Strengthening partnership with EU among Azerbaijan’s priorities, minister says
Azerbaijan took its seat at the UN Security Council in early January 2012 for the very first time in its history and chaired the Council during May 2012, and it is a very significant achievement for the country, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said in an interview to The Business Year magazine.
"This is a very significant achievement for a country that has come a long way from the brink of total political and economic collapse in the early 1990s. To put it into context, Azerbaijan is the first country to have been elected as a UN Security Council non-permanent member in the whole South Caucasus and Central Asian region, and only the second in the CIS region," Mammadyarov said.
"As President Ilham Aliyev said during his address to the Security Council, 'Azerbaijan will always support international law and justice,' and this role has allowed us to put into practice our long-standing commitment to the fundamental principles of international law as well as the existing international system," Mammadyarov underscored.
He said Baku has been in the spotlight as it has successfully hosted a range of regional and international gatherings, including the Baku International Humanitarian Forum, the Heads of State Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), and Eurovision Song Contest 2012.
"In September 2012, we also held the Third Conference of Azerbaijani Ambassadors in Baku, which gave us an opportunity to look back at the achievements and look ahead to the coming challenges for our foreign policy. The conference was a great success as it coincided with the inauguration of the new campus of the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy," Mammadyarov underlined.
He said that in his address, President Aliyev touched on the achievements of Azerbaijani diplomacy and identified the concrete tasks lying ahead.
According to Mammadyarov, developing and strengthening partnership with the EU in political, economic, and humanitarian fields is one of the priorities of Azerbaijan's foreign policy.
"Mutual cooperation with the Union can undoubtedly help us in achieving many of our goals, and we are therefore interested in advancing our bilateral relations. It is vital that the cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU is built on the basis of efficiency, equal partnership, mutual understanding, and respect," he said.
Mammadyarov said that Azerbaijan is steadily pursuing the modernization of the country in all areas, and it is important that the EU, as one of the country's partners, closely participates in this process.
"The approximation of Azerbaijan's legislation with European standards, the strengthening of democracy and the rule of law, the development of trade and economic ties, and integration into the common European education sphere remain among our priorities," he said.
Hence, cooperation between Baku and Brussels should embrace all areas of common interest based on a balanced approach, and in this regard the EU should take into account the priorities and needs of Azerbaijan.
"In our view, the EaP provides a useful framework for enhancing cooperation opportunities and deepening integration process. Azerbaijan envisages its relations with the EU in a broader context and does not intend to limit these relations to the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy or EaP," Mammadyarov said.
From this perspective, Azerbaijan intends to build strategic partnership with the EU beyond the energy sector. According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on strategic partnership in the energy field signed between Azerbaijan and the EU in 2006, it is possible to extend this strategic partnership to other sectors, he said.
"Since the very first days of the establishment of the EaP, Azerbaijan, as the only energy rich country and net exporter of hydrocarbons, expressed its genuine interest and political will in helping the EU develop the concept of the Southern Gas Corridor," Mammadyarov noted.
"Azerbaijan is making its contribution to energy security in Europe not only through diversified routes of supply, but most importantly by enabling diversified sources of those supplies. Furthermore, in January 2011 Azerbaijan reiterated its position to enhance the ongoing dialogue on energy security with the EU during the visit of the President of the European Commission to Azerbaijan," he underlined.
Mammadyarov said the signing of that document represented a milestone for maximizing opportunities through enhancing regional transportation infrastructure.
According to Mammadyarov, however, decisions to be taken by Azerbaijan along with its partners will be based on the principles of commercial viability, profitability, transparency, and long-term predictability of various segments of the European market.
"We believe that enhancing our contribution to the energy security of Europe will also reciprocate and deliver many benefits to Azerbaijan, among which we put an emphasis on access to the European market," he said.
Azerbaijan's foreign and economic relations embrace all geographic directions, including countries in the East, Mammadyarov said.
"Azerbaijan is located on the historic Silk Road, and in fact we were the very first country to join the Transportation Corridor Europe Caucasus Asia (TRASECA) program, which envisages the revitalization of this lifeline for development and prosperity. Azerbaijan enjoys developing trade relations with most countries in the East, in particular China, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia," he said.
Azerbaijan wants peace so that it can continue to grow the economy, he said.
Baku was initiator of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars rail link, which once completed will undoubtedly increase the economic interaction between Azerbaijan and the East, Mammadyarov said.
According to him, moreover, the new seaports and airports that are being constructed will also provide vital transportation infrastructure for the increasing trade and economic activities in the wider Caspian and Central Asian region
Azerbaijan is interested in developing mutually beneficial economic and trade relations with all countries, Mammadyarov said.
Within the South Caucasus region, Azerbaijan has been sustainably developing economic relations with its strategic partner Georgia, which is a party to major regional projects in the energy and transport fields. As a result, bilateral trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Georgia grows yearly, he said.
"Meanwhile, our country has no bilateral economic links with Armenia, whose armed forces still continue to keep under occupation around 20% of Azerbaijan's territories," Mammadyarov said.
Armenia is isolated in the region because of unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and excluded from all the regional infrastructure and energy projects, he said.
"When we can agree on lasting peace, Armenia could become one of the stakeholders in these regional projects," Mammadyarov said.