Azernews.Az

BAKU – Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze has said establishing a confederation with Azerbaijan was important and would help to strengthen regional security.

The issue has been put on agenda in Azerbaijan as well, but local politicians and analysts cite Turkey as a potential member of the confederation more often than Georgia.

The importance of setting up a joint confederation was stressed for the first time by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili at a news conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Batumi in July 2010. Since the proposal was unexpected for President Aliyev, in his reply he merely used official rhetoric without mentioning such a confederation, saying Azerbaijani-Georgian relations were expanding in line with both countries’ interests.

Saakashvili’s idea of creating a confederation with the neighboring South Caucasus republic was not a spontaneous thought, because less than a month ago, Deputy Minister Kalandadze stated at a government meeting that establishment of such a union was being comprehensively discussed.

In August, President Saakashvili mentioned the confederation again in an interview with an Azerbaijani state-funded publication.

Despite Tbilisi’s insistence, Baku has been rather silent regarding the issue and not a single Azerbaijani official has brought up establishment of the confederation so far.

Experts say that Azerbaijan is unlikely to raise its relationship with Georgia to the level of a joint confederation at this point or even to begin negotiating the matter. They believe that launching talks to that end would be tantamount to burning the bridges with Russia, which is at odds with the Saakashvili administration.

Another country that could be a member of a joint confederation is Turkey, Baku’s long-time ally. This time, the initiative to set up such a union was put forward not by Azerbaijan’s neighbor, but by Azerbaijani political circles and analysts. The proponents of such a confederation believe that by joining it, Azerbaijan could ward off pressure and threats posed by Russia and Iran, its giant northern and southern neighbors.