Wilcox-Boyajyan in service of Freedom House
We are waiting for new libels

POLITICS  09 August 2022 - 17:31

Azerbaijan has been the target of unfounded criticism from a number of international "human rights" organisations. They dislike the level of democracy in our country, despite the fact that Azerbaijan gained state independence only 30 years ago, and this period is clearly insufficient to build democratic institutions on the model of the United States and Switzerland, even if it did not take them a century. They don't like how Azerbaijan liberated its territories, even though it did so in accordance with international law and for the same UN, whose Security Council prepared four resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani territory in the 1990s. But you never know what foreign human rights activists can criticise for, acting in the spirit of Stalin, whom they despise.  As they say, there is always work if there is a person. In our case, we can say that as long as there is a state, there will always be something to criticise.

It would seem, why would the same Amnesty International, Freedom House (FH) and other international organisations every time look for, literally suck out of the finger reasons for attacks on Azerbaijan? Is there really no other problem on the banks of the Thames and the Potomac than to look for a speck in someone else's eye? And why would a British or American human rights activist day and night dig under Azerbaijan and Türkiye, which are far from them? Apparently, personnel appointments play an important role in criticising Baku and Ankara.

This happened, for example, in the case of Freedom House, a non-governmental organisation headquartered in Washington, which regularly makes unfounded criticism of Azerbaijan. Annie Wilcox has been Freedom House Vice-President for Policy and Advocacy for several years. It would seem that there is no problem.

The fact is that Wilcox is the maiden name of the FH vice-president. But by her husband she is Boyajyan. Already interesting, isn't it? Her husband, Shant Boyajyan, is a political expert who served as a senior adviser to the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, where he led the development of the US Surface Transportation Act (FAST), which provided more than $300 billion to finance ground transportation programs, Caliber.Az found. Before his appointment to the Senate, Shant served as an advisor to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Naturally, the expert with the characteristic surname Boyajyan, who made his way to the Olympus of the US legislative branch, could not remain outside the closest cooperation with the Armenian diaspora and certain structures in Armenia itself, in particular, the Armenian Bar Association. Boyajyan is also a partner at Nossaman LLP, which has a strong presence in the Armenian diaspora, which makes sense given the firm's California headquarters. Furthermore, the company received the Armenians' gratitude for their assistance in recognising the "genocide."

Even though FH's vice-president is a specialist in China, nevertheless, the organisation has been breathing unevenly towards Baku and Ankara for a long time. Well, it is clear why - family ties and the generous Armenian diaspora are doing their job. Therefore, one should not be surprised that Azerbaijan and Türkiye will become targets of attacks from this Washington NGO more than once.

Caliber.Az