Interview by Ramin Naziyev, Baku. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
Independent political analyst Ilgar Velizade shares his thoughts with Vestnik Kavkaza on socio-political processes that took place in Azerbaijan in 2012.
- What were the most memorable socio-political events in Azerbaijan in 2012?
- If we summarize the events of 2012 relevant to Azerbaijan we can say that the past year was marked by Eurovision. This event had the greatest importance for our country in terms of politics and society. Everything that happened around this major festival determined the importance of social and political life in the first half of 2012. Naturally, an important factor in this enterprise was the fact that the organization of the contest at some point faded into the background, while the socio-political events that took place in anticipation of the contest came to the foreground. A number of unsanctioned rallies were organized by the Azerbaijani opposition to attract the attention of the European public on the eve of the contest. There has been another escalation of tension in Iranian-Azerbaijani relations, which was also due to the organization of the European song contest. Various groups in Iran have interpreted this contest as Azerbaijani propaganda of values which were inherently alien to Islam. There was a rumour about a possible gay parade in Baku. Therefore, some aspects were interpreted incorrectly, and the relations between these two countries at that time were rather strained. A number of rallies took place in front of the Azerbaijani embassy in Iran. In response, there were protests against the latter in Azerbaijan.
An important event in the context of the year, particularly of August 2012, was the release and extradition of Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov. This was an important political event that showed an independent position of Azerbaijan regarding processes involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. As there had been many interventions to free Safarov, there was a rumour that the Azerbaijani officer was going to serve his remaining jail time in his homeland, but President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree that guaranteed his free pardon. By doing so, he highlighted his clear position: until the conflict is resolved on the basis of the requirements and provisions upheld by the Azerbaijani Republic, which are the territorial integrity and non-interference in the internal affairs of the country, our government has the ability to reserve the right to act decisively regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In practice, by pardoning Safarov, the head of state demonstrated his principled position on Nagorno-Karabakh. This case can even relate to a likelihood of the outbreak of hostilities in the near future, because the extradition and the subsequent pardoning of the Azerbaijani officer produced a mixed reaction, not only in the region but around the world. The Azerbaijani President made it clear that he can ignore any position to suit the interests of Azerbaijan. This episode, in my opinion, was an important socio-political event.
At the end of the year, a second organization of the Azerbaijani Diaspora was created in Moscow under the patronage of Russian oligarchs of Azerbaijani origins. On the eve of the presidential elections in Azerbaijan, this event was also interpreted ambiguously in the internal political life of the state. Some have suggested that this organization will function as a political force in the next elections. However, those were merely assumptions, because neither the founders of this organization nor anyone else gave any clear statements about the political character of the organization. At the same time, the leaders of the organization have said that they are not pursuing any political goals. Nevertheless, the establishment of such an "unnecessary" organization caused controversies both in Russia and in Azerbaijan. This event had some negative impact on the socio-political life of the country. Summing up all these facts it can be said that there have been no serious changes in social and political life in general. There were some unauthorized protests. After a series of similar rallies, a law to strengthen measures against unsanctioned protests was adopted in the autumn of 2012. If we look at the scope, nature and number of participants of these protests it can be said that they did not shake the foundations of political stability. The Guba events took place, there have been various attempts to project these events on other regions, and then on the entire country, and to present them as the beginning of large-scale protests. But it turned out it was only a local social protest of the population against the chief executive of the Guba region, which was caused by one specific event and did not have any continuation. In general, the local nature of these events suggests that the political and social stability is not subject to serious risk. We can recall rallies of Islamists in front of the Ministry of Education, there were other small rallies held during the year, but they have not had a major impact on the dynamics of the political process.
- How can the work of the Azerbaijani delegation to the UN Security Council be estimated, in particular, what was the level of meetings held under the chairmanship of Azerbaijan?
- During May Azerbaijan was the chairman of the UN Security Council. During this month there were several important issues on the UN agenda – the Iranian and Syrian issues. As the chairman, Azerbaijan was in agreement with the majority of the members of the UN Security Council. Regarding the Syrian and Iranian issues, Azerbaijan supported a peaceful solution with the help of political and legal measures, which are now part of the resolutions that have already been adopted. Basically, the position of Azerbaijan on this issue was well-balanced and was not rejected or contradicted, even among countries that stood in opposition to these topics. Even Russia and China did not refute the position of Azerbaijan, and in principle, our position was clear to them. The strength of the Azerbaijani position was that it was based on the decision taken by the same Council. Being the chairman of the Security Council, the country as a member of the UN has to coordinate efforts to implement these solutions. In this sense, even the opponents of Azerbaijan did not reject them. This aspect can be considered a success in the policies of the Azerbaijani delegation, given that it was the first time that Azerbaijan chaired the UN Security Council.
- What other achievements can be identified in the foreign policy of Azerbaijan?
- Azerbaijan was an active participant of a variety of external political processes. In particular, in the fall Azerbaijan hosted a conference of the Organization for Economic Cooperation, which was attended by heads of regional states. The conference was attended by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. This suggests that, despite the tensions that existed in the first half of the year, Iran is interested in maintaining friendly relations with Azerbaijan, and is not interested in aggravating the situation. This indicates that Azerbaijan has authority in the region, because if there was no authority there would have been no friendly attitude. During the year, the heads of states of Eastern Europe and the Central Asian region paid visits to Azerbaijan and this demonstrates the importance of Azerbaijan as a key player in the region, who provides and participates not only in issues regarding energy security in the region, but also serves as an important transport hub and geopolitical link between Central Asia and the countries of South-West Asia and Eastern Europe. In this regard, Azerbaijan is one of the key links that connects these regions. One can say that this is recognition of the importance of the role of Azerbaijan in the region, because during these visits the leaders of Asian and East European countries stressed the importance of Azerbaijan as a connecting link. This importance was also highlighted by the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. She also stressed the importance of Azerbaijan for the geopolitical region. This is evidence of our balanced, predictable policies that follow certain principles which have been developed in the past.
- What were the achievements in the sphere of humanities and in the social life of Azerbaijan?
- In the field of humanities, we can once again highlight Eurovision. The second Russian-Azerbaijani humanities forum also had a great success in Baku. Last year for the first time Azerbaijan articipated in programs aimed at helping and promoting the conservation of the cultural and material values of Western Europe. In Italy, the First Lady of Azerbaijan, the president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva, signed an agreement on the restoration and conservation of the Roman catacombs of St. Marchellino and St. Pietro, which from the point of view of history and architecture are one of the richest and most ancient Christian monuments. Also a number of events were held in France. With the crisis of multiculturalism, a unique example of a Muslim country, Azerbaijan, committed to preserving the values of Western culture is considered very important. Maybe in Azerbaijan these steps were not taken seriously enough, but in the West they were appreciated even from a political point of view. One such occasion, which took place during the visit of President Ilham Aliyev to France, was attended by French President Francois Hollande. At an exhibition dedicated to the opening of several new halls dedicated to Islamic art in the Louvre Museum in Paris, Francois Hollande highlighted the contribution of Azerbaijan to preserving the cultural and historical heritage of Europe. Curiously, in the fall of 2012, during the visit of President Serzh Sargsyan to France, Hollande, who previously supported the pro-Armenian position on the question of the adoption of a "genocide" law, refused to lend funds to Sargsyan. The most recent events indicate that the French president does not prefer the Armenian policy and is trying to conduct a balanced policy. It is possible that the implementation of a number of cultural programs by Azerbaijan somehow caused a revision of the political views of France, as well as of the major Western European countries. In this case, culture helps politics and despite the fact that all these events were directly related to the cultural sphere, they also impact on the political sphere. I have not noticed any serious changes in the social sphere. Naturally, there was indexation of pensions, salaries, but no serious changes in the social sphere. The issue of mitigation of mortgage lending for young families was discussed and a decision in favour of young people was adopted. All budgetary programs that were planned for 2012 have been fulfilled. But there have been no drastic changes. As part of the same program, schools, kindergartens and hospitals were constructed. Last year there was a serious earthquake in Zagatala, all destroyed houses have been re-built. If we search for specific examples in this region, it can be said that in other countries during the construction of houses and the allocation of funds the issue of insurance is taken into account. However, in our country new homes for victims of the earthquake were built for free. This means that Azerbaijan is a solvent state which can take care of its people in a critical situation. This shows once again that the Azerbaijani government regulates social tensions in society. If there were no regulatory aspects, the social pressure would be much greater. But regulatory factors do not allow social tensions to turn into a headache for the government.
