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Sabina Mammadli

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On March 27, US President Joe Biden congratulated Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the Novruz holiday and stated his willingness to further deepen comprehensive cooperation between the two states.

Underscoring Azerbaijan's role in advancing energy security in Europe and tackling transnational challenges that "affect both of our peoples," Joe Biden said he was "looking forward to deepening the friendship between our people" and reaffirmed "our support for a sustainable peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia – which will promote security and prosperity across the South Caucasus for generations to come”.

Nevertheless, in the backdrop of these diplomatic niceties, the USA failed for the second time to invite Azerbaijan and Turkiye to the Summit for Democracy, scheduled for March 30, where Armenia with an abysmal human rights record and destructive role in the South Caucasus is invited.

US President Joe Biden is opening the Summit for Democracy on March 29, designed to be his main geopolitical project to revive the idea of ​​American leadership based on democratic values.

The list of 120 invitees actually serves as a map of current and potential US allies who are invited to the new American League of Nations led by Washington. However, despite the declared offensive nature of the Summit for Democracy project, it is an attempt to slow down the process of reducing the influence of the US and the falling interest in the world in the global liberal project.

Commenting on the issue in question for Azernews news agency, Azerbaijani journalist and pundit Tofiq Abbasov stated that congratulations are just a diplomatic duty, whereas the American administration always pursues careless and one-sided policies in the Caucasus with a pro-Armenian bias. On the potential of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the pundit underscored that they cannot be compared, as Azerbaijan plays an active role in international integration projects, and contributes to Europe's energy security, and has become an international transport hub amongst others.

In comparison, he added that Armenia only magnifies risks and the USA should take the reputations of the two countries into consideration.

Moreover, Tofiq Abbasov highlighted that the whole democracy issue is a show of self-delusion as the Americans themselves do not really shine with democracy, which is seen in the complete segregation inside the country, as white supremacists feel powerful and neglect the norms of democracy.

“Democracy in the hands of American politics has become a tool for spreading its influence in different regions of the world, and we see what traces this democratic methodology leaves in Syria, Iraq, and so on,” the pundit stated.

Further, the pundit pointed out that any country that knows how to say "no" to the dictates of the West turns into a thorn in the flesh.

“Therefore, Armenia is invited as a country that says "yes" to all of the American proposals. And Azerbaijan has its own political line, knows how to defend its sovereignty, and in this respect, it does not suit the American pseudo-democrats,” he stressed.

In a separate comment for Azernews, American international affairs expert and author of many books about Azerbaijan and European studies Peter Tase talked about how the policy of division and practice of deep discrimination among countries invited to the 2023 Summit for Democracy is a big blow for the Biden and Harris Administration.

“No other previous US government has pursued such a biased practice in inviting fascist authorities to the Global Democracy Summit such as the case of Armenia and unabashedly ignoring the governments of Türkiye and Azerbaijan, two sovereign nations that are Washington’s geo-strategic allies that have consolidated democratic institutions and transparency in public service. The White House in this opportunity of building bridges is following a very undiplomatic path that was shaped by the Administration of US President Barack Obama, who had miserably failed to invite the government of Azerbaijan to the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D. C.; on the other hand, the White House was overgenerous to invite Ukraine’s terrorist and despot Viktor F. Yanukovych,” he highlighted.

Further, he drew parallels by saying that the current Biden-Harris Administration is pursuing the same tradition by inviting warmongering leaders such as Armenia’s Pashinyan, who is supported by the Iranian Ayatollahs and using every opportunity to embolden his 10,000 Armenian soldiers stationed inside the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan.

“Pashinyan is moving every diplomatic lever to start a new armed conflict inside the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan. Yerevan’s institutions are less and less democratic and lack transparency. However, the Biden White House has a different perception of Armenian kakistocracy. Leaving behind countries that have made tremendous progress such as Azerbaijan and Türkiye is a serious blunder of the Biden-Harris foreign policy and could further corrode Washington’s international political engagement and defense partnerships in Eurasia,” Peter Tase remarked.

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Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SabinaMmdl

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