Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Azerbaijan is maintaining a balance in its relations with regional players, Azerbaijani MP said on March 4.

Rasim Musabeyov made the remarks at a round-table on "Geopolitics of the Caspian-Black Sea Region: Security Problems".

The meeting was organized by the Centre for Political Science "North-South" in Baku.

Musabeyov noted that Azerbaijan should maintain the possibility to protect itself.

"Baku has integrated air defense system with Turkey, while the level of military-technical cooperation with Russia exceeds the level of cooperation with Turkey and Israel in this area," Musabeyov said.

The main problem of the region is the unresolved Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, he added.

In his turn, Azerbaijani political scientist and Professor of Western University Fikret Sadikhov said the OSCE Minsk Group has not fulfilled its role as mediator in the peace process for many years, and has not contributed to the resolution of the conflict.

Speaking at the event, expert Vladimir Yevseyev said the situation in the South Caucasus will remain stable in 2014, and peace will be maintained.

"I consider further intensification of relations between Azerbaijan and Russia as the fundamental issue," he noted. "Today, it is important to create a new format of security in the region amongst Russia, Turkey, and Iran. Russia can help create a new model of regional security by using a factor of its relations with the post-Soviet countries, as well as big regional players."

In his remarks, Executive Director of the Centre for Political Science "North-South" Alexei Vlasov said Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey, and Kazakhstan can create an axis of stability and security in the region.

"The process of completing the formation of a state is underway in the former Soviet Union," he said.

The danger of destabilization may threaten many post-Soviet countries for various reasons, Vlasov said. "For example, the presence of NATO bases in the former Soviet Union is a real destabilizing factor."