The American Conservative: Azerbaijan is an unreliable US ally, Aliyev is a dictator
Donald Trump needlessly intervened in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan; Baku is an unreliable ally of the United States , writes Quincy Institute expert Eldar Mamedov in the American Conservative.
“The question must be asked: Why is America even involved in a centuries-old conflict 6000 miles away, in a place that has no particular strategic value to the United States?
…This could be a slippery slope to new American security commitments. Pro-Israel lobbyists, neoconservatives, and evangelical groups have long exaggerated Azerbaijan’s importance to the United States; the last thing America needs is another unreliable ally dragging it into regional squabbles…
…The Caucasus is a region where U.S. interests are minimal, but the risks of being drawn into a conflict are high. Unlike Ukraine, the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict has no direct bearing on America’s security. America’s diplomatic capital would be far better spent on ending the Russian-Ukrainian war – the only conflict that could truly escalate into a world war that would end civilization – than on interfering in the Caucasus strife,” the publication says.
The author believes that the declaration adopted by Pashinyan and Aliyev in the presence of Trump ensures a ceasefire only " in the short term ," reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"But it does nothing to address the root causes of the conflict. Worse, it encourages aggression, risks unnecessary confrontation with Iran, and sets the stage for future American commitments in the region that are best left to regional powers. Real peace requires enforceable guarantees, mutual concessions, and clear terms – none of which exist here…
The declaration vaguely affirms “territorial integrity” but does not address Azerbaijan’s occupation of at least 83 square miles of Armenian territory. Without a commitment to withdraw, it is more a ratification of conquest than a peace agreement.”
Mamedov calls Ilham Aliyev's regime a dictatorship that carried out ethnic cleansing in Karabakh, " as a result of which 100,000 Armenians were forcibly expelled ."
"Baku offers Washington nothing of strategic value other than occasional anti-Iranian statements that are hardly worth the moral compromise of accepting a dictatorship that has just purged its Christians."
English version :: Read in English The American Conservative: Azerbaijan is an unreliable US ally, Aliyev is a dictator