dependent on Russia and China.”
He added that all this is part of efforts to enable Central Asian countries to choose their own path to global markets.
According to the essence of David O’Brien’s statement, it is, of course, about the implementation of the Zangezur corridor project.
As usual, official Washington maintains a sharp distinction between words and deeds. If the United States – as O-Brien said – intends to “reduce dependence on Russia and China” of the regional states, then it should make maximum efforts to start the Zangezur Corridor project as soon as possible by influencing the authorities of Armenia accordingly.
The main antagonist of the project, or rather, the enemy and the main force opposing its realization, is Armenia. Considering that Iran also supports Yerevan in this direction – no doubt, Tehran’s own mercantile interests and they are known – the apparently apathetic behavior of the United States cannot but raise many questions.
James O-Brien did not want to talk about it, he wanted to show Washington as the main “peace-making and progressive power” in the region.
However, there is already a logistics route that he is trying to realize, that he has instilled in the countries of the South Caucasus, that is, a transport route that bypasses Russia and China.
It is the Middle Corridor connecting Asia and Europe through the territories of Azerbaijan and Georgia. The mentioned project includes Trans-Caspian ferry transportation and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway route.
O’Brien remained silent on this too, and the reasons for the silence are not a mystery.
The main reason is Washington’s desire to definitely include Armenia in the transnational and transregional routes in the region, using all means, opportunities and leverage. The goal – despite the raw dreams of Armenians – is not that the prosperity, development and progress of Armenia are the subject of concern in Washington.
The goal is to include Armenia in the mentioned route projects from Yerevan to the control mechanisms of the parts of those routes in the South Caucasus area, influence on Georgia and Azerbaijan, and acquire pressure elements “when necessary”.
Another point is that Washington has started applying pressure policy to Tbilisi.
Thus, James O’Brien said at the hearings in the Senate: “The Washington administration is considering the possibility of applying new sanctions against Georgia, and the US authorities hope that Tbilisi will change its course in the coming months.”
According to him, even the application of punitive sanctions to the authorities of Georgia is not an exception.
“We are actively reviewing our capabilities in this area. I will not announce anything, but we are looking into it. It is not only about those who benefit from corruption, but also about those who participate in the violation of human rights with the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Act. We saw a year ago that the wrong way was elected, then the ruling party changed its course and achieved great success. I hope that this can be repeated in the next months,” said the diplomat.
In the meantime, the US suspended the aid program to Georgia due to the adoption of the law “On transparency of foreign influence”.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said: “On May 23, I announced a comprehensive review of bilateral cooperation between the U.S. and Georgia following the anti-democratic actions of the Georgian government. As a result, the U.S. is suspending more than 95 million U.S. dollars in direct support to the government of Georgia.”
The US will allocate the financial assistance it stopped for the Georgian government to the NGOs and media of this country.
The reason for the sharp change in the attitude of the USA towards Georgia was the adoption of the law “On transparency of foreign influence” by the authorities in Tbilisi.
Analogous to the law adopted in the USA 86 years ago, the said law, which is even more “mild” than that law, aims to normalize the financial activities of numerous non-governmental organizations operating in Georgia and financed from abroad. So, a foreign-funded NGO must prepare an annual financial report, and this document will be public, everyone will be able to get acquainted with it. NGOs that do not comply with the requirements of the law will be fined 25,000 GEL, that is, approximately $9,400.
But the demand of the United States regarding Georgia is not just the implementation of the “Transparency of Foreign Influence” law, i.e. the suspension of measures aimed at preventing NGOs and public organizations funded from abroad and mainly from the United States from having a serious influence on the internal politics of the country and from playing the role of a means of pressure on the authorities.
Washington demanded from Tbilisi to stop the joint port construction with China in the Black Sea.
US Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien, speaking in the Senate, said: “The government of Georgia must be clear that there is a way back: preventing China from building a deep water port in Anaklia. Those steps are really important for Georgia today.”
However, Washington’s position regarding Tbilisi is unfair in this matter as well. because the US “Conti International” LLC failed to fulfill its obligation to attract 400 million dollars for the construction of this port, the authorities of Georgia canceled the contract with the consortium of which it is a member.
As for Armenia, the situation is different.
According to O’Brien, the US is trying to create conditions for Armenia to move away from its traditional strong relations with Russia.
He welcomed the bold steps taken by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to distance himself from relations with Russia: “A significant part of the Armenian population wants to distance itself from Russia. Thus, we are creating conditions for this to happen.”
Either way, it’s an “interesting” admission.
One of the points of the tripartite declaration signed between Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia on November 10, 2020, after the end of the 44-day Second Karabakh War, was related to the Zangezur Corridor. Russian border guards should ensure the security of the corridor that will connect the western regions of Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan.
Along with Azerbaijan, Russia also wants this project to be implemented as soon as possible. At the same time, China has repeatedly stated that it is interested in the realization of the Zangezur project as soon as possible.
Now a paradoxical situation arises: according to James O’Brien, you don’t say, the Zangezur project is against Russia and China.
In fact, there is nothing surprising.
Official Washington is deliberately and deliberately trying to create a coolness in Azerbaijan’s relations with Russia and China, and to create the impression that Baku is allegedly trying to ignore the interests of Moscow and Beijing regarding transregional logistics routes.
In the hearings in the Senate, everything was written in reverse and such an environment was created as if the South Caucasus is turning into a new place of conflict between Baku, Moscow and Beijing.
It is absurd to even comment on the level of tragicomism of such claims.
But it seems that creating artificial tension in our region, using Armenia as a catalyst, trying to put pressure on Baku and Tbilisi is becoming a new narrative.