By Paul Vartan Sookiasian
The U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mark Libby made a visit to the occupied town of Shushi in Nagorno-Karabakh today following public pressure from Azerbaijani officials. In an interview published Friday with Radio Azadliq, Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani service, Libby was asked why he has yet to make a visit to Shushi, a historic town in Karabakh that is part of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Libby replied that while he has visited many parts of Azerbaijan, “It is clear that the returned territories are slightly different. Even more coordination is required. However, I don’t want to be a participant in a show organized somewhere. So when the time comes, I will do it.”
On Sunday, Libby was lambasted by an opinion piece entitled “High time to declare US ambassador persona non grata” on the quasi-official outlet Calibur.az, which is associated with Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry. It’s heading “Mr. Libby, take your suitcase and leave for Washington” was no less subtle. The piece was supplemented with a critical quote from Hikmet Hajiyev, considered to be President Aliyev’s right-hand man, further evidence that it represented the official message being sent to Libby behind the scenes.
This pressure and the possible threat of expelling Libby likely explains why within 24 hours of publication, the ambassador was on a plane to the new Fuzuli airport and on to Shushi. The Azerbaijani government has complete control over access to the area, and according to JAMnews, “Regular flights to this airport have not yet commenced, and only Azerbaijani government planes land there.” Calibur appeared to declare victory in a tweet taking credit for “accelerating” the timing of his visit.
In a video taken on atop Jidir Plain, Ambassador Libby declared, “we have been preparing for this visit for almost two months and I am glad it has finally come together.” The site of Libby’s video is directly above the former village of Karin Tak, which was discovered by Caucasus Heritage Watch to have been completely destroyed in recent months after having been ethnically cleansed. Libby similarly made no reference to whether he checked on the status of the historic Kanach Zham church, which was also determined to have been recently destroyed.
Libby’s initial reluctance to visit Shushi was in keeping with an apparently embassy policy, as his predecessor Lee Litzenberger also did not visit. In 2021, Litzenberger along with the ambassadors of France and Russia declined President Ilham Aliyev’s invitation to join ambassadors from over 50 countries in the visit. Embassies and international representations have allegedly been under enormous pressure from Baku to make the visit, to the point their future operations might have been compromised if they didn’t go.
The three countries’ refusal was reported to have “caused serious discontent in Azerbaijani society.” The Russian ambassador broke with this united front in 2022 notably after Azerbaijan and Russia deepened their alliance on the eve of the launch of the war on Ukraine.
Now with the United States also deciding they could no longer say no to Azerbaijan’s entreaties, only France remains as a hold-out. However, like in the past years of war, Shushi is not the last battle. As Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the Netherlands tweeted about the visit: “Belated, for more than 3 years, but still important, for American credibility in our region, recognition of this beautiful city being integral part of sovereign #Azerbaijan. Hope recognition of #Khankendi [Stepanakert] will take less time.”
The whole world knows the history of Artsakh, the history of Shushi, and the history of the newly made country Azerbaydjan by dictators, genocidal monsters of Turkey, and Soviet Russia. For centuries they killed Armenians in their native lands, Armenians who lived on Artsakh and Shushi before the start of civilization, and Armenians who established the first agriculture, first temples, and first churches on this land. Now somehow all these countries justify genocide, and ethnic cleansing with the hands of corrupt dictators. Somehow these powerful countries are so nice to this dictator Aliyev? Why? Are they truly pressured or they are encouraging this behavior? How far can humanity go with this behavior?
Only God can take care of these monsters since all humans sold their souls to oil money. And so be it. May God punish Aliyev, Erdogan, and all who enable these monsters and every other monster that causes genocides, injustice, and suffering. May Aliyev, Erdogan, and all the monsters helping them, suffer with the same pain they caused millions of Armenians for centuries till the present. May justice be brought upon them with the hands of God! Amen!