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Magyar Nemzet, Hungary
Oct 12 2012
Azerbaijan Would Pull the Region Towards Europe
Interview with Farhad Mammadov, director of the Strategic Research
Centre under the President of Azerbaijan, by Gabor Laszlo Zord in Baku
[Zord] Have you been surprised at the international reactions to the
Safarov-affair?
[Mammadov] Many things have been said in connection to this step, but
it must be primarily said that it was a justice step. Safarov's
imprisonment in Hungary, his extradition to Azerbaijan, and then his
pardoning by the president took place in accordance with the
Hungarian, Azeri, and the international law. This is what we stress
every time when a third country reacts to the affair. As for the other
published interpretations, they are emotional. Of course, several
countries' reactions elicited our concern because of the double
standard used, because they were silent when Armenia declared
Garabedjan a hero, a terrorist who committed a bomb attack at Orly
Airport. The international reaction to the Safarov-affair is due to
the international Armenian Diaspora's pressure on the various
governments. My personal opinion is that this whole affair is the
consequence of the Karabakh issue that continues to await a solution.
[Zord] Can we regard the extradition a step with which the
psychological obstacles in the path of Hungarian-Azeri relations have
been removed?
[Mammadov] Eight years have passed since Safarov's arrest but, when we
participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time five
years ago, after Turkey, Hungary gave the Azeri representative the
most points. In other words, irrespective of this affair, we will
develop our bilateral relations. This takes time, because first we
must sign the necessary political documents, then we must create the
economic infrastructure, and the two societies must come to know each
other. The Safarov-affair cast a shadow on all this, but the truth is
that it did not affect the processes.
[Zord] What expectations do you have regarding the development of
bilateral relations?
[Mammadov] Hungary is located in the middle of Europe, and the
development of cooperation with Eastern-Central European and Black Sea
countries is a priority for Azerbaijan. The reason for this is that
these countries are the closest developing markets to Azerbaijan.
Although the project is halted currently, for example Hungary wants to
participate in the Nabucco pipeline; on the other hand, several Azeri
firms have already invested in Hungary. We can learn a lot from you in
the area of certain technologies, but I can also mention the furniture
industry. The EU's second youth centre is in Hungary, and many people
from Azerbaijan are cooperating with it. We have simplified the visa
procedure and, although few Azeri tourists visit Hungary at the
moment, the trend is favourable. We are small countries, but countries
that are trying to strengthen and protect their independence.
[Zord] Recently, quite serious publication carried articles on the
Azeri-Israeli relations in connection with the Iranian nuclear issue.
Does your country support the military solution?
[Mammadov] Azerbaijan has repeatedly declared that nobody can make use
of its territory for military aggression against any of its
neighbours. There are 25 million Azeri nationals living in Iran and
they are important members of Iran's society. The Azeris, more
precisely the Azeri Turks, are one of the most important
state-creating people. Azeri dynasties ruled there over nine hundred
years. In other words, the state also belongs to them, not only to the
Persians. All this means that, also as the UN Security Council's
non-permanent member, Azerbaijan is urging a peaceful solution of the
issue. We do not oppose the use of nuclear energy for peaceful goals.
At the same time, we already have a neighbour possessing nuclear
weapons, and Azerbaijan does not want a second one.
[Zord] Azerbaijan has covered a spectacular development path in the
past almost 20 years. From the outside, it seems that the reason for
this must be found in the fact that, for the first time in a long
period, the locals possess the countries' resources, primarily its
energy sources. What is the pressure of outside factors, countries,
big powers, and multinational firms on you to share these resources?
[Mammadov] This is an interesting question! Most agreements were
signed in 1994, when the price of oil was $25 a barrel. These
agreements were not very favourable for Azerbaijan, but we have not
tried to change them to this very day. The problem was that the Azeri
oil must be excavated from the bottom of the ocean, something that
required huge investments. So we decided to sign contracts with the
biggest global firms which provide us the necessary technology. Thus,
the first profit belongs to the investors so that they recover their
investments, and only then Azerbaijan shared the income with the
foreign firms. Fortunately, the price of oil started to increase
quickly, so the first investment recovery stage only took two years
instead of the planned ten years. Today, we can earn a lot of money
under favourable conditions. It is very important that we cooperate as
responsible partners; at the same time, we need time to deserve this
status. At the same time, the most important task for Azerbaijan is to
develop other sectors, beside the oil sector.
[Zord] What is the connection between development, conflict, and your
foreign policy?
[Mammadov] Azerbaijan has fulfilled its international obligations in
spite of the Karabakh conflict. We have built our main oil and gas
export pipelines and the railway connecting us with Turkey via
Georgia. We expect a profit of $150 billion from this in the coming
15-20 years. While we are implementing the regional plans, Karabakh
remains the only problem in the region, although we very much want the
peaceful coexistence of Azeris and Armenians there. We are ready to
provide physical protection, to create the possibilities of economic
development, and to guarantee the cultural identity of Armenians in
Karabakh. The most important mechanism of implementing this is in
Europe and if the problem is solved, Armenia's borders will open to
Azerbaijan and Turkey. This would be important, because the conflict
led to the degradation of the Armenian independence. The Armenians
themselves claim that their 2.7 billion budget is burdened by a 400
million deficit [no currency mentioned]. Therefore, a solution must be
found, and the evacuation of territories neighbouring Karabakh could
be the first step; this would result in opening the borders, and then
the region should be demilitarized. After this, negotiations could be
started on Karabakh's final status. There has been debate on Bask
Lands to this very day, but it does not mean that we cannot carry it
in a civilized manner. War cannot play a role in Azerbaijan's
long-term development plans. If the conflict is solved, looking at the
map it is obvious that Azerbaijan could become the engine of the
entire region's EU integration efforts, we can give an impetus to the
entire region.
[Translated from Hungarian]
Oct 12 2012
Azerbaijan Would Pull the Region Towards Europe
Interview with Farhad Mammadov, director of the Strategic Research
Centre under the President of Azerbaijan, by Gabor Laszlo Zord in Baku
[Zord] Have you been surprised at the international reactions to the
Safarov-affair?
[Mammadov] Many things have been said in connection to this step, but
it must be primarily said that it was a justice step. Safarov's
imprisonment in Hungary, his extradition to Azerbaijan, and then his
pardoning by the president took place in accordance with the
Hungarian, Azeri, and the international law. This is what we stress
every time when a third country reacts to the affair. As for the other
published interpretations, they are emotional. Of course, several
countries' reactions elicited our concern because of the double
standard used, because they were silent when Armenia declared
Garabedjan a hero, a terrorist who committed a bomb attack at Orly
Airport. The international reaction to the Safarov-affair is due to
the international Armenian Diaspora's pressure on the various
governments. My personal opinion is that this whole affair is the
consequence of the Karabakh issue that continues to await a solution.
[Zord] Can we regard the extradition a step with which the
psychological obstacles in the path of Hungarian-Azeri relations have
been removed?
[Mammadov] Eight years have passed since Safarov's arrest but, when we
participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time five
years ago, after Turkey, Hungary gave the Azeri representative the
most points. In other words, irrespective of this affair, we will
develop our bilateral relations. This takes time, because first we
must sign the necessary political documents, then we must create the
economic infrastructure, and the two societies must come to know each
other. The Safarov-affair cast a shadow on all this, but the truth is
that it did not affect the processes.
[Zord] What expectations do you have regarding the development of
bilateral relations?
[Mammadov] Hungary is located in the middle of Europe, and the
development of cooperation with Eastern-Central European and Black Sea
countries is a priority for Azerbaijan. The reason for this is that
these countries are the closest developing markets to Azerbaijan.
Although the project is halted currently, for example Hungary wants to
participate in the Nabucco pipeline; on the other hand, several Azeri
firms have already invested in Hungary. We can learn a lot from you in
the area of certain technologies, but I can also mention the furniture
industry. The EU's second youth centre is in Hungary, and many people
from Azerbaijan are cooperating with it. We have simplified the visa
procedure and, although few Azeri tourists visit Hungary at the
moment, the trend is favourable. We are small countries, but countries
that are trying to strengthen and protect their independence.
[Zord] Recently, quite serious publication carried articles on the
Azeri-Israeli relations in connection with the Iranian nuclear issue.
Does your country support the military solution?
[Mammadov] Azerbaijan has repeatedly declared that nobody can make use
of its territory for military aggression against any of its
neighbours. There are 25 million Azeri nationals living in Iran and
they are important members of Iran's society. The Azeris, more
precisely the Azeri Turks, are one of the most important
state-creating people. Azeri dynasties ruled there over nine hundred
years. In other words, the state also belongs to them, not only to the
Persians. All this means that, also as the UN Security Council's
non-permanent member, Azerbaijan is urging a peaceful solution of the
issue. We do not oppose the use of nuclear energy for peaceful goals.
At the same time, we already have a neighbour possessing nuclear
weapons, and Azerbaijan does not want a second one.
[Zord] Azerbaijan has covered a spectacular development path in the
past almost 20 years. From the outside, it seems that the reason for
this must be found in the fact that, for the first time in a long
period, the locals possess the countries' resources, primarily its
energy sources. What is the pressure of outside factors, countries,
big powers, and multinational firms on you to share these resources?
[Mammadov] This is an interesting question! Most agreements were
signed in 1994, when the price of oil was $25 a barrel. These
agreements were not very favourable for Azerbaijan, but we have not
tried to change them to this very day. The problem was that the Azeri
oil must be excavated from the bottom of the ocean, something that
required huge investments. So we decided to sign contracts with the
biggest global firms which provide us the necessary technology. Thus,
the first profit belongs to the investors so that they recover their
investments, and only then Azerbaijan shared the income with the
foreign firms. Fortunately, the price of oil started to increase
quickly, so the first investment recovery stage only took two years
instead of the planned ten years. Today, we can earn a lot of money
under favourable conditions. It is very important that we cooperate as
responsible partners; at the same time, we need time to deserve this
status. At the same time, the most important task for Azerbaijan is to
develop other sectors, beside the oil sector.
[Zord] What is the connection between development, conflict, and your
foreign policy?
[Mammadov] Azerbaijan has fulfilled its international obligations in
spite of the Karabakh conflict. We have built our main oil and gas
export pipelines and the railway connecting us with Turkey via
Georgia. We expect a profit of $150 billion from this in the coming
15-20 years. While we are implementing the regional plans, Karabakh
remains the only problem in the region, although we very much want the
peaceful coexistence of Azeris and Armenians there. We are ready to
provide physical protection, to create the possibilities of economic
development, and to guarantee the cultural identity of Armenians in
Karabakh. The most important mechanism of implementing this is in
Europe and if the problem is solved, Armenia's borders will open to
Azerbaijan and Turkey. This would be important, because the conflict
led to the degradation of the Armenian independence. The Armenians
themselves claim that their 2.7 billion budget is burdened by a 400
million deficit [no currency mentioned]. Therefore, a solution must be
found, and the evacuation of territories neighbouring Karabakh could
be the first step; this would result in opening the borders, and then
the region should be demilitarized. After this, negotiations could be
started on Karabakh's final status. There has been debate on Bask
Lands to this very day, but it does not mean that we cannot carry it
in a civilized manner. War cannot play a role in Azerbaijan's
long-term development plans. If the conflict is solved, looking at the
map it is obvious that Azerbaijan could become the engine of the
entire region's EU integration efforts, we can give an impetus to the
entire region.
[Translated from Hungarian]