PRESIDENTIAL CHIEF OF STAFF RAMIZ MEHDIYEV

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000359 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS AM AJ SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL CHIEF OF STAFF RAMIZ MEHDIYEV "DISAPPOINTED" BY CO-CHAIRS' "NO" VOTE ON UNGA RESOLUTION REF: BAKU 306 Classified By: Ambassador Anne E. Derse per 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) Summary: In an April 8 meeting with the Ambassador, Presidential Chief of Staff Ramiz Mehdiyev expressed the GOAJ's strong disappointment with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs' "no" vote on Azerbaijan's UNGA resolution regarding Nagorno Karabakh and the occupied territories. Stressing that the GOAJ faced strong domestic pressure to limit its cooperation with the U.S. in the wake of the vote, Mehdiyev pledged that the GOAJ would nevertheless continue the cooperation. He urged the U.S. to play a more active role in seeking a resolution of the conflict. Mehdiyev's comments closely echoed President Aliyev's reaction to the vote, and were accompanied by a new, very hard line on U.S. democracy assistance programs (septel). End summary. ¶2. (C) In an April 8 meeting with the Ambassador (other topics septel),President Chief of Staff Ramiz Mehdiyev stressed that the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs' "no" vote on Azerbaijan's UN resolution concerning Nagorno Karabakh and the occupied territories had significant domestic political repercussions. Azerbaijan is a pluralistic society, he said, and there are people who don't like President Aliyev and his policies. They are not happy with our relationships with leading countries, and when they see "this attitude" (the Co-Chairs' "no" vote),they will pressure the President to stop his work. "We are very disappointed with the vote," Mehdiyev said. "We didn't expect this attitude from our friends." ¶3. (C) Mehdiyev stressed that Azerbaijan would continue its cooperation with the United States in spite of popular pressure to limit cooperation following the "no" vote. He urged the Co-Chairs - and particularly the U.S. - to be more active in seeking a resolution of the conflict. Mehdiyev commented that Azerbaijan had always considered the U.S. position on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict "the important and the most serious." Contrasting Azerbaijan's cooperation with the U.S. with that of Armenia, Mehdiyev said Azerbaijan is the United States' "most reliable ally" in the South Caucasus. "We want equal, friendly relations," he said, and "the same degree of sincerity you receive from us." ¶4. (C) The Ambassador responded that the U.S. values Azerbaijan as a partner and friend and is committed to working actively to resolve the NK conflict. She stressed that the U.S. worked with the Foreign Ministry to try to find ways that we could support the resolution, and had asked the GOAJ to delay the resolution in order to work out mutually agreeable language. She shared with Mehdiyev the U.S. Explanation of Vote, which Mehdiyev characterized as "not serious." A "no" vote doesn't equal neutrality, he said; an abstention would have been the right option. When Mehdiyev alleged that the Co-Chairs had been lobbying other countries to vote no, the Ambassador reiterated U.S. Co-Chair Bryza's confirmation to President Aliyev that the U.S. had not done so, noting that the U.S. explicitly recognizes Azerbaijan's right to pursue its sovereign interests in the UN. She noted that the U.S. worked to include language in the NATO Bucharest Summit statement regarding the conflicts in the South Caucasus and Moldova, and shared the text with Mehdiyev. ¶5. (C) Comment: Mehdiyev's comments on the UNGA resolution closely echoed President Aliyev's sharp reaction to the vote (ref) and were delivered at the beginning of a long meeting in which Mehdiyev laid down a new and very tough line on U.S. democracy assistance programs (septel). While the GOAJ certainly has its own, domestic political reasons for resisting U.S. democracy promotion assistance programs, Mehdiyev's new willingness to more bluntly confront us (and other western partners) on these issues likely stems in part from GOAJ frustration with its key western partners following the Co-Chairs' "no" vote on the UNGA resolution. DERSE