Caucasus Greats in New York: Saakashvili to Ring a Bell, Aliyev to Meet Obama
Strange the difference a few years can make. Under President George W. Bush, Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili often appeared the favored son of the Caucasus on his visits to the US. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, meanwhile, had to wait three years after his 2003 election to secure Oval Office time.
Now, under President Barack Obama, Aliyev is the lone South Caucasus leader who will get to meet with the American leader during the United Nations General Assembly's September 21 opening in New York City, while Saakashvili contents himself with ringing the NASDAQ's closing bell.
The third leader in the Caucasus troika of countries, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, is staying at home to participate in the 19th anniversary of Armenia's independence.
Aliyev and Obama are thought likely to discuss Azerbaijan’s role as a layover point for US non-military supplies to Afghanistan and to iron out differences over the Senate's delayed confirmation of a US ambassador to Baku. There has been a sense in Azerbaijan that Washington had been giving Baku a cold shoulder by failing to send an ambassador for over a year.
In a sign of White House priorities, Obama will also meet with Roza Otunbayeva, president of Kyrgyzstan, where the US leases a base to back up its military operations in Afghanistan.
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
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