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Yeni Musavat, Azerbaijan
Aug 15 2013
Major issues still haunt bilateral ties after Putin's visit
Major differences still haunt Azerbaijan's relations with Russia, a
leading opposition daily has reported following Russian President
Vladimir Putin's visit to Baku on 14 August. The report pointed out
that Putin did not speak either of Russia's integration projects for
the CIS countries, or the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. According to the
report, "the Russian president was economical with remarks on the
Karabakh issue because Baku remains indifferent to the Eurasian Union
and Customs Union". The following is the text of Zahid Safaroglu's
report by opposition Azerbaijani newspaper Yeni Musavat on 15 August
headlined "Two questions Putin avoids"; subheadings inserted
editorially:
15 August: Local and foreign political commentators will probably
remain busy for some time analysing what was Vladimir Putin's first
visit to Baku in seven years in the capacity of a president. Russia is
not an ordinary country, but our biggest neighbour and a super power.
Even when Putin makes a stopover in Azerbaijan this is already a major
development.
No visible progress
Some political results of the half-a-day visit to Baku on 14 August
can already be outlined. First of all, the level of the signed
documents and statements the presidents made for the media lead to the
conclusion that the sides have yet to reach a serious agreement with
regard to the Eurasian Union and Customs Union, which have lately been
discussed at length. Otherwise, the heads of states would at least
make a hint to this end.
At the very least, Putin would mention this because he is the most
interested party when it comes to advancing this project that aims to
restore the USSR. Instead, he said that there are still unresolved
problems between Azerbaijan and Russia, and pointed out the security
issue among these. The organizations named above are directly related
to Russia's security. Moscow, to put it mild, does not want the South
Caucasus states to gravitate towards the West.
There was no such message. This means that Moscow-Baku relations are
not as warm and friendly as they are said to be. At any rate, the
statements the national leaders made were exclusively about economic,
trade, cultural and humanitarian achievements in bilateral relations
and the care for Russian language and culture in Azerbaijan.
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
No press conference was held following the one-to-one and expanded
meetings. It appears that in the last moment the head of the Kremlin
decided not to listen to unpleasant and uncomfortable questions of
journalists on major issues. One of such questions could concern the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.
If you remember, at the first news conference televised live following
his return to presidency Putin did not let an Azerbaijani journalist
pose a question about Nagornyy Karabakh by caustically remarking: "I
know you will ask about Nagornyy Karabakh". The Kremlin's leader
enthusiastically talked about the protection of the Russian language
in Azerbaijan and only made one banal and noncommittal remark about
the Karabakh issue: "The problem must be resolved exclusively through
political means". This is it. The head of one of the two major
co-chairing countries of the [OSCE] Minsk Group limited himself to
this answer. If relations are warm and close, Putin could at least
uttered a dry phrase, like, "Russia supports Azerbaijan's territorial
integrity and sovereignty". We do not even mention the fact of
occupation. Unfortunately, Moscow has long since purged the word
"occupation" from its lexicon.
The Russian president was economical with remarks on the Karabakh
issue because Baku remains indifferent to the Eurasian Union and
Customs Union. The political elite of aggressor Armenia were concerned
in the run-up to the meeting that Putin may make concessions on
Karabakh in Baku. The reason is that lately the Moscow-Yerevan
alliance has been going through a patchy period because Armenia
gravitates towards the European Union.
However, there was no concession. In other words, the Kremlin's
Karabakh policy remains unchanged. Another detail that confirms this:
in his remarks with journalists that followed the meeting, President
Ilham Aliyev spoke at length and in strong terms about the protracted
Karabakh conflict. He emphasized that while 20 per cent of
Azerbaijan's territory have remained under occupation for 20 years,
the UN resolutions remain on paper only. This was in effect the
president's criticism of Russia and should be considered a sign that
no concessions were made. If this had happened, we would hear some
upbeat remarks from the Azerbaijani president.
On the other hand, it would be naive to think that with Putin's return
to the political Olympus the Kremlin will unilaterally make a serious
contribution to settling the Nagornyy Karabakh problem at the time
when US-Russian relations are becoming increasingly tense and the
South Caucasus increasingly important.
As always, Russia is only satisfying its imperial interests.
[Translated from Azeri]
From: Baghdasarian
Aug 15 2013
Major issues still haunt bilateral ties after Putin's visit
Major differences still haunt Azerbaijan's relations with Russia, a
leading opposition daily has reported following Russian President
Vladimir Putin's visit to Baku on 14 August. The report pointed out
that Putin did not speak either of Russia's integration projects for
the CIS countries, or the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. According to the
report, "the Russian president was economical with remarks on the
Karabakh issue because Baku remains indifferent to the Eurasian Union
and Customs Union". The following is the text of Zahid Safaroglu's
report by opposition Azerbaijani newspaper Yeni Musavat on 15 August
headlined "Two questions Putin avoids"; subheadings inserted
editorially:
15 August: Local and foreign political commentators will probably
remain busy for some time analysing what was Vladimir Putin's first
visit to Baku in seven years in the capacity of a president. Russia is
not an ordinary country, but our biggest neighbour and a super power.
Even when Putin makes a stopover in Azerbaijan this is already a major
development.
No visible progress
Some political results of the half-a-day visit to Baku on 14 August
can already be outlined. First of all, the level of the signed
documents and statements the presidents made for the media lead to the
conclusion that the sides have yet to reach a serious agreement with
regard to the Eurasian Union and Customs Union, which have lately been
discussed at length. Otherwise, the heads of states would at least
make a hint to this end.
At the very least, Putin would mention this because he is the most
interested party when it comes to advancing this project that aims to
restore the USSR. Instead, he said that there are still unresolved
problems between Azerbaijan and Russia, and pointed out the security
issue among these. The organizations named above are directly related
to Russia's security. Moscow, to put it mild, does not want the South
Caucasus states to gravitate towards the West.
There was no such message. This means that Moscow-Baku relations are
not as warm and friendly as they are said to be. At any rate, the
statements the national leaders made were exclusively about economic,
trade, cultural and humanitarian achievements in bilateral relations
and the care for Russian language and culture in Azerbaijan.
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
No press conference was held following the one-to-one and expanded
meetings. It appears that in the last moment the head of the Kremlin
decided not to listen to unpleasant and uncomfortable questions of
journalists on major issues. One of such questions could concern the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.
If you remember, at the first news conference televised live following
his return to presidency Putin did not let an Azerbaijani journalist
pose a question about Nagornyy Karabakh by caustically remarking: "I
know you will ask about Nagornyy Karabakh". The Kremlin's leader
enthusiastically talked about the protection of the Russian language
in Azerbaijan and only made one banal and noncommittal remark about
the Karabakh issue: "The problem must be resolved exclusively through
political means". This is it. The head of one of the two major
co-chairing countries of the [OSCE] Minsk Group limited himself to
this answer. If relations are warm and close, Putin could at least
uttered a dry phrase, like, "Russia supports Azerbaijan's territorial
integrity and sovereignty". We do not even mention the fact of
occupation. Unfortunately, Moscow has long since purged the word
"occupation" from its lexicon.
The Russian president was economical with remarks on the Karabakh
issue because Baku remains indifferent to the Eurasian Union and
Customs Union. The political elite of aggressor Armenia were concerned
in the run-up to the meeting that Putin may make concessions on
Karabakh in Baku. The reason is that lately the Moscow-Yerevan
alliance has been going through a patchy period because Armenia
gravitates towards the European Union.
However, there was no concession. In other words, the Kremlin's
Karabakh policy remains unchanged. Another detail that confirms this:
in his remarks with journalists that followed the meeting, President
Ilham Aliyev spoke at length and in strong terms about the protracted
Karabakh conflict. He emphasized that while 20 per cent of
Azerbaijan's territory have remained under occupation for 20 years,
the UN resolutions remain on paper only. This was in effect the
president's criticism of Russia and should be considered a sign that
no concessions were made. If this had happened, we would hear some
upbeat remarks from the Azerbaijani president.
On the other hand, it would be naive to think that with Putin's return
to the political Olympus the Kremlin will unilaterally make a serious
contribution to settling the Nagornyy Karabakh problem at the time
when US-Russian relations are becoming increasingly tense and the
South Caucasus increasingly important.
As always, Russia is only satisfying its imperial interests.
[Translated from Azeri]
From: Baghdasarian