MPs, diplomats and experts have agreed that the partnership between Baku and Berlin has great potential in terms of intensification and it will bring more benefits.
Berlin hosted an evening of German-Azerbaijani friendship, organized by the Azerbaijan Student Network with the support of Deutsche Gesellschaft and the Azerbaijani embassy in Germany. Members of the Bundestag, employees, diplomats, policy experts and academics, discussed various aspects of bilateral relations: from history and culture to the economy and foreign policy.
The opening speech was delivered by Hans Eberhart Schleyer, the chairman of the German-Azerbaijan Forum. Schleyer noted the importance of Azerbaijan for Germany in the context of energy security: "Being a German I feel calmer if oil and gas supplies to our country are carried out from the largest possible number of sources. Azerbaijan is making an important contribution to the European energy security, remaining the most stable country in this difficult region. " The chairman of the board of the forum also pointed out the fact that thousands of young Azerbaijanis are sent by the state for training and working practices in the West. According to him, it brings benefits both to the Azerbaijani state in the transformation period, and corresponds to German interests.
Hans Eberhart Schleyer
Ibrahim Ahmadov, the executive director of the Azerbaijan Student Network, underlined in his welcoming speech some historical and cultural characteristics of Azerbaijan. "I am from the country, which established the first democratic republic in the Muslim East. From the country where women were given the right to vote earlier than in many European countries, for example, France, Italy and Germany. So I'm not speaking about the transfer of European values to Azerbaijan. I mean our people, Azerbaijani values, our cultural and historical experience," Akhmedov said."The same situation applies to religious tolerance. Imports of values from Europe are out of the question a priori. It is an already deeply rooted part of our way of life, historical traditions and religion. In this regard, Azerbaijan and Europe share common values, which are the solid foundation for close cooperation,'' the executive director of ASN concluded.
Ibrahim Ahmadov
The Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Germany Parviz Shahbazov said that mutual visits of high-ranking delegations of Azerbaijan and Germany reflect the high intensity of bilateral relations. "This year President Ilham Aliyev visited Germany on a working visit at the invitation of Chancellor Angela Merkel. The visit to a large extent promotes the further development of German-Azerbaijani relations. Azerbaijan is the sixth largest oil exporter in Germany," the ambassador recalled. He spoke about ambitious infrastructure projects initiated by Azerbaijan and implemented with its direct participation, which are aimed at ensuring the energy security of Europe, particularly the trans-Atlantic and Trans-Adriatic gas pipelines. "The shortest route between Europe and Asia through Azerbaijan is to appear after the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars transport project railway is brought into operation," Parviz Shahbazov added.
Professor Eva Maria Auch, the head of Azerbaijani history at Humboldt University, made a detailed excursion into the history of the Schwab's resettlement (German folk inhabiting the territory of the modern federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg) to the Caucasus. Telling about the difficulties of the first settlers, who migrated to Russia, including the Caucasus, because of severe socio-economic conditions in their own historic homeland, Auch also stressed how the Caucasus and, in particular, Azerbaijan became the second home for the Germans.
"After visiting the Caucasus as a traveler you return in love. Not because you return with an Azerbaijani wife. By the way, it happened many times in history, because you fall in love with the people, the region and its culture. Germans discovered a special world and life in the Caucasus. This love remains forever in your heart after the first journey to the Caucasus," the professor said. Eva Maria Auch noted with special appreciation the careful attitude of Azerbaijanis to German cultural and historical heritage. According Auch, who travelled all over the Caucasus as part of her research activities on the study of the history of German immigrants in the region, the German cultural heritage is not treated anywhere else as carefully as in Azerbaijan. "People managed to keep buildings constructed by the Germans, in their original forms together with all their contents, including furniture. A Lutheran church was preserved recently renovated in Helenendorf (Goygol) in the framework of the joint German-Azerbaijani project (a bell tower was installed at the request of the Azerbaijani people). It is a bright example of tolerance," the professor said.
Eva Maria Auch
The Bundestag deputy from the faction 'Union of the 90's/Green' Tabaea Rossner also shared his impressions of the country: "I visited Azerbaijan and, in particular, Helenendorf. Buildings are well restored in the city. We visited a Lutheran church where German songs were sung, as well as Azerbaijani dances performed. The interweaving of the two cultures gave me very good impressions."
Charles Huber, the Bundestag deputy from the ruling HDZ party and the member of the Foreign Committee of the Parliament spoke about issues of economic and political cooperation between the two countries."Europe is making all efforts to diversify oil and gas supplies to its own energy market. It is a very important aspect for us. Azerbaijan has an important geo-strategic role as a transit country. In particular, we can see that Azerbaijan is trying to attract Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline.'' The parliamentarian also said that the German economy was completely destroyed after World War II. It was largely stabilized thanks to the intensive development of small and medium-sized businesses. According to him, Germany can be proud of the fact that 1200 German small and medium-sized enterprises are the world's technology leaders in their fields. Speaking about Azerbaijan, Huber noted the importance of the economic diversification of the country: "If we were talking about a net oil economy it should be noted its dependence on the world prices for energy and everyone knows that oil and gas production usually generates relatively few jobs. In the context of migration I cannot help noting that many young people from Azerbaijan studied in Germany and speak German brilliantly. It is important to attract these people to work as scientific staff and specialists. Germany is a strong and effective partner of Azerbaijan in the field of education. Economic diversification is a prerequisite for its successful operation, regardless of the region: the Caucasus, Central Asia, or countries in other regions of the world." According to the parliamentarian, the partnership between Azerbaijan and Germany, and has great potential in the context of its intensification and deepening. And it will bring greater benefits to both parties.
The Azerbaijani ambassador to Germany, Parviz Shahbazov, stated that there are no areas where Germany and Azerbaijan wouldn't cooperate constructively. "Speaking about the recent history of our relations, which are spanning 25 years, I should note the great potential for its further political, economic and cultural development. The Year of Azerbaijani Culture in Germany was held in 2008, during which about 100 events introducing German citizens to our culture were held. It is gratifying that Germany has been active in the development of our cultural relations, in particular, the "reciprocal" weeks of German Culture in Azerbaijan were held in 2009," the diplomat recalled.
"The economic component of our relations is also very important – we are interested in the transfer of know-how and technology from Germany, and carry out extensive cooperation in this field with our German partners. The German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce was opened in Azerbaijan in 2012 for this purpose, which is the second-largest in the CIS after Russian. This fact is further evidence of the economic importance of Azerbaijan for Germany," Parviz Shahbazov said.
Parviz Shahbazov
Speaking about the political cooperation between Azerbaijan and Germany, the ambassador noted the regular consultations on security issues and international politics at the level of ministers and deputy foreign ministers. Parviz Shahbazov didn't miss the topic of the Association Agreement with the EU, which was mentioned by other participants during the discussion: "Azerbaijan initially didn't agree to sign the Association Agreement with the EU, since this agreement is too politicized, which was later confirmed by the Ukrainian example. Therefore, we are interested in the updated EU policy towards the countries of the Eastern Partnership, which implies an individual approach to each partner country. For this purpose we have prepared a draft of a new agreement on strategic partnership with the EU, which was recently submitted to the European Commission. We already have a strategic partnership with the EU in the energy sector, and we want to expand it to other areas."
The ambassador also paid attention to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as to Germany's expected role in resolving the problem of the occupation of Azerbaijani lands, "Azerbaijan has certain expectations from Germany in the matter of the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the context of its OSCE presidency. Despite the OSCE Minsk Group's years of negotiations, unfortunately, so far there are no results on the issue of withdrawal of the Armenian forces from our territory. There are various proposals, including the Madrid principles, which also received our support. Azerbaijan makes every effort to move the process forward, but, unfortunately, there is no progress. Germany, being an ordinary member of the OSCE Minsk Group and the OSCE Chairman in 2016, as well as taking into account Germany's interests in the region, can become a country which can lift the process from deadlock."
The Azerbaijani ambassador also noted the lack of common standards in the European policy towards the questions of violations of the territorial integrity of its partners. "I always ask one question: what are the differences between the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and Ukraine? We see that in the case of Ukraine the EU fairly quickly decided to impose sanctions against Russia. Why don't they do it in the case of Armenia? Only by avoiding double standards in international law can the situation be changed. In the next year we look forward to the contribution of Germany. Unfortunately, Europe hasn't always clearly understood until now who the aggressor in the conflict is."
When the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza asked the German deputies why Europe, in particular Germany, applies sanctions against Russia, but does not act in relation to Armenia in the same way, the chairman of the Parliament's Commission on European Affairs, the deputy Gunther Krichbaum, expressed concerns that additional steps outside of the peace process under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group may lead to an escalation of the conflict. During the discussion, Gunther Krichbaum noted that the situation between Armenia and Azerbaijan is very tense, "It became clear once again when the Armenian armed helicopter, which flew over the Azerbaijani positions, was hit. There is an extremely difficult situation in this conflict area, therefore, we should support peacekeeping efforts in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group," Krichbaum believes. The parliamentarian said that the process of de-occupation of Azerbaijani lands has been delayed for an indefinite period. "There are no quick fixes. But who would have thought in 1961, when Germany was divided by a wall, that later the Iron Curtain in Europe would fall and our country would be united again?"
The MP noted that Azerbaijan is in a rather delicate position, as it tries to demonstrate the independence of its own foreign policy, in particular from Russia. "But the country needs Russia to resolve the conflict around Nagorno-Karabakh. As for the problem of refugees, we should not forget that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was the reason for the fact that more than one million people became refugees and internally displaced persons – about 800 thousand of them are Azerbaijanis."
Gunther Krichbaum
In his speech, Gunther Krichbaum stressed that "the Azerbaijani territories are still under Armenian occupation, which is a violation of international law." "The occupation of Azerbaijani lands was condemned in four UN Security Council resolutions," he reminded. "At one time, Germany also faced the problem of refugees, and that is why Germany clearly understands this problematic around the world – including in the Middle East and Ukraine. In total, at the moment more than 60 million people in the world have become refugees. And the experience of Germany, which is a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, plays an important role in more active mediation," the German deputy summed up.
Speaking of Germany's foreign policy in relation to the conflicts in the former Soviet Union, Krichbaum touched upon the topic of the Ukrainian crisis:
"In the case of Ukraine, Germany's decision not to intervene in the conflict, for example, supplying weapons, was important and correct, because this problem cannot be solved by military means. If Russia is on the other side of the conflict, you must say openly: we have more than just a difficult situation."
