US Ambassador owes Caliber.Az an apology Beating around the bush for 45 minutes

We are certainly used to diplomats expressing themselves, pardon the tautology, diplomatically, which usually means avoiding sharp edges and maintaining a good face in a bad situation. However, what US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mark Libby demonstrated in his interview with host Murad Huseynov on the program "In Focus" on ITV seems as though it would have caused a device for measuring ambiguity to break with a loud crack, if such a device existed.

To put it briefly, the US consistently positions itself as being "for everything good and against everything bad"—and this, of course, includes the South Caucasus. However, rather than going over every question and answer from the interview, let's focus on the most pressing issue in US-Azerbaijan relations. Specifically, we're concerned with the reports published on our site about the arrival of two American military aircraft at Yerevan's Zvartnots Airport on August 2 and 3, carrying weapons and personnel that were later stationed in Zangezur. Additionally, we disclosed the flight paths of these American planes, which arrived in Yerevan from US military bases in Romania and Qatar.

The host, Murad Huseynov, rightly began the conversation with this very question, referencing materials from Caliber.Az. Here's how Libby responded: "The Caliber report is nonsense. It's all made up, and I completely refute it. The US Embassy in Armenia also issued a statement saying it's fabricated. Unfortunately, there are those, for reasons I can only speculate on, who want to sow discord and deliberately create difficulties in Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, and Caliber is among them. I categorically deny their information."

As we can see, Libby offered only bare denial without any evidence (unless you count the reference to the US Ambassador to Armenia's statement as evidence), while our publication provided photographic materials confirming the landing of American military aircraft at Yerevan Airport.

Libby did not comment on these photographs, nor did he present any facts to refute what they show. In fact, the ambassador didn’t even make a baseless attempt to call these photos "fake." He simply ignored them, as if they didn’t exist, even though the host dedicated a specific question to them. Murad Huseynov also noted that the photos were taken after the completion of joint US-Armenian exercises. We should add that these exercises ended on July 24, and we provided evidence that the military planes arrived in Yerevan on August 2—nine days after the exercises concluded. Moreover, we revealed the flight path of these planes.

Instead of clarifying the situation, Mr. Libby veered into abstract discussions about the US developing relations with Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. "We are building cooperation with Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia. And aside from what I’ve already said about the US-Armenian exercises and the information from Caliber, I have nothing more to add," the US ambassador avoided giving a direct answer.

It was evident that Libby was stumbling over his words, and he delivered his final remarks so nervously that his voice even seemed to tremble. If there were any lingering doubts about the credibility of our information, we believe they have now dissipated like smoke after such a shaky and unconvincing interview from the American diplomat.

This conclusion was echoed by the well-known Azerbaijani political analyst and head of the South Caucasus Research Center, Farhad Mammadov. Below is an excerpt from his Telegram channel, "Mneniye FM" (stylistic elements preserved).

"By the way, regarding the previous post, yesterday the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan repeatedly denied the information from Caliber.Az. However, we would like to remind the US Ambassador that Caliber.Az published a secret document about military aid to Armenia in early April, ahead of the US/EU-Armenia summit. At that time, all US officials denied this information. But what happened afterwards? We then saw US military exercises in Armenia, the appointment of US military advisors to the Armenian Ministry of Defense, military aid from the EU, increased intelligence activities by the EU mission in Armenia, and an increase in arms supplies from France and India. This means that Caliber.Az's information was accurate, and the denial by American diplomats was false! Therefore, the US Ambassador’s denial is almost a confirmation of the information for us."

We can observe a decline in American diplomacy, which has moved away from the art of skillfully covering its tracks, even verbally, and instead resorts to a tactic of "I see nothing, I hear nothing" and "you’re the fool."

The issues with American diplomacy are also evident in the inconsistent responses from US diplomatic missions in Armenia and Azerbaijan. The US Embassy in Armenia, in response to Armenian media inquiries about Caliber.Az's report, claimed that the exercises ended on April 24 and that "all American equipment and personnel left Armenia," implying that the planes supposedly departed from Armenia in early August rather than arriving there. In contrast, Ambassador Libby preferred to avoid answering altogether. This discrepancy in responses only confirms that Caliber.Az caught the US off guard, and now their diplomats seem unsure of how to respond.

However, we would like to highlight another important point. Mark Libby, as seen from the quotes above, referred to the Caliber.Az data as "nonsense." This statement is a direct insult to our entire team. Libby made sweeping accusations against us without providing any supporting facts.

In contrast, we have provided our readers with photographs and details of the delivery routes of American military equipment and personnel, including the battalion number (the 513th Separate Battalion of the Armenian Ministry of Defense). Libby chose not to respond to this.

If we’re talking about nonsense, then Libby’s completely audacious statement, which we’ll quote again, fits the bill: “There are those who want to sow discord and deliberately create difficulties in Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, and Caliber is among them.”

The level of insincerity in this statement is astonishing. For all the post-war years, Armenia, with support from the US and other Western countries actively arming it, has been the one creating difficulties. It is these entities, not Caliber.Az, that are fueling escalation, sowing discord, and obstructing the establishment of lasting peace.

Our editorial team is simply doing its job by promptly identifying and presenting facts related to Azerbaijan’s national security. If you, Mr. Ambassador, dare to call our data “nonsense,” then you should either provide evidence to refute it or apologize to us.

Finally, answer a simple question: What was the purpose of the US Air Force transport planes arriving at Zvartnots Airport on August 2 and 3, 2024?

P.S. We don’t usually offer advice to our colleagues, but after the US Ambassador made unfounded accusations of dishonesty against Azerbaijani media representatives and demonstratively evaded direct questions, it raises the question: how appropriate is it to continue providing him a platform on our information channels if his statements hold no value?