The ethics committee of the US House of Representatives in May this year was forced to start proceedings into the circumstances of the trip by ten American lawmakers and their aides in May 2013 at the Baku forum on cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United States. The lawsuit was an article in the Washington Post newspaper, which stated that the Azerbaijan State Oil Company paid the costs of the participation of the American side. The Ethics Committee of the House of Representatives reviewed all the facts, interviewed witnesses, examined 200 pages of documents and came to the conclusion that there weren't any violations of the regulations by the congressmen. They had received official permission to travel to Baku, not knowing that the local authorities had taken the initiative by paying the expenses. The ethics committee announced its verdict on July 30, putting an end to claims against the legislators.
"The state-owned oil company of Azerbaijan secretly funded an all-expenses-paid trip to a conference in Baku in 2013 for 10 members of Congress and 32 staff members," the Washington Post writes. But the Azerbaijani state company made a public statement that it did not hide its involvement in organizing the conference. Moreover, it transferred money to the accounts of non-profit foundations and organizations, which were its partners, but didn't reflect this transfer in its reports.
Baku hosted the conference 'Vision for the future' on May 28-19, 2013. It was an Azerbaijani-US forum dedicated to the 21st anniversary of cooperation between the two countries. Ten congressmen, who were related to the subject of the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, energy issues and the problems of the Caspian Sea, came to the forum from the United States. This forum has become for them a business trip, a good opportunity to see the situation in Azerbaijan. In fact, these people have shown an example of a serious attitude, because it would be a model of political formalism to discuss issues of the Caucasus region without leaving the offices of the Capitol. The congressmen actively participated in the representative forum for two days, they spoke from the pulpit, argued with other participants, defended their views. It's hard to overemphasize the benefits of such business forums. It's better for policies to receive information for their work from primary sources, not from the media or the speeches of officials.
The journalists who were working at the forum often quoted speeches of many American representatives in those days, but a common refrain of these performances were the words of a Congressman from New York, Gregory Meeks, who said that "Azerbaijan and the United States are an example of democracy to the world and the region." In his speech, he revealed this idea more: "If funds are invested not only in arms, but in other directions, it is possible to achieve important results, as is seen in the example of Azerbaijan." The US ambassador to Baku, Richard Morningstar, stressed that during the post-Soviet period the two countries were able to establish a strategic partnership in all spheres, including the diversification of energy resources, fighting international terrorism and the promotion of democratic institutions.
Global energy issues, including the projects of transportation of Caspian hydrocarbons, were discussed at the Baku forum in May 2013. No wonder the congressmen paid much attention to this topic in their speeches. For example, the congressman from Texas Ted Poe stated that energy security today is identified with the concept of 'national security'. According to him, a hundred years ago Texas ensured about half of the world's oil needs, and this state is aware of the energy issues like no one else – in those days it was a kind of specialization of the Southern United States.
Congressman Bill Richardson stressed that energy has become one of the key themes of the partnership between Baku and Washington, he talked a lot about the factor of diversification of Caspian resources.
So there were a lot of business offers. The US participants were well prepared for the discussions, their performances were filled with depth and specific examples.
The participants in the forum also touched upon the Karabakh issue – the most sorrowful issue for the entire South Caucasus. The first deputy speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Ziyafat Asgarov, expressed the hope that "the United States will be more active in supporting the just position of Baku on the issue." The deputy speaker did not rule out that with the support of members of the US Congress, who have taken part in numerous discussions on the problems of the South Caucasus, the number of US states that have recognized the genocide in Khojaly will grow.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev addressed the official opening ceremony. He stressed that "US-Azerbaijani relations have a long history. Perhaps it is not so long, but it is a very important relationship. From the first days of our independence, we established a special partnership, which eventually turned into a strategic partnership. Our political contacts and dialogue are at a very high level and very active. In various spheres – economic, trade, investment – US companies are the main investors in Azerbaijan. These companies have ensured the transition of Azerbaijan's economy from a planned economy to a market one. We are actively cooperating in energy security, discussing economic diversification, political reforms and issues of regional importance. Regional security and cooperation are important questions."
The Azerbaijani-US forum, dedicated to the 21st anniversary of cooperation between the two countries, demonstrated the well-established position of Baku to the world, that they, including Washington, listen to the country that is the leader in the South Caucasus. Of course, not everyone could like it. The opponents of Baku lend themselves to evasive action: they cast a shadow over the US participants of the forum, perhaps to make other influential US politicians uncomfortable about taking part in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict and the issues of w energy security of Azerbaijan in the future. The attempt has failed. Congress, which sorted out the problem, has only won, receiving new information on the situation in the South Caucasus from its representatives.
