"I am appointing Ambassador Philip T. Reeker as Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations. In this capacity, Ambassador Reeker will serve as U.S. OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair and lead negotiator for the U.S. delegation to the Geneva International Discussions during this critical period," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in a Wednesday night statement.
Ambassador Reeker brings extensive experience in Europe and international organizations, according to Blinken.
Reeket served most recently at the Embassy of the United States of America in the United Kingdom as Chargé d’Affaires to the Court of St. James’s. From March 2019 to August 2021, Reeker was Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. Prior to heading the Bureau, Ambassador Reeker was Civilian Deputy and Policy Advisor to the Commander of U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. He served earlier as United States Consul General in Milan, covering northern Italy, and was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State focused on the Balkans, Central Europe, and Holocaust Issues. From 2008-2011 he was U.S. Ambassador to North Macedonia.
"The United States is committed to helping Armenia and Azerbaijan negotiate a long-term political settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Blinken noted.
"Ambassador Reeker will engage bilaterally, with like-minded partners such as the European Union, and through his role as an OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair, to facilitate direct dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan," he added.
Ambassador Reeker’s appointment at this time reaffirms the importance the United States places in the Geneva International Discussions on Georgia, the Secretary added.
In his new position as the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair, Amb. Reeker will replace Laura Hochla, who had been appointed to this post in June.
It should be noted that Reeker was already a participant in the Karabakh settlement process. It was after his visit to Baku in June 2021 that 15 Armenian prisoners were released.
Alex Raufoglu
Washington D.C.
Politics
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will hold talks in Moscow on January 17 and make statements for the press, according to the Kremlin's press service.
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On January 13, the trial in the case of public activist Nijat Ibrahim continued in the Baku Serious Crimes Court under the chairmanship of Judge Aygun Gurbanova. The trial was suspended after Ibrahim, in protest against the illegal arrest, began banging his head against the "aquarium cage", trying to commit suicide. At the beginning of the trial, he stated that he had been illegally detained for 4 months, and because of this, his family in Moldova was in a difficult situation, Turan announced this on its Twitter.
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The International Committee of Concerned Scholars (ICS) has appealed to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, requesting his assistance in securing the release of the arrested researcher, Igbal Abilov. The ICS expressed concern that Abilov's arrest "may be related to his research on ethnic minorities in Azerbaijan, conducted in collaboration with scholars from Armenia."
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Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maka Botchorishvili, met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Georgia, Faig Guliyev.
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