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Category: Azerbaijan

  • Washington hosts conference on Energy Security and Diaspora in the Development of the U.S.- Azerbaijan Strategic Allied Relations

    Washington hosts conference on Energy Security and Diaspora in the Development of the U.S.- Azerbaijan Strategic Allied Relations

     

     

    [ 02 Oct 2008 17:47 ]

    Washington. Husniyya Hasanova–APA. The conference on Energy Security and Diaspora in the Development of the U.S.-Azerbaijan Strategic Allied Relations has commenced in Washington, Adil Bagirov, USAN Executive Director told APA that the conference focused on political reforms carried out in Azerbaijan, Diaspora management, energy issues. Former congressmen Greg Laughlin and Robert Livingston drew attention of attendees to recent developments occurred in Georgia and called Baku to be more attentive. The conference also envisaged the participation of Azerbaijanis in presidential elections to be held in the US.
    Azerbaijani Ambassador to the US Yashar Aliyev, Agshin Mehdiyev, Head of Azerbaijani delegation to UN, Azerbaijani Consul General to Los-Angeles Elin Suleymanov, Elshad Nasirov, Vice President of SOCAR, MPs Sabir Rustamkhanli, Asim Mollazadeh, officials of State Committee on Works with Azerbaijanis Living Abroad and other officials participated in the conference. The event will continue tomorrow.

  • TURKEY ACTS AS CAUCASIAN PEACEMAKER

    TURKEY ACTS AS CAUCASIAN PEACEMAKER

    By John C. K. Daly

    Wednesday, October 1, 2008

     

    The armed military confrontation between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia and Abkhazia in August has produced major shockwaves throughout the Caucasus and beyond. Amid the suffering, the military clash may have shaken opportunities to resolve one of the “frozen conflicts” left over from the collapse of the USSR, the current state of cold war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the aftermath of the 1988-1994 conflict over Karabakh.

    One of the unpleasant diplomatic byproducts of the dispute for Armenia was Turkey’s decision in 1993 to close its 204 mile-long border with Armenia in a show of solidarity with Baku. Ankara consequently has no formal diplomatic ties with Yerevan, but following President Abdullah Gul’s “soccer diplomacy” last month, possibilities exist under Turkey’s proposed Caucasus Cooperation and Stability Platform to help break the diplomatic stalemate between the two Caucasian states.

    On September 27 at the 63rd United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan met with Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov for wide-ranging tripartite discussions that covered diplomacy, energy, and security (Anadolu Ajansi, September 26). In a sign of reciprocal flexibility, Armenian Foreign Minister Nalbandian said that Armenia welcomed the Caucasus Cooperation and Stability Platform initiative, adding that they also discussed the necessary steps to fully normalize bilateral relations.

    In Yerevan the Turkish initiative is perceived as a move away from Ankara’s traditional unwavering support of Azerbaijan’s stance, with Turkey increasingly seeing normalization of relations with Armenia as key to expanding its role in the South Caucasus, leaving it the choice of continuing in its role of Azerbaijan’s patron or becoming a regional super power (Hayots Ashkharh, September 26).

    One area in which Turkey exerts substantial influence is its armed forces; its army is the second largest in NATO. A recent NATO military exercise indicates both the possibilities of using the alliance to forge further trilateral links and the distance that yet remains. Armenia is participating in an international exercise held under NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) affiliate program and a newer, complementary NATO program launched in June 2004, the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI).

    The NATO Cooperative Longbow/Lancer-2008 (CO LW/CO LR 08) exercise began in Armenia on September 29 and will last through October 20. More than 1,000 servicemen from 18 nations (7 NATO members and 11 PfP partners) are involved in the exercises (www.cooperative08.com/News/news.htm). Besides the Armenian contingent, other nations contributing troops include Canada, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Britain, the United States, Albania, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Ukraine, and ICI member United Arab Emirates (www.mil.am). Qatar, Serbia, and Montenegro have sent observers to the exercises.

    The CO LW/CO LR 08 operative scenario is based on a UN mandated, NATO-led Crisis Response Operation (CRO), with COLW/ COLR 08 designed to provide a demonstration of NATO’s ability to undertake a complex operation displaying the interoperability of NATO and partner forces, providing a balance between NATO’s training requirements and the training needs of the PfP and ICI.

    Notably, Turkey, a NATO member, is not involved, except for an officer who works for NATO’s international structures and who has arrived in Yerevan. Troops from PfP members Russia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, all of which joined the program in 1994, will also not attend (Arminfo, September 29).

    Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said, “We see Cooperative Longbow/Lancer-2008 as a means of strengthening trust throughout the region. It is a pleasure for Armenia to conduct an international exercise in its territory on the proper level. We are conducting this exercise to master our peacekeeping skills” , September 29). A source from NATO’s information center in Armenia said that the exercises “will be the biggest in the whole history of NATO’s relations with countries of the South Caucasus” (Itar-Tass, September 29).

    Armenia’s Ministry of Defense press office reported that the Armenian army’s chief of staff Colonel General Yuri Khachaturov noted that the exercises were planned last year and would not affect the region’s geopolitical situation (Arminfo, September 26).

    Russia, however, has been carefully considering Caucasian geopolitics. President Dmitry Medvedev recently stated, “Russia, just as other countries in the world, has regions of privileged interests” (Vesti Informatsionnyi Kanal, August 31). Elaborating on Medvedev’s words, Politika Foundation president Vyacheslav Nikonov said in Moscow, “Russia’s zone of privileged, vital interests consists primarily of the states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and Ukraine (Argumenty i Fakty, September 26).

    Undoubtedly driving the new diplomatic flexibility is a common concern shared by both Armenia and Turkey—Russia’s dominance of their natural gas imports. Gazprom supplies nearly 65 percent of Turkey’s gas and almost all of Armenia’s, and the Kremlin has not hesitated to use its “gas weapon.” Last month Gazprom Board Chairman Alexei Miller met with ArmRosgazprom Director General Karen Karapetyan to discuss Gazprom raising its natural gas prices to Armenia to the level it charges its European customers by 2011. Gazprom not only owns 68 percent of ArmRosgazprom and provides the gas but also participates in its transport and distribution throughout the republic , September 17). Gazprom, which currently charges Armenia $110 per thousand cubic meters (tcm) of gas, will raise the price 40 percent to $154 starting April 1, 2009.

    For both Armenia and Turkey, neighboring Azerbaijan’s rising natural gas production would provide an energy godsend free of Moscow’s influence, giving both countries the added benefit of collecting transit revenues for surplus production. Moreover, the recent military clash starkly reminded Baku of the vulnerability of its current export options.

    Turkey’s agenda extends beyond regional energy security. During President Gul’s bilateral meetings in New York, he lobbied heavily for Turkey’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council for the 2009-2010 term (Hurriyet, September 29). It is an initiative that all of Turkey’s neighbors would be wise to support.

    Spiraling energy costs are introducing a new pragmatism into a region where politics has frequently been suborned to emotional nationalist agendas. In an era when energy superpowers talk about “privileged interests,” discussing regional Cooperation and Stability Platforms has a far less threatening tone than Russia’s military operations in the Caucasus. If the United Nations cannot provide the sole agenda for tripartite discussions, then perhaps the NATO, PfP, and ICI initiatives can assist, since in the 59 years that the alliance has been in existence, no two members have ever fought each other.

  • Consent of Armenia to Participate in Turkish Project is Positive Trend

    Consent of Armenia to Participate in Turkish Project is Positive Trend

    29.09.08 13:15Azerbaijan, Baku, 27 September /corr. Trend News E.Tariverdiyeva / Consent of Armenia to participate in the Turkish project “Platform of security and stability in Caucasus” is a positive trend for discussions over many disputable questions in the Caucasus region. However, the opinions of political scientists do not conver the question of the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the help of the Turkish initiative.

    “It is very important that the Armenian leadership is more opened to the Turkish role in the region and this is positive changes, which now occur,” American expert on Caucasus, Svante Cornell, told TrendNews by telephone from Stockholm.

    At the meeting in New York on 26 September, the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia supported Turkish initiative to establish “Platform of security and stability in Caucasus”, Foreign Minister of Turkey, Ali Babajan, told CNN Turk television.

    “Negotiations in format of troika will be continued further. There is real desire of the authorities of the two states to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem,” said the diplomat.

    In mid September, Russia and Turkey began realization of plan with regards to establishment of “Platform of security and stability in Caucasus” for five countries – Azerbaijan, Russia, Georgia, Turkey and Armenia. The aspiration of Turkey for the prompt solution of the territorial conflicts in Caucasus between Armenia and Turkey, and between Armenia and Azerbaijan was the purpose of the creation of this platform.

    Observers consider that the consent of Armenia to participate in the Turkish initiative is the first step to the beginning of constructive talks on the problems in the region.

    The European Commission considers that Turkey could make a contribution to the solution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

     

    “Turkish initiative to establish “Platform of security and stability in Caucasus” is very interesting, and it can contribute to the solution of conflicts in this region,” the Head of the Diplomatic Mission of the European Commission to Azerbaijan, Alan Waddams, told TrendNews .

    The proposal of Turkey is interesting and should be considered, he said.

    “I believe that with the initiative of Turkey, the OSCE Minsk Group can achieve solution of protracted conflicts,” the diplomats said.

    The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in 1988 due to territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding Districts. Since 1992, these territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, France and USA) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.

    The Azerbaijan side hopes for Turkish initiative in the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

    “It is completely possible that after the visit of the Turkish President to Yerevan, Armenia will also participate in the establishment of peace and stability in Caucasus,” member of Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, MP Aydin Mirzazade, said.

    This means the new way of Armenian policy, and in the near future, it is completely possible that we will observe changes in the policy of Armenia, he said.

    “Azerbaijan, as state close to Turkey, and Armenia, which wants to establish relations with Turkey, helped Turkey and gave worthy assessment to its initiative, which is no longer pointless talk and proposal in air,” Mikhail Remizov, President of Russian Institute of National Strategy, told TrendNews.

    However, the political scientist does not consider this decision of Armenia and Azerbaijan in linkage to the Karabakh conflict. “I do not here see the Karabakh theme, with exception of the fact that in the case of creating this format, this will be favorable for discussion of similar questions,” he said.

    Turkish political scientist Arif Keskin does not believe in the success of platform, proposed by Turkey, in the Karabakh problem solution.

    “Talks with the mediation of Turkey can at best lead to the liberation of Azerbaijani regions around Karabakh, which will make a Karabakh problem even more difficult,” representative of Eurasian Research Strategic Center (Ankara), Keskin, told Trend News by telephone.

    American expert on Caucasus Cornell connects further solution of the conflict with the actions of Russia.

    According to him, the conflict will not be resolved unless there are serious signals that Russia is inclined to the peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

    “In the present situation, when Russia became stronger in the region, and the West is weaker, it would be good be see changes in the direction of the solution of conflict in Karabakh,” Cornell, Research Director of Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University, told TrendNews by telephone.

    E.Ostapenko (Baku), B.Hasanov (Baku), I.Alizade (Baku) and R.Agayev (Moscow) attended the preparation of the material.

    The correspondent can be contacted at: trend@trend.az

  • Turkey Pushes for More Nagorno-Karabakh Talks amid Warming Ties with Armenia

    Turkey Pushes for More Nagorno-Karabakh Talks amid Warming Ties with Armenia

    Turkey is sponsoring additional Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations on the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in an apparent effort to hasten the normalization of its historically strained ties with Armenia.

    Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan sat down with his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts in New York on September 26 as Ankara sought to keep up the momentum in its unprecedented rapprochement with Yerevan. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The trilateral meeting came amid signs that the United States and other international mediators will make another attempt to hammer out a framework peace accord on Karabakh before the end of this year.

    Babacan and Foreign Ministers Eduard Nalbandian of Armenia and Elmar Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan disclosed few details about their discussions, telling journalists only that they focused on a Turkish proposal to create a new regional organization that would include the three South Caucasus states as well as Russia and Turkey. “We discussed the Caucasus Cooperation and Stability Platform, an initiative proposed by Turkey, and started negotiating on some concrete regional issues during today’s meeting,” Babacan said in remarks broadcast by Armenian state television. He said Nalbandian and Mammadyarov reaffirmed their countries’ support for the platform and asked the Turkish side to init

    EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight – Turkey Pushes for More Nagorno-Karabakh Talks amid Warming Ties with Armenia.

  • Calming the Caucasus By Ali BABACAN

    Calming the Caucasus By Ali BABACAN

     

    TURKISH INITIATIVES

    By Ali Babacan
    Published: September 23, 2008

     

     

    The conflict between Russia and Georgia has once again demonstrated the volatile character of the Caucasus and why it is so crucial for the world to defuse tensions there.

    This conflict has affected all the countries of the region. Azerbaijan and Armenia, for example, were deprived of their main transport routes. It raised concerns about prominent infrastructure projects such as the railroad connection between Baku, Tbilisi and Kars, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, which promise to ensure the long-term energy and transport security of the region and Europe.

    As a neighbor to the conflict, Turkey has an enormous stake in overcoming the tension between Russia and Georgia.

    On behalf of the European Union, France has taken a very active role in arranging a cease-fire, and President Nicolas Sarkozy’s laudable efforts are fully supported by Turkey.

    To re-establish peace and stability in the Caucasus in the longer run, Turkey is also pursuing a series of diplomatic initiatives mainly based on three pillars.

    First, we have to recognize and address the profound lack of confidence among the states of the region. Russia and Georgia are at war with each other. The situation between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the conflict in and around Nagorno-Karabakh is not much different. There are also problems between Turkey and Armenia.

    The lack of confidence in the region creates a fertile environment for breeding instability, insecurity and, as we have seen in Georgia, war. It also undermines political dialogue, economic cooperation and good-neighborly relations that Caucasian countries need to prosper.

    Furthermore, this tense situation has become more or less an inherent feature of the Caucasus in the last 17 years, since none of the previous attempts to resolve the protracted conflicts there have yielded any constructive outcomes. This situation has to be corrected quickly.

    The Caucasus countries need to develop a functional method of finding solutions to their problems from within.

    Turkey’s proposal is to bring the countries of the region together under the Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform (CSCP).

    In the interest of building confidence among these nations, Turkey believes it is time to pursue a regional but comprehensive approach. The CSCP, in that context, provides an opportunity.

    It does not intend to become an alternative to any institution, mechanism or any international organization that deals with the problems of the Caucasus.

    On the contrary, it is an additional platform to facilitate the communication between the countries of the region, a framework to develop stability, confidence and cooperation, a forum for dialogue.

    In this context, it is not only compatible with Turkey’s EU policies but it also complements the EU’s policies and vision toward the Caucasus region, namely the EU Neighborhood Policy. This complementary feature might bring a new impetus and a functional momentum to the region.

    Second, in order to become a genuine honest broker in the region, Turkey has taken the initiative to create a favorable environment for the normalization of its bilateral relations with Armenia.

    President Abdullah Gul visited Yerevan on Sept. 6 to watch the World Cup qualifier match between the Turkish and Armenian soccer teams. This was an historic first step to break the barriers that have prevented our two nations from getting closer to each other.

    During the visit to Yerevan, the Armenian and Turkish presidents extensively discussed the security situation in the Caucasus, the prospects for the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations and the ways and means to achieve such normalization in the nearest future.

    I also accompanied Gul and had an opportunity to review the same topics in a more expanded fashion with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. No doubt, as long as we talk, none of the problems of the region could impose themselves on us as unsolvable.

    Third, as the process of normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations moves ahead, we must not spare our efforts to find a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. These two processes have a mutually reinforcing character – any positive development on one would significantly have a stimulating effect on the other.

    Gul, after his visit to Yerevan, traveled to Baku on Sept. 10 to inquire whether Turkey could facilitate the resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh problem. We observe the commitment in Baku, as well as in Yerevan, to bring a lasting solution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. In this context, it is necessary once more to underline the importance of a constructive and comprehensive approach to resolving the problems in the Caucasus region.

    Turkey is a staunch advocate of the basic principles of international law such as independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states as well as peaceful resolution of conflicts through dialogue.

    With the initiatives that it has taken recently, Turkey seeks to bring stability and prosperity to the Caucasus region. CSCP can play a leading role in facilitating this outcome. A favorable environment for cooperation, harmony, confidence and mutual understanding will be achievable in the region only after the disputes and conflicts in the Caucasus are resolved peacefully and irrevocably.

    Ali Babacan is the foreign minister of Turkey.

  • Azerbaijan H.E. M. Elmar Maharram oglu Mammadyarov, Minister for Foreign Affairs

    Azerbaijan H.E. M. Elmar Maharram oglu Mammadyarov, Minister for Foreign Affairs

    Statement Summary

    © UN Photo

    ELMAR MAMMADYAROV, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, stated that the effectiveness of the international security system impacted on the authority of the United Nations.  When agreement among Security Council members seemed elusive, it generally impacted on the Organization’s credibility.  Member States would respect shared values and accept the restraints inherent in those values, in order to find an approach based on a global consensus.  Essential reforms to the Organization would need to enhance the General Assembly policy-making organs of the United Nations and the Security Council’s responsibility for threats that transcended national borders.

    He observed that the sixty-third General Assembly was taking place during critical times in the South Caucasus region.  Committed to contributing to the decrease of tensions, he acknowledged that the worrisome events in Georgia had demonstrated that the protracted conflicts in the region, including the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh, remained a major source of instability.  The Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform initiated by Turkey promised to be a starting point for the regional security system.  However, prerequisite to cooperation and good relations would be the withdrawal of the Armenian troops from occupied lands and restoration of full sovereignty of Azerbaijan over those territories.  The Azerbaijan Government was committed to a peaceful settlement based on the principles of international law and United Nations resolutions, and he reminded the delegations of last year’s agenda and resolution (document A/62/243) item regarding the situation.  He stressed that the principles laid out in the resolution would be used as a basis for negotiation.

    With one of the highest gross domestic products (GDP) of the world, he recounted that Azerbaijan had contributed greatly to regional security and stability by strengthening and promoting energy, communication and economic cooperation projects, including the production and delivery of the Caspian Sea hydrocarbon resource to international markets.  The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway would also link Azerbaijan with Georgia and Turkey, creating effective communications and a connection between Europe and Asia.  He also recounted that Azerbaijan was recognized as a top performer in implementing business regulatory reforms and a country with an investment-friendly economy and an improved commercial environment that encouraged business start-ups.

    At the same time, his country supported the implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, he said, adding that the adoption without vote by the General Assembly of resolution A/RES/62/274 on the issue was a sign of global recognition of his country’s efforts.  He concluded by reaffirming Azerbaijan’s commitment to the work of the United Nations human rights bodies.  As a member to the Human Rights Council, it was the common task and responsibility of Member States to ensure that it become truly objective, vigorous and credible.

    [Source: GA/10757]