U.S. Senate Confirms Mark Libby To Be Ambassador To Azerbaijan

Washington D.C./09.11.23/Turan:  The U.S. Senate on Wednesday backed President Joe Biden's nominee, career diplomat Mark W. Libby, to be the next U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

The Senate voted by voice vote to confirm Ambassador Libby.  Washington has not had an ambassador to Azerbaijan since last summer, when Lee Litzenberger left the post. Biden nominated Libby last May.

"While I don't know him personally, he has broad experience that will serve him well in Baku", Richard Kauzlarich, who served as Bill Clinton's ambassador to Azerbaijan (1994–1997) told TURAN's Washington correspondent last year.

"Good that he is a career FSO (foreign service officer),"  Kauzlarich added "My only advice is to enjoy representing the U.S. in Azerbaijan," the former Ambassador said.

During his Senate confirmation hearing on June 14, Libby faced questions on Karabakh peace talks, human rights, and security cooperation between the U.S. and Azerbaijan.

According to him, peace in Karabakh would allow Washington and Baku to take their cooperation to the next level:  "... Cooperation in counter-terrorism, border security, energy security, and maritime security serves the U.S. national interest and security. ...I will redouble our efforts in these areas."

For Libby, democracy in human rights are core to U.S. foreign policy "not just because they reflect our values, but because they have proven to be the best foundation for peace and prosperity"

"If confirmed, I pledge to engage in a respectful, but very frank dialogue with a wide-range of Azerbaijani leaders, and citizens and to advocate persistently for those values, rights and freedoms in Azerbaijan, and in the wider region," he said in June.

Libby, who until recently served as a State Department Faculty Advisor at the National War College in Washington, D.C, will be arriving in Baku in the coming weeks.

During his career in the Foreign Service, Libby served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires ad interim at the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels.

Other overseas assignments include tours in Warsaw, Nassau, Nicosia, and Baghdad, where he served as Political Counselor.

His Washington assignments include tours as a watch-stander and later Deputy Director for Crisis Management in the State Department Operations Center; Deputy Director in the Office of Central European Affairs; Director of the Office of Southern European Affairs; and Director of Orientation at the Foreign Service Institute. according to the White House announcement of the nomination.

Earlier, Libby worked on the State Department Secretariat Staff, returning later as Director. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Tufts University in Massachusetts and also studied at the Institut des Etudes Politiques (“Sciences-Po”) in Paris; he earned a Master’s Degree from the National War College, where he was a Distinguished Graduate. He is fluent in Polish and French.

Alex Raufoglu