Yesterday, the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, who is on an official visit to Germany, held a one-on-one meeting with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, met with the Chancellor's Director General for Foreign Security and Development Policy, the head of the Department of Foreign, Security and Development Policy Christoph Heusgen, and also addressed the German Society for Foreign Policy, where he spoke about challenges facing Azerbaijan in the security sphere and led a journey into history.
Mammadyarov said that during the past 20 years Azerbaijan has restored its sovereignty, as it has already been an independent state in 1918-1920: "It had lasted for only 23 months – we declared independence in the early 20th century, but it was a time of turmoil, not only in the South Caucasus, but also in the whole world, including the Ottoman and the Russian Empires. Unfortunately, the leaders of Azerbaijan of that time failed to maintain its independence. In 1920, the bourgeois government was changed to a communist one, and on December 30, 1922, Azerbaijan became part of the USSR. To some extent, the Azerbaijan SSR was a quasi-independent republic – all matters were dealt with as in an independent state, except for foreign policy matters. All the republics of the Soviet Union were represented by Moscow in the international arena. After the Second World War and the San Francisco conference in 1945, Ukraine and Belarus joined the UN. For them it was a possibility to present themselves at the UN institutions. However, Azerbaijan continued to be in a quasi-dependent position.
Meanwhile, by the end of the Second World War, in 1944, the Soviet government restored the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. And in 1946, the organization was renamed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "I worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Azerbaijan SSR from 1983, I was only 23 years back then. There were only 13 people of those who represented Azerbaijan's foreign policy, including the Secretary and the Minister, but we called ourselves the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Azerbaijan SSR. I have been the foreign minister all these years. In 2004, I was appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs in already-independent Azerbaijan," Elmar Mammadyarov said.
He said that during the restoration of its independence, Azerbaijan faced different, sometimes very serious problems: "The most important thing for us was the conflict with Armenia, which started in 1988, before the collapse of the USSR. But after the announcement of Azerbaijan's and Armenia's independence the conflict became even more acute. It has been stopped just due to the ceasefire agreement and Russia's mediation. Then, Azerbaijan became an OSCE member, smoothly moving out of the Russian orbit. When the OSCE Minsk group was established [on the Karabakh settlement], we naively believed that the conflict could be resolved through the efforts of the international community and international mediators rather quickly. Belarus proposed the establishment of the Minsk Group to help Armenia and Azerbaijan to have an opportunity to solve the issue jointly, and the conference, where the conclusion of an agreement was planned, was held in Minsk. But, unfortunately, the war continued, ceasing and starting again in a vicious circle. The UN, whose main task is to provide international security, has adopted four resolutions which are supported by Azerbaijan. The resolutions on the sovereignty and the international recognition of the borders mean the recognition of Azerbaijan in the borders that were at the time of the Azerbaijan SSR. In addition, the resolutions require the cessation of hostilities and withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani territories. The first resolution was adopted when Armenia invaded the region, located outside of Armenia, on the Nagorno-Karabakh border.
In 1993 we still believed that there is a possibility of achieving peace. In 1994-1995, we signed a ceasefire agreement, and then all the members adopted a resolution at the OSCE summit, which recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, Armenia didn't support the document. The president of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, said that he needed more time to discuss this issue, but a few months later he was dismissed from his post," the head of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan said.
"In 2004, we negotiated with the previous administration of Armenia. I think it was a very informative and productive part of the negotiations, which culminated with the adoption of the Madrid principles at the level of Prime Ministers in 2007, submitted to the international community in Madrid during the OSCE meeting. There are some provisions we do not agree with, there are also those that the Armenian side doesn't agree with. Then the Minsk group co-chairs – Russia, the US and France – agreed that the negotiations should take place at the presidential level, because the foreign ministers cannot decide all the problems. The presidents were meeting from 2007 to 2009, and the guidelines were updated and then presented to the world community in Athens during the OSCE meeting. Unfortunately, Armenia has not joined them. Then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev decided to take matters into his own hands. The last meeting with the participation of presidents Medvedev, Aliyev and Sargsyan was held in 2012. Then the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia for the first time signed a very important document on the principles of a settlement, which was developed in Moscow. But, unfortunately, even President Medvedev failed to bring the matter to a successful conclusion. Today, we are in limbo – it is not clear what will happen next. Last summer, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made very interesting, very pragmatic proposals. But all of them are based on the Madrid principles," the minister explained.
He said that three co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group at the presidential level – firstly, Medvedev, Obama and Sarkozy, then Hollande, Putin and Obama participated in the settlement process, "five or six statements were made In each of them the co-chairs described how they see the resolution of the conflict. All statements contain a very important message that the status quo is unacceptable, and used one more word – ‘fatal’. Azerbaijan stuck to this position since the first day. We believe that the ceasefire is not a settlement of the conflict, it just delays negotiations themselves. On the other hand, we understand that the biggest problem is military presence of Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. We believe that the sooner the military factor will be negated within the necessary steps to ensure the security guarantees that is also a part of the Madrid principles, the sooner the issue will be resolved. The logic is very simple.’’
According to Elmar Mammadyarov, the issue of refugees’ return is very acute: "All-out ethnic cleansing were in the occupied territories, which are about 20% of our territory, including Nagorno Karabakh where not a single Azerbaijani lives there now."
The Minister explained that it is not only about Nagorno-Karabakh: "First of all, it is necessary to withdraw the Armenian troops from the seven occupied districts around Nagorno-Karabakh, then it is necessary to rebuild the infrastructure, establish contacts, organize the return of refugees, and then we should begin to introduce international peacekeepers; and the final stage is the definition of status of Nagorno Karabakh. Usually, this approach is called a batch settlement or a stepwise settlement, but we must begin the elimination of the military component. This should be the first step.''
The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister also stated about the necessity to reduce military risks: "It is clear that no one starts from the end, from the last point, despite the fact that it is of great importance for Azerbaijan. There should be no ‘gray’ and illegal zones, as we believe that Karabakh is a part of our territory of my country. If you ask me as Foreign Minister what I will do you do when the last status of Nagorno Karabakh is determined, I will answer that should be no illegal formations on the territory of my country. Realizing that it is necessary to return people and establish relations among between them and build trust, we must do away with the military factor. But at the same time it is necessary to restore economic ties and protect the population. It will allow to create a good opportunity and take the situation under control. This is a very simple idea. And I think it is logical.
The second part of the statement by Elmar Mammadyarov at the German Society for Foreign Policy was devoted to the economic development of Azerbaijan: "We have increased our GDP by almost four times. It was achieved thanks to the global project, known as the Contract of the Century on oil production in the Caspian region. Oil export was not only from Azerbaijan, but also from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. Oil is delivered to international markets with the help of pipelines or tankers. Firstly, from Georgian ports, and then via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. At the peak of production we extracted one million barrels per day. Certainly, today a bit less. The economic development of the country contributed to the strengthening of our independence. Good relations with neighbors are very important for our further sustainable development of our country. We always remind Armenia: you cannot take the land and get away with it but you will alway deal with our neighbors whether you want it or not. Therefore, you will have to come to an agreement, although it is very difficult, but we need to show the political will in order to move forward. We are ready to do it on the basis of the Madrid principles, on the basis of proposals by Presidents of the co-chairing countries of the Minsk Group, which are permanent UN Security Council members, as well as listen to their proposals for resolving the conflict and accept them. I think this is the best way to bring peace and stability to the region.
According to the Azerbaijani Minister, the two points are important for his country in terms of the future: ‘’Firstly, it is important to strengthen the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. And the second is the independent development of economic: establishment of civil society and democracy. These topics are interrelated. And we should build the future of our country only this way."
Mammadyarov expressed the opinion that the project of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is supported by the EU, is very important for the European Union: ‘‘Gas will be delivered to Europe from Azerbaijan with the help of the pipeline from the Caspian Sea first. It will pass through the territory of Georgia and Turkey, and then to Greece. Albania, in the end it will be delivered to Italy. And then from Italy to the pipeline system of the EU. Bulgaria and the Balkan countries are also very interested in gaining access to the project. The diversification of energy supplies is a strategically important area. At the moment, the construction work is about to be completed. The construction of Trans-Anatolian pipeline, which passes through the territory of Turkey, is being conducted ahead of schedule. The opening ceremony of the construction of the Trans-Adriatic pipeline, which is to deliver gas to Italy, will take place on May 17th in Greece. The southern gas corridor is a large project the amount of which is 45-55 billion dollars. We received full support of Germany as one of ‘heavyweights’ in the EU, which understands the importance of the Southern corridor for the EU.
Azerbaijan is also in interests of Europe as an important part of international transport corridors. "There is a very interesting idea of cooperation with China in this area. It is about the Silk Road, which runs along the existing paths from China to Central Asia and Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and further to Europe and around the world. Works on the construction of railway routes among Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey are being carried out. We have almost completed the construction of its part of the border with Turkey. Turkey is to finished its part of the work at the end of the year. Projects of tunnel under Bosporus will connect Europe and China. These projects can make all countries of the region closer. The creation of new energy system can become the next successful step in the development of my country, as an independent, sovereign, and secured state," Mammadyarov said.
