US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Announces Retirement Due to Health Problems

US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mark Libby issued a statement on December 3 announcing his retirement. The statement, published on the embassy's Facebook page, reads:

«It is with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement from U.S. diplomatic service. The health concerns I noted in my testimony before the U.S. Senate in 2023 have, unfortunately, persisted.

Since coming to Baku, I have benefitted from excellent medical attention, including from the diagnostic radiology team at Mərkəzi Klinika, to whom I am especially grateful. But recent test results indicate that it is time for me to return home to focus fully on my health. So I will retire shortly after we finish out this exceptionally busy – but exceptionally successful - 2024 calendar year. I intend to use my remaining few weeks in Azerbaijan to set the stage for a successful 2025 and to promote cancer awareness.

I am incredibly proud of the work the U.S. Embassy team and I have done in Azerbaijan during my tenure in Baku. We have forged stronger people-to-people ties by sponsoring English language programs, dramatically boosting the number of Azerbaijani students studying in the USA, and facilitating visits to Azerbaijan by a diverse range of U.S. scholars, sports, and cultural representatives.

We have fostered deeper economic cooperation, especially in the transition from traditional to renewable energy. And our close cooperation to produce a successful outcome at COP29 has demonstrated that the governments of the United States and Azerbaijan can work together to change the world for the better when we put our minds to it.

There is much left to do to promote the protection of human rights in Azerbaijan and to facilitate a durable, dignified peace in the South Caucasus. But I believe that hard-earned improvements we have seen over the past year in our bilateral relationship set the stage for greater and more successful cooperation on these and other fields in the weeks, months, and years to come.

I leave with great optimism for the future of U.S.-Azerbaijan relations. I also leave with a great love for the resilient people, astounding natural beauty, and enthusiastic hospitality my wife Danusia and I have encountered everywhere throughout Azerbaijan.

Hamınıza təşəkkür edirik. Allah bu gözəl ölkəni qorusun!