By Vestnik Kavkaza
The visit of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to Baku and its results last week were a major theme in the Azerbaijani press. In general, the local press welcomed this event as a very useful and timely one for the country. The newspaper "Baku Worker" cites the opinion of the Deputy Chairman - Executive Secretary of the ruling party "Yeni Azerbaijan", MP Ali Akhmedov, who said that the negotiations and the documents signed during the visit have created a solid legal framework for achieving a higher level of future relations between countries in the economic, political and other spheres. "Azerbaijan and Russia”, said Akhmedov”, develop business relationships covering a variety of areas. The development of these relations is in the interests of our countries."
MP Fazil Mustafa agrees with him; his opinion was published by the newspaper "Sharq". This visit, he believes, can be seen as the beginning of a new era between the two countries. Relations between the countries are developing in a positive direction.
Chairman of the Democratic Reforms Party Asim Molla-zade told the newspaper "Yeni Musavat": "This visit lived up to my expectations. I've always believed that if Russia wants to hold a normal, pragmatic policy, it should establish normal relations with Azerbaijan. Putin's visit was aimed at this".
The "Adalat" newspaper published a comment by a member of the Scientific Council of the Moscow Carnegie Center, political scientist and orientalist Alexei Malashenko, who believes that with this visit, Putin put an end to the recent tensions between the two countries. "The two heads of state announced”, he said, “how their countries are important to each other. I am sure that Ilham Aliyev will win the October presidential election. The Russian state also knows this. Therefore, it attaches importance to the strengthening of dialogue and relations with the government of Ilham Aliyev."
Vladimir Putin’s visit to Baku became the focus of media attention not only in Azerbaijan but also in Armenia, where judging by the publications it was received with visible anxiety. In particular, a member of the civil movement "Pre-Parliament", representative of the movement "Armenian renaissance" Vigen Avetis said in an article in the newspaper "Aravot" that he is puzzled by how can the government and the president go on vacation, when in Baku Russian President meets with President of Azerbaijan. This, he said, had to be responded quickly.
Political analyst Amayak Hovannisian told the same newspaper that for Russia, Azerbaijan is particularly important partner. "If Russia and Azerbaijan combine the potential of their energy sectors, the EU countries will seriously depend on them”, he explained. "Russia has always considered it important for the possibility of tighter bind Azerbaijan to its political and economic cart. From the viewpoint of the settlement of our foreign policy problems, it is important that we prevent, even at the expense of our own interests, the formation of Russian-Azerbaijani alliance”, Hovhannisyan said.
The head office of Hay Dat ARF Kiro Manoyan suggested that this visit will not have a real impact on the settlement of the Karabakh problem. Russia wants to have influence in the region, and this visit should be considered in this aspect. However, he emphasized that it is not the behavior that Armenia would expect from a strategic ally, despite the fact that there was no violation of the legal provisions of the strategic alliance. However, a tragedy should not be made out of this.
The Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia and spokesman for the Republican Party Edward Sharmazanov, trying to calm public opinion, said he believes the visit of head of the country – strategic partner of Armenia to the Republic of Azerbaijan is quite normal: "This is not the first time, they are neighboring and bordering countries, there are a lot of questions - the Caspian Sea, regional, economic issues, and the analyzes that sound in connection with this visit from experts and analysts are a bit primitive. We should not be surprised at this visit. "Asked about what the messages for Armenia this visit contains are, Sharmazanov said that Armenia has made its choice on September 21, 1991, saying "yes "to independence. Armenia is an independent state, which holds its policy, based solely on its national interests. State interests in Armenia today require a deepening interest in an alliance with Russia, and, at the same time, deepening the relationship with European partners. "
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According to the Armenian newspaper “Lragir”, a hot political period is expected in the autumn, and the parties which had gone into "hibernation" in May, including the ruling Republican Party, will return in completely different realities. Over the summer, in Armenia and around the most important transformations took place, to which parties were almost indifferent. According to the publication, it is primarily the fact that Armenia has finally chosen the path of European integration, putting the question of the revision of the Armenian-Russian relations. Over the past couple of months, Armenia has evolved from the pro-Russian country to the republic aspiring to diversifying its policies, and thus, to the sovereignty. In addition, the author lists other events in the country. A declaration of territorial claims to Turkey, a fight against raising fees for city transport, processes in the Armenian Apostolic Church, which led to calls for the resignation of the Catholicos, the address of non-governmental organizations to the appropriate authorities with a demand to check the legality of the capital of Armenian officials, and Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan's accusation of participation in offshore transactions. Will the Armenian parties which hid after the election, apparently in order not to become parties to the more important debate for the country than the division of the power feeders, keep up with these rapid processes, or will they remain in a narrow rut of interpersonal squabbles called political ones? Will the Armenian policy continue to be limited to finding out who works for whom?
The author believes that if the Armenian parties do not affect the decision-making in the country, it will be done by someone else.
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According to the newspaper "Dagenstani Pravda", the ceremony of laying the first cubic meter of concrete in bridge foundation on the road Novogaptsah - Tagirkent - Yalama with access to the railway station of Samur was held. The builders plan by using the latest techniques and technologies to build a bridge construction of 265 meters in record time - in three months. The salary of highly skilled worker at the facility will reach 60 thousand rubles, and the salaries of the masters and engineers will be even higher, which will be an important factor in attracting qualified staff. All the elements of the bridge construction will be manufactured in Dagestan.
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According to the newspaper "Ingushetia", the shortage of apples in Russia is two million tons a year. This is the amount of fruit delivered each year to the Russian markets from abroad. If the average Russian consumes in a year a total of 45 kilograms of apples, in the developed countries of Europe the consumption is twice or three times as much, and for example, in Italy, one person consumes 187 kg of fruit per year. The Ingush leadership is interested in the experience and new intensive technology of Italian farmers. The service life of apple orchards on such technology is 15-20 years. In Ingushetia, it was decided to initially lay 100-150 hectares of apple orchards, making it the state project, and then to gradually move to the public-private partnership.
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According to the Chechen newspaper "News of the Republic," in schools in Chechnya from September last year for the students of the 5th forms the disciplines “History of religions" and "Fundamentals of religion" are introduced. This year they will be will introduced for all the other students. The main objective of the course is not only more focused exploration of religion and culture of the people, but also the formation of tolerance, respect for the culture and religion of other nations. According to Assistant Minister of Education and Science of the Chechen Republic Zina Serganova, manuals are developed in accordance with the requirements of the new federal education standards, and their content corresponds to the age and psychological characteristics of students of educational institutions of the Chechen Republic. The amendments were made by representatives of the Diocese of Makhachkala of Russian Orthodox Church.
