New level of Azerbaijani relations

By Vestnik Kavkaza

In recent months top Russian officials, political and social activists have made a series of official and working visits to the capital of Azerbaijan. Each of them was aimed at fulfilling a certain task of Moscow’s new foreign political concept, which is directed at expanding ties with Baku in all spheres in the context of tense relations between Russia and the West.

Sergey Markov, a member of the Public Chamber, a political scientist, thinks that in recent years Russian-Azerbaijani relations have seriously improved, and most of all it has been notable in recent months: “We can see visits by major Russia officials to Baku. During the last visit by Sergei Shoygu it was decided to conduct joint military exercises on the Caspian Sea, which we haven’t seen for a long time. The Mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin visited Baku, as well as the Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.”

In early October the head of the Council of the Federation, Valentina Matvienko, took part in the annual Baku International Humanitarian Forum. Sergei Markov reminds that the Baku Forum was initiated by the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan: “Today Azerbaijan continues the tradition with the active participation of Russia. I think it has a chance to turn into the most important humanitarian forum, as it has good foundations, powerful people participate in it, and we hope that it will continue to develop.”

Speaking about active development of Russian-Azerbaijani relations in recent times, Markov stressed the special role of  the presidents of the two countries: “I should say that the rating of Ilham Aliyev in Azerbaijan is comparable to the rating of Vladimir Putin in Russia. We participated in the presidential elections in Azerbaijan as observers. It was amazing how legitimate and strong his victory was. Citizens support the positive development actively.”

As for development, the member of the Public Chamber of Russia notes that many people who visit Azerbaijan are impressed by the pace of the republic’s development: “We can see how Baku is changing; it is literally an open-air museum of modern architecture.”

MP Akhmat Erkenov admits that, unfortunately, he has never been to Baku or Azerbaijan, but he knows very well how actively Azerbaijan cooperates with various Russian regions in the North Caucasus: “I represent Karachay-Cherkessia. Our head of the republic visited [Baku] and we signed an agreement on construction of one of the most powerful plants in Europe with Azerbaijan. If we speak more about such things, we would certainly solve discussed problems, including the biggest threat – terrorism. Why do I say this? In the Caucasus people are raised on real deeds. People should commit real deeds, just like our presidents, and all other people will follow their example.”

Erkenov thinks that, despite the fact that in the modern world partnership is based on rationality, pragmatics, and economic reasonability, speaking about Azerbaijan we should first of all think about friendly relations: “We are tied by something more than economic reasonability. I would like to note two aspects which connect us. The most important is that the political leaders of our countries realize that the most important thing for us is sovereignty and independence. Both of them [the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia] state it clearly. Secondly, it is appropriate regard of the challenges which we face today.”