Azernews.Az

US President Barack Obama has nominated Matthew Bryza, a senior State Department official who previously co-chaired the OSCE group brokering Armenia-Azerbaijan peace talks, for the post of the next US ambassador to Azerbaijan, according to a statement posed on the White House website. The nomination is now to be approved by the US Senate.
Bryza joined the State Department in 1988. He is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. He currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of European and Eurasian Affairs. In this capacity he is responsible for US relations with the South Caucasus and southern European states, spearheading Washington’s efforts in settling the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, the Abkhazia and South Ossetia disputes. He previously served as the Director for Europe and Eurasia at the National Security Council in the White House. He was also Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State on Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy. Bryza has also served in Russia and Poland.
In 2006-2009, Bryza served as the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group brokering settlement to the Garabagh conflict.
Azerbaijani officials are content with his nomination. Ali Hasanov, head of the Azerbaijan Presidential Administration socio-political department, told the Mediaforum website that Bryza is well-informed about Azerbaijan and dealt the developments involving the country under the Bush administration.
"Since he had long served as one of the Minsk Group co-chairs, he is well-versed on the Upper Garabagh problem, the Madrid document on the conflict settlement and the negotiations ongoing around its principles, the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents’ approach to them, and the positions of both countries. Therefore, we think that during Matthew Bryza’s tenure as ambassador here, the relations between Azerbaijan and the United States will further improve, the existing problems will be solved, and the relations that have united our nations so far and have been directing the two nations toward strategic partnership will be developed."
Hasanov noted, however, that the ambassadorial post’s having remained vacant for a year is inappropriate.
The post has been vacant since July 2009, since former Ambassador Anne Derse’s tenure expired.
Eldar Namazov, an Azerbaijani political analyst, has also welcomed President Obama’s choice. "The U.S. has appointed a very powerful ambassador to Azerbaijan."
Namazov emphasized that Bryza is a very experienced diplomat. Moreover, he is closely familiar with the South Caucasus region, and Azerbaijan in particular, as he has been in charge of US policy on the region for over ten years. The department he headed during his tenure at the US National Security Council and in the Department of State oversaw the South Caucasus region, Namazov noted.
The pundit also said that Bryza essentially faced no challenges in becoming familiar and forging ties with Azerbaijan. "He comes to the ambassadorial post well-prepared, and is a diplomat with extensive relations, experience and knowledge."
Meanwhile, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) called on US senators to thoroughly review Bryza’s diplomatic service record. Its executive director, Aram Hamparian, said ANCA was utterly concerned over Bryza’s diplomatic activity.
"Previously, we were also very concerned about Bryza’s activity as the American deputy assistant secretary of state and as regards the Upper Garabagh peace process," Hamparian said.*