Pledging reforms, Azeri government turns to conservative American Jews in Washington

Washington/03.30.19/ Turan: A group of Azeri emissaries - three members of the government-controlled parliament - visited Washington D.C. this week to seek support for "political reforms" that they claim their government is putting up back at home, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

MPs Samad Seyidov, Sahiba Gafarova and Asim Mollazade, spent their week in the U.S. capital to meet with several conservative Congress members, and to attend an annual policy conference put on by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), an influential pro-Israel lobbying group.

"To start political reforms, we came to Washington D.C., and with my great pleasure and satisfaction I want to say that, we met people who are able to understand, and who support this initiative," Seyidov told an audience on Friday filled with pro-Azeri government lobbyists and diaspora members.

The event called "Azerbaijan in a Changing Caucasus: Developments in Foreign and Domestic Policies" was organized by the Center for Strategic & International Studies and Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program, Washington-based think tanks.

Among participants also were Bella Goldshtein and Lesley Weiss of National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry.

"I hope this is just beginning, and this sustainable development will continue. We as representatives of Azerbaijan will do our best for that," Seyidov added promising "more reforms" back in his country. Yet it was unclear what reform, if any, will be done and when.

According to the organizers of the event, Azerbaijan "has recently embarked on a series of reforms to modernize the country"s economic and social policies."

In his speech, Mollazade said that reforms "need reformers". Youth, in his opinion, "should be major source of help from the US and Europe".

"We need absolutely different behaviors from bureaucrats who should forget about Soviet tradition [of] controlling everything."

Turan was informed by several Azerbaijan-watchers in Washinton that the MPs" trip should be seen as the latest example to how Azeri government is leveraging its good relations with Israel to increase its influence in D.C.

During their trip, Seyidov and Mollazade also spoke at the annual policy conference of AIPAC.

A.Raufoglu

Washington D.C.