By Vestnik Kavkaza
Yesterday the Azerbaijani parliament ratified the intergovernmental Azerbaijani-Russian agreement on encouragement and mutual defense of investments. The document was signed in September 2014 during the visit to Russia by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.
Moreover, the parliament adopted several agreements which were signed in September in Astrakhan at the fourth summit of heads of the Caspian countries. They include a joint statement of the presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan, the agreement on cooperation in the sphere of prevention of emergency situations in the Caspian Sea and elimination of their consequences, on cooperation in the sphere of hydrometeorology in the Caspian region, and on protection of the water bio-resources of the Caspian Sea and their effective use.
According to Trend, last year the volume of Azerbaijani investments in Russia exceeded $250 million, while the volume of Russian investments in the Azerbaijani economy was about $200 million, including the non-oil sector - $36.1 million.
Leonid Slutsky, the head of the State Duma Committee for the CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Contacts with Compatriots, told Vestnik Kavkaza that historically Russia and Azerbaijan were key partners: “Azerbaijan has always been and will be our key partner in trade economic cooperation and other spheres. Cooperation in the sphere of inter-parliamentary diplomacy between the State Duma and Milli Mejlis is growing on international forums and in the bilateral format. There are the Inter-parliamentary Commission, the House of Friendship, and the Inter-parliamentary Club. We are closely communicating, coordinating our positions on various issues in the PACE, on various programs which are important for Moscow and Baku. So, we are closely connected with Baku.”
Slutsky stresses the special importance of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem not only for Azerbaijan, but for the whole international community: “Of course the Karabakh settlement is very important for Azerbaijan, Armenia and the whole world. It is a subtle matter which is being resolved in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group. Representatives of Foreign Ministries are working there. But the bleeding problem touches on common citizens and of course MPs, who are elected by ordinary people. So we are connected with subtle matter as well, we discuss it, but do our best to prevent any negative feedback. It is a very sensitive matter for people. We shouldn’t forget about it.”
Dmitry Zhuravlev, the director of the Institute of Regional Problems, told Vestnik Kavkaza that the position of Azerbaijan on international issues was independent: “As for the Azerbaijani position on relations with other countries, it is stable. There are several factors. First of all, these are economic successes of Azerbaijan, which are based on the traditional oil sphere. Secondly, the broad ties of the Azerbaijani authorities in the territory of the former USSR. Heydar Aliyev wasn’t just a manager, he was one of leaders of the USSR. He played a huge role in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. So Azerbaijan has always had an opportunity to use it, and it has used it.
Thirdly, in the context of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, Azerbaijan has no contradictions with any member of the Eurasian Union. Even though Russia and Armenia are very close to each other, we have friendly relations, and it hasn’t led to Azerbaijani-Russian problems. Both sides managed to maintain a balance. ”
According to Zhuravlev, “Azerbaijan is a favorite, but Azerbaijan will decide itself whether it wants to join the EaEU. Probably it won’t happen today. Probably it won’t happen in the near future, but they have begun to build normal economic relations with the union and they will continue doing so.”
Leonid Slutsky thinks that 2015 will be fruitful for the development of Russian-Azerbaijani relations: “We will visit Baku many times – the Humanitarian Forum, which was founded by Ilham Aliyev, while its initiator was Mikhail Gusman, who is a great figure in both Russia and Azerbaijan.”
The expert stresses that Azerbaijan and Russia are united by tight cultural and language links and the respect for Russian culture and Russian-speaking education which exists in Azerbaijan: “I should say that we are connected by great cooperation. Along with the trade and economic sphere, we cooperate in the humanitarian sphere, science, culture and education. Recently we have visited the Baku branch of MSU together with Sergey Naryshkin, the Speaker of the State Duma. The country is an example in the sphere of education at all levels – from elementary school to higher education, I mean education in Russian.”
Slutsky thinks that the secret of the successful cooperation between the two countries is the striving for a constructive dialogue: “If we have some drawbacks, we speak about them aloud to eliminate them. And it works.”
