By Vestnik Kavkaza
On the 28th of May the Day of the Republic was celebrated in Azerbaijan. A performance took place at the Baku Seaside National Park, lasting several hours. Azerbaijani citizens and visitors to the capital admired fireworks, which ornamented the sky of Baku in different colors. A grand reception was organized in Moscow on the occasion of the national holiday of Azerbaijan.
Yefim Pivovar, rector of Russian State Humanitarian University, told Vestnik Kavkaza at the reception that Russia strongly supports many of the initiatives of Azerbaijan in the international arena, including the Baku 2015 European Games. The Russians will be the biggest delegation there. The Azerbaijanis will also use our extensive experience in the organization of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.
In Yefim Pivovar’s opinion, from the viewpoint of cooperation in the international arena Azerbaijan's position is important in relation to the sanctions against Russia, Azerbaijan's position on the recent Riga summit of the Eastern Partnership, as well as the position of Russian support for Azerbaijan in a number of international projects. ‘‘I think that Azerbaijan and Russia have a conflict, as both countries are major players on the energy market. However, our country can and we do find ways of mutually beneficial cooperation in order to overcome these barriers which appeared as a result of competition on the energy market.’’
Yefim Pivovar also noted that Moscow and Baku are actively cooperating in the Caspian Sea, in the context of the Islamic Cooperation Organization, but the most important thing is the personal contacts between the leaders of Russia and Azerbaijan. "Many international issues which worry Azerbaijan and Russia still remain unresolved. But I think that together we will move on in this direction, trying to solve them. This is a guarantee of our cooperation,’’ Yefim Pivovar added.
A Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Grigory Karasin, expressed the position of the Foreign Ministry in an interview to Vestnik Kavkaza: "We are convinced that friendly, prosperous Azerbaijan is a very important neighbor for us. We can see and realize how actively and rapidly the economy of Azerbaijan is developing. We understand how difficult it is to defend independence in international and regional affairs. In this sense, Russia and Azerbaijan have always had allied ties.
Our relations can be proudly called strategic. Certainly, international problems do not disappear. Together with our Azerbaijani friends we are discussing ways to solve them. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov visited Moscow a few days ago.
Karasin expressed his gratitude to the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia "for the atmosphere which is created by their regular contacts." "On the celebration of the Victory Day on the 9th of May, Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow. An Azerbaijani military unit marched through Red Square, symbolizing the unity of our two countries and peoples. It was our mutual Victory and we will honor it, we will never forget it. We look forward to the opening of the 2015 Baku European Games. It will be a huge-scale event, we will watch the competitions in Baku. We also wish success in hosting of the games, and want our team to become the winner there," the deputy head of the Russian diplomatic agency said.
Friendly Azerbaijan is an important neighbor for us, Grigory Karasin says.
