Matthew Bryza: no need for US assistance to Azerbaijan anymore

The Azerbaijani authorities have improved the economic situation in the country, so it doesn't need US assistance anymore, the former deputy assistant of the US secretary of state for the South Caucasus, former US ambassador to Azerbaijan and director of the International Center for Defense Studies in Tallinn, Matthew Bryza, said, commenting on the US decision to reduce the financial assistance to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey.

"The assistance the US provided when the USSR collapsed was not intended to last forever. It was intended to help the country to make the transition from the Soviet system to the international system and Azerbaijan has made it, thus no need for that assistance anymore," Tend cited the diplomat.
He noted that the reduction of financial assistance to Azerbaijan and Armenia does not mean that a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement is not a priority for the United States anymore.

"The US assistance to Azerbaijan and Armenia has not focused on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, it focused on other things like developing a market economy, training young people to be able to operate within the international system. In terms of reduction of assistance, other booming problems have a direct impact on US security, like ISIS and Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan," Bryza explained.

He reminded that there are huge humanitarian problems in the world, which threaten the United States and US citizens, so the country needs to spend this money on resolving these problems.

"There is a limited amount of money available and there are some very big problems that threaten US security and the citizens of the US. I would not interpret it that Azerbaijan, or the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not a priority for the US anymore. I would say there are bigger problems for the US itself and limited amount of money," Bryza concluded.