Mathias Dornfeld: “The future of the Eurasian region is in Azerbaijan”

Interview by Vestnik Kavkaza

A week has passed since the announcement of the results of the presidential elections in Azerbaijan, and nobody intends to dispute them (the victory of Ilham Aliyev is obvious). However, discussions of whether the elections were democratic continue. Vestnik Kavkaza interviewed a political scientist from the Berlin Center for Caspian Region Studies, Mathias Dornfeld, who was in Azerbaijan as an observer. He also spoke about the prospects for Azerbaijan’s developments after the presidential elections.

-          Mr. Dornfeld, what do you think about the election process in Azerbaijan?

-          We can state progress in voter turnout. 72% of the entire voting population of this country have voted so far. This is somehow for Western European countries a dream. In Germany we recently held federal elections to parliament; there was also a high turnout. But if I look at other countries where voter turnout is very low, we can say “Well done!” Furthermore, the present election commissions were well organized and prepared for the elections. And the situation was quite calm. What I want to say is that Azerbaijan is on the right way to becoming a country which will be very modern in a region where you have conflicts, where you have tensions and several disputes. It is a country which I consider to be an oasis of peace, a country which has good relations with all its neighbors, even though we have a lot of tensions in the region. So I think the role of Azerbaijan in the region will increase in the near future.

The country is on a good path, insofar as I saw that during the last years of the country’s development a lot of things have happened. When Azerbaijan became an independent state it was the least-developed country in the whole of the Caucasus. Nowadays we have a state in which 72% of the GDP of the entire region, I mean the three Caucasian states, occurs. Furthermore, a lot of infrastructural projects are planned in order to get closer to the Western markets. I mean the railway connections between Baku-Tbilisi-Kars and then further on to the European rail network, the enlargement of Heydar Aliyev airport, the construction of the new port of Alyat, and last but not least the extension of the subway here with five new lines. The country is developing as a partner between East and West, at the heart of Eurasia. I would say that Azerbaijan is a country which we need urgently in the West, I mean the European Union, the United States, as a bridge to Central Asia and to the Far East. Of course we are partners of Russia and Georgia, but Azerbaijan has a unique position as it goes to the Caspian basin and so far as it is between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

-          What can you say about Azerbaijan’s prospects in the development of the social and economic spheres after the elections?

-          I think in the upcoming future Azerbaijan will continuously grow and will not only grow domestically, but also its importance as a partner of the West. It was decided in June that TANAP will be extended not by Nabucco-West, but by the Transadriatic pipeline. So it covers Greece, Albania, and Italy. Azerbaijan has already invested a lot of money in Greece. They obtained a stake in its gas-delivering structure. I’m pretty sure that Azerbaijan will be responsible for creating new jobs in Albania, a country with a high unemployment rate; I myself lived in Albania 10 years ago, and I know how urgent this investment is there. And the same goes for the south of Italy, which is, compared to the north of Italy, a very poor region. So Azerbaijan is going through with this investment, and with its partners – BP, Statoil, and other companies -becomes an enormously important country which develops the poor south of Europe. I don’t need to mention the Greek crisis, I don’t need to mention what we faced before in Albania.

So on the one hand Azerbaijan is becoming a country which is exporting investments, becoming a big player, but a player on democratic rules. And on the other hand, the country domestically is well-developed for the advantage of the people; as far as I can see, the infrastructure will be increased, the economic will be diversified, developing food processing, agriculture, tourism, IT, the construction industries. In my mind it is one of the few countries which, soon after peak oil, which was reached in 2010-2011, realized that they have to something to make sure that for the upcoming generations the same living standards are granted.

-          Could you please comment on the cultural and historical heritage of Azerbaijan or Baku?

-          This is my favourite topic. Today I visited the Museum of Modern Art, and I was so impressed about the landscape of modern painters in Azerbaijan. To be honest, I have travelled throughout the whole world. And I rarely see the variety of modern artists like here in Azerbaijan. Then I continued to the Museum of Theatre History. Since 1873 you have had a theatre here and you have a very progressive culture. I mean they didn’t play only local and Turkish plays, but also Shakespeare and so on and so forth. We shouldn’t forget that Azerbaijan was one of first countries which introduced voting rights for women. Furthermore, you can go to Apsheron Peninsula and see remains of ancient times. Then you can go up to the Caucasus, to Dagestan, where you will see remains from the time of Islamic rule. Azerbaijan is one of the cradles of culture in Eurasia; it continues from ancient times to today, that here was a melting pot for nations, here was the first significant oil production in the world, and here is the future of the Eurasian region.