RIA Novosti has held a video conference linking Moscow, Baku and Washington entitled “Russia, Azerbaijan and the US within context of multi-vector policy”, marking the 20th anniversary of Azerbaijani independence. Sergey Mikheyev, Director General of the Institute for Caspian Cooperation, Azhdar Kurtov, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine “Problems of national strategy” in Moscow; Paul Goble, former analyst of the CIA and the State Department, from Washington; Fariz Ismailzade, deputy head of the Azerbaijani Diplomatic Academy, and Jeykhun Kyaramov, Chairman of the Association of American Graduates, from Baku discussed crossing of interests in the South Caucasus, problems and their solution.
Azhdar Kurtov (Moscow)
I would agree with the US counterpart that Azerbaijani influence must be wider if it considers itself a regional leader. What is South Caucasus? There is a firm view that South Caucasus consists of three states. Or five, in our opinion, with appearance of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, recognized by some states. In reality, the Caucasus is bigger, in terms of georgraphy. Where would north-western territories of Iran belong? Aren’t similar provinces of Turkey, the north-eastern parts, part of the Caucasus? It is the Caucasus. Is Azerbaijani influence there great? Is it positive influence?
Maybe someone does not want to use it in interest of the central part of Iran and augment separatism in provinces inhabited by Persians. Azerbaijani economic indicators are better than those of other states in the region but it has not helped the neighbor economies. This does not regard Armenia because the blockade remains in force. Concerning Georgia, it is a disputable issue because there is always bargaining on how much to pay for transit of Azerbaijani oil through Georgia, how much would the railway construction cost, what freighting will there be and so on. This is why I urge our counterparts not to boggle. There is a competition in the region, a clash of interests. What our US counterpart said was an expansion of influence, comparable with the 1990s. Azerbaijan was part of the CIS, a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Then, without any pressure (I know it for sure because I was involved in the process, from members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, led by the US) Azerbaijan refused to sign the protocol on prolongation of its CSTO membership, leaving it. Instead, it entered a different regional structure, by the way, it is called regional relatively, the so-called GUAM. It is a structure the goal of which is to form a southern underpinning of the European segment of the CIS, not oriented on integration in the Russian Federation. Azerbaijan has become part of the Non-Aligned Movement but the logical aspect of such step is unclear. Although this may be what the US counterpart meant, talking about expansion of Azerbaijani influence in Latin America because there are no other links with that part of the world familiar to me.
Paul Goble (Washington)
What concerns influence. Look at how many visits there have been from South America to Baku! So many Azerbaijani diplomats visited Latin America! The influence exceeds the limits of economy and geography. Many Latin American states support Azerbaijan as a temporary member of the UN Security Council. Many believe that Azerbaijan can only expect support from Turkey. Actually basing on diplomacy and politics of Azerbaijan can get a very wide range of support. It is a political factor, not just economic. Politics is essential. It is necessary to understand and remember about that, we should not stress on economic issues only.
Fariz Ismailzade (Baku)
A few clarifications from me. Firstly, Azerbaijan, certainly does not view itself as a platform or territory for fight against other states. Azerbaijan understands the tensions between the US and Iran, tensions in the Russian-Georgian relations. But Azerbaijan realizes foreign policy that meets national interests of Azerbaijan and not necessarily serves interests of the foreign policy of other states. Azerbaijan has not allowed its territory to be used as a base for attacks on a neighbor state. Azerbaijan is carrying out a pragmatic mutually beneficial policy of mutual respect with its neighbors – Russia, Iran, Turkey and Middle Asian states.
Concerning domination and leadership, Azerbaijan does not want to dominate among its neighbors in the political aspect. They are independent states but, on the other hand, we show an example of economic partnership. Look at Azerbaijani relations with Georgia and the Azerbaijani-Armenian relations. Due to Armenia’s occupation it gains no access to the majority of the economic pie of the region, Georgia receives a lot of investments from transport projects. The same concerns North Caucasus republics. Azerbaijan has excellent ties with them, as well as with the Muslim population of Georgia, Iran and Turkey. 27-30 million Azerbaijanis live in Iran and neighbor states. Azerbaijan, taking into account the cultural community, influences these groups of population. We do not strive for political domination but we want nobody to dominate over ourselves. We want to have pragmatic and mutually beneficial relations with our neighbors.
Jeykhun Kyaramov (Baku)
I agree that there is economic power and political power. But economic enforcement brings the political. If we look at Azerbaijan throughout 20 years of its independence we would see that there is a new potential opening for its political power. This is proven by success we achieved not only in the region but also globally. Look at the scale of energy projects Azerbaijan is taking part in. These agreements are far beyond the South Caucasus. This concerns Europe and the West as a whole. Many speakers have said that we have balanced foreign policy but that does not mean we have good relations with neighbors.
To be concluded
