Tweet
AZERBAIJAN'S INTERNAL SECURITY IS VITAL TO EUROPE'S ENERGY SECURITY, VIENNA CONFERENCE TOLD
Wall Street Journal, NY
June 11 2013
Azerbaijan is ready to play a greater role in Europe's long-term
energy security but it has reminded the international community that
in return, Europe, its biggest energy recipient, must acknowledge
the security issues it faces at home.
The conference in Vienna entitled The Geopolitics of Azerbaijan
and European Energy Security, heard Monday from Azerbaijani and EU
politicians, diplomats and experts in international oil and gas. It
was told that the US $60 billion invested in Azerbaijan's energy
infrastructure since independence means it is well placed to exploit
its 2.6 trillion cubic metres proven reserves of natural gas.
"We can produce a whole lot more," said Azerbaijan Energy Minister
Natig Aliyev.
But his Azerbaijan parliamentary colleague Elkhan Suleymanov, warned
the stability that has made this bonanza possible is tested on a
daily basis by a conflict most gas end-users ignore - the occupation
of Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenia for the past 21 years.
"The amount of pecuniary damage caused by this war is $US431.5
billion," he said, quoting from the study published in the U.S. in
2012 called The Invasion of Azerbaijani Lands.
He also highlighted the latest threat to his nation; the dilapidated
Sarsang Reservoir in Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh that engineers
and hydrologists recently confirmed is at risk of catastrophic failure
and at the mercy of saboteurs due to a lack of maintenance.
"The Sarsang reservoir is in emergency condition," Suleymanov told
the conference.
"Thus the lives of 400,000 people in six provinces of Azerbaijan are
in danger."
Despite resolutions in the United Nations, the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe, the Organisation of Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) and the European Parliament, Armenia still occupies
20 percent of Azerbaijani territory.
The ongoing aggression in Nagorno-Karabakh, said Professor Gerhard
Mangott of the University of Innsbruck, proves Nagorno-Karabakh
"cannot be considered a frozen conflict".
Israeli Ambassador to Austria, Aviv Shir-On, said his nation and
Azerbaijan are both "small nations in difficult neighborhoods" adding,
"We appreciate the efforts of Azerbaijan to establish trade and energy
policies but also a foreign policy consisting of delicate balances
vis-a-vis international and regional organisations."
The event was moderated by former Austrian Chancellor Alfred
Gusenbauer, who said nations have a habit of forgetting conflicts like
Nagorno-Karabakh because "the newest conflict is the most interesting
conflict".
He closed by urging the international community to do more to help
find an end of Armenia's occupation of Azerbaijani territory, for
humanitarian reasons as much as reasons of energy security.
SOURCE Azerbaijan Monitor
http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130610-908043.html
Wall Street Journal, NY
June 11 2013
Azerbaijan is ready to play a greater role in Europe's long-term
energy security but it has reminded the international community that
in return, Europe, its biggest energy recipient, must acknowledge
the security issues it faces at home.
The conference in Vienna entitled The Geopolitics of Azerbaijan
and European Energy Security, heard Monday from Azerbaijani and EU
politicians, diplomats and experts in international oil and gas. It
was told that the US $60 billion invested in Azerbaijan's energy
infrastructure since independence means it is well placed to exploit
its 2.6 trillion cubic metres proven reserves of natural gas.
"We can produce a whole lot more," said Azerbaijan Energy Minister
Natig Aliyev.
But his Azerbaijan parliamentary colleague Elkhan Suleymanov, warned
the stability that has made this bonanza possible is tested on a
daily basis by a conflict most gas end-users ignore - the occupation
of Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenia for the past 21 years.
"The amount of pecuniary damage caused by this war is $US431.5
billion," he said, quoting from the study published in the U.S. in
2012 called The Invasion of Azerbaijani Lands.
He also highlighted the latest threat to his nation; the dilapidated
Sarsang Reservoir in Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh that engineers
and hydrologists recently confirmed is at risk of catastrophic failure
and at the mercy of saboteurs due to a lack of maintenance.
"The Sarsang reservoir is in emergency condition," Suleymanov told
the conference.
"Thus the lives of 400,000 people in six provinces of Azerbaijan are
in danger."
Despite resolutions in the United Nations, the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe, the Organisation of Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) and the European Parliament, Armenia still occupies
20 percent of Azerbaijani territory.
The ongoing aggression in Nagorno-Karabakh, said Professor Gerhard
Mangott of the University of Innsbruck, proves Nagorno-Karabakh
"cannot be considered a frozen conflict".
Israeli Ambassador to Austria, Aviv Shir-On, said his nation and
Azerbaijan are both "small nations in difficult neighborhoods" adding,
"We appreciate the efforts of Azerbaijan to establish trade and energy
policies but also a foreign policy consisting of delicate balances
vis-a-vis international and regional organisations."
The event was moderated by former Austrian Chancellor Alfred
Gusenbauer, who said nations have a habit of forgetting conflicts like
Nagorno-Karabakh because "the newest conflict is the most interesting
conflict".
He closed by urging the international community to do more to help
find an end of Armenia's occupation of Azerbaijani territory, for
humanitarian reasons as much as reasons of energy security.
SOURCE Azerbaijan Monitor
http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130610-908043.html