The visit by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to China that finished today could accelerate the accession of the South Caucasus republic to the ‘Silk Road’ project, the former Assistant US Secretary of State for the South Caucasus, the former US ambassador to Azerbaijan, Matthew Bryza, said in an interview to Vestnik Kavkaza
"President Aliyev's visit to Beijing could mark an important step in integrating Azerbaijan into the 'New Silk Road'. Azerbaijan could benefit significantly by participating in this project as a means of further diversifying its economy by realizing its potential as a key hub and corridor of East-West transit. And all the countries along this East-West corridor would benefit as well from Azerbaijan's proven reliability as a transit partner, which it demonstrates during the coalition's military deployments in Afghanistan,‘’ he said.
The former diplomat expressed the view that "the United States made a serious mistake in failing to include Azerbaijan in its efforts in recent years to encourage the development of the New Silk Road. Now, perhaps Baku and Beijjng are correcting this strategic mistake of Washington,’’ Matthew Bryza suggested.
Recall that Ilham Aliyev's visit to China took place on December 8-11th.
