First of all, the South Caucasus means millions of compatriots for Russia: Azerbaijanis, Armenians and Georgians are still perceived as such by Russian people, the director of the Institute of Political Studies, a prominent political scientist Sergey Markov, speaking with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, said. "And these nations also view Russian people as their compatriots," the expert added.
Ahead of the 98th anniversary of the proclamation of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia (May 26 is Georgia's independence day, May 28 is Azerbaijani Republic Day, May 28 is Armenian Republic Day ) Vestnik Kavkaza is publishing a series of interviews with Russian politicians, economists and cultural figures about links between Russia and these countries. Today, our guest is a diplomat Sergey Markov.
"These deep historical and personal links is the number one issue in Russia's relations with the South Caucasus republics. The second issue is the need to establish normal economic relations, and the third one is the need to resolve regional conflicts. It is also necessary to include these countries in the inter-regional cooperation projects, and Russia is ready to do it," the expert pointed out.
The depth of the links can be demonstrated by the example of the Russian-Azerbaijani relations. "We are united not only by a common past, but also by a powerful Azerbaijani Diaspora in Russia and a strong Russian-speaking diaspora in Azerbaijan. There are a lot of people in Russia who are traditionally associated with Azerbaijan, who lived and were educated in Baku and vice versa. The Russian language is the lingua franca in both Russia and Azerbaijan now. President Ilham Aliyev and his father Heydar Aliyev are part of this Azerbaijani elite," Sergey Markov noted.
In addition to personal contacts, Russia and Azerbaijan are closely linked in the economic sphere. "Russia and Azerbaijan have managed to get out of the economic crisis, which helped Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev to significantly improve relations between the two states. Now Russia is making every effort in order to help Azerbaijan and Armenia reach a significant settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the 'Kazan formula', which was developed under the mediation of the Russian president in 2011," the expert pointed out.
As for Armenia, there is a special situation. "Contacts between Russia and Armenia, first of all, are relations with the Armenian people. A significant number of Armenians live in Russia, being tightly integrated into the Russian life, but staying Armenia's patriots," Sergey Markov noted.
All this provided Armenia's participation in the Russian integration projects. "Armenia has positioned itself as the nearest and most important outpost of Russia in Caucasus, and Russia considers Armenia as an ally. The price for this alliance is quite high, since because of it Russia have problems with those who are in conflict with Yerevan - Azerbaijan and Turkey. Recently, Russia is trying to take a centrist position, developing the military-political relations with Armenia and the economic and political relations with Azerbaijan," the director of the Institute of Political Studies said.
Difficult relations with Georgia, according to the expert, have developed because of the initial problems within the Georgian elite. "Georgia is the most affected by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Of course, it was the Georgian elite's fault, which has led the republic in the wrong direction for all 25 years. In fact, the restoration of diplomatic relations with Russia and the resumption of the entire complex of economic, political and cultural ties will help to bring Georgia out of the crisis, but so far the Georgian elite hesitates to do it," Sergey Markov stressed.
