Azerbaijani presidential polls: Russia's view

Igor Ivanov, head of the board of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrey Kortunov, Director General of the RIAC, Alexander Dzasokhov, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador and deputy head of the Russian commission of the UNESCO affairs, Andrey Kokoshin, Dean of the Faculty for World Politics of the MSU, Anatoly Torkunov, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador and Rector of MGIMO, Ismail Agakishiyev, a docent of the MSU and Director General of Vestnik Kavkaza, Alan Kasayev, head of the subdepartment for higher journalist master of the MSLU, and Alexey Vlasov, Editor-in-Chief of Vestnik Kavkaza, have discussed the presidential polls in Azerbaijan.

Agakishiyev said that he had arrived to monitor the elections at 7.30 am and had seen over a thousand observers, most of them from Russia and the CIS. Sergey Lebedev, Executive Secretary of the CIS, announced the transparency and fairness of the elections at 11.00. Baku was in a state of emergency in 1990 – October 1995, but had become a peaceful modern state with the help of Heydar Aliyev, he said.

Dzasokhov called the elections in Azerbaijan good news for Azerbaijan. He noted the success of Azerbaijan in foreign affairs. Regional affairs lie in the hands of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Dzasokhov predicts progress in Russian-Azerbaijani relations in the next 5 years. He expressed hope that Caucasus states will have regular talks and discussions of territorial disputes. He reminded that Baku will host the 3rd International Humanitarian Forum, it had about 100,000 Azerbaijanis speaking Russian.

Vlasov clarified that Azerbaijan had formed three new points in the agenda of the past 10 years: a policy of diffusion of regions, work with youth and diversification of foreign policy. He expressed confidence that the Azerbaijan had had the last elections with old opposition, whose members are aged about 60 and older.

Attendants of the talks discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. 20% of Azerbaijan is occupied. There have been no tent camps since 1995, where 1 million refugees used to live. Agakishiyev said that the conflict was not only a problem of Azerbaijan and Armenia but was a geopolitical issue in general. Many structures were formed to stimulate the peace process, but they only aggravate the problem, he supposes. Azerbaijan wanted to invest $20 million in restoration of regions.

Kasayev noted the density of information on Azerbaijani presidential polls in Russia. He wished Azerbaijan prosperity and predictability.