Azerbaijani president upbeat on Turkic unity: "You have to live in your family"
Part II of Ilham Aliyev's Shusha speech

ANALYTICS  06 May 2023 - 13:34

Regarding relations with Türkiye and, in a broader context, with NATO, it is necessary to recall Aliyev's statement, noted in the first part of the article - namely, the priority that Azerbaijan clearly gives to bilateral strategic agreements, rather than general declarative programs.

For example, the Azerbaijani leader cited the country's relations with the EU. The same thesis was used by Aliyev to characterize the cooperation with NATO.

"Azerbaijan, becoming a military ally to Türkiye, indirectly becomes also, to a certain degree, a military ally to NATO,” Ilham Aliyev stated.

Recalling that 15 years ago, Ukraine and Georgia were promised NATO membership but it hasn't happened yet, the president noted that Azerbaijan had signed an agreement with the second largest NATO member country by its military potential, noting that " it's serious".

“So, we always have chosen the paths of practical steps rather than declarations, which then did not transform into tangible results,” the president emphasized his leitmotif, pointing to practical actions "on the ground”.

As for Türkiye directly, having underlined the role of President Erdogan and relations with him in the fact that relations between the countries have advanced from brotherly to allied, Aliyev assured that he is personally optimistic and that Azerbaijan and Türkiye will further strengthen the format of allied relations because "in the current new geopolitical realities they have become an important factor in regional stability and security, whether in the military, energy, communications, trade."

At the same time, Aliyev stressed that "nothing will change the fraternal character of relations between Türkiye and Azerbaijan”. nothing will change the fraternal nature of relations between Azerbaijan and Türkiye.

A reminder that the question itself was asked in the context of the forthcoming presidential elections in Türkiye. The president deemed it necessary to clarify that the level of strategic relations between Azerbaijan and Türkiye is no longer dependent on the domestic political situation of the two countries. Moreover, this tandem is becoming a formative factor in the entire region.

Ilham Aliyev also answered the question about Azerbaijan-Iran relations, dwelling in detail on the chronology of the escalation of tension between the two countries, which was invariably initiated by the Iranian side, which even arranged terrorist acts against Azerbaijan.

The president did not hide the fact that “now relations between Azerbaijan and Iran are on the lowest ever level. It is very difficult to predict whether they will remain on that level, whether they will go down or they will go up.”

According to the head of state, in order to normalize relations, Azerbaijan demands the extradition of some terrorists from Azerbaijan who found shelter in Iran and a transparent investigation of the terror attack on the Azerbaijani embassy.

“But everybody in Iran, all segments of the establishment should finally understand that the language of threats and terror will not work with Azerbaijan. The soon they understand, the better we can see signs of normalization," the president concluded his remarks with this message to the Iranian side.

As for the level of US-Azerbaijani relations, stressing the destructive role of anti-Azerbaijani senators and other Armenian lobby, President Aliyev simultaneously noted the significant and sometimes decisive support of Washington in the realization of diversification of energy routes to Europe by Azerbaijan, including Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and Southern Gas Corridor.

“Security, energy, trades, now, on renewables, we hope that American companies will be part of our big project of transforming Azerbaijan into a source of renewable energy,” he underlined. This practically confirms that the diversification of energy supplies to Europe is one of the main areas of strategic cooperation between the US and Azerbaijan.

Asked about the risks for Azerbaijan in case of a possible threat of disintegration of Russia and a hypothetical aggravation in the North Caucasus, Ilham Aliyev, first of all, noted that he did not think “we will not see the time, when as you put it, Russia will be disintegrated. We don't foresee this scenario for Russia. We support the territorial integrity of Russia and all the countries”.

At the same time, he stressed that “in relations between Azerbaijan and Russia, communications between Azerbaijan and republics of the Northern Caucasus were always an important factor. And it is well understood in Moscow and in Baku.”

Clearly denoting Azerbaijan's commitment to respect for the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, Aliyev summed up his remarks with the following summary:

“Although there are dividing lines, administrative borders, state borders in the Caucasus, but Caucasus is one organism and you cannot divide the body in two.”

In essence, this remark calls on the Russian leadership to balance its domestic and foreign policy in this explosive region with the obligatory consideration of common threats.

Azerbaijani President was also asked about the transit of Kazakh energy resources to Europe, which is supposed to be carried out through the Azerbaijani infrastructure.

Pointing to the growing importance of Azerbaijan as a transit territory for the export of various kinds of products not only from Kazakhstan but also from Central Asia as a whole, the president revealed an interesting detail:

“So, in the future and not only oil by the way. We are providing important transportation for Kazakhstan with respect to uranium exports. And this is very important not only for Kazakhstan, but also for those countries - two countries - which are recipients of uranium and many other cargos,” Aliyev did not name the importers, but it is possible that one of these two countries is France, since it is France, along with Hungary and Finland, that does not intend to reduce the capacity of its nuclear energy.

If so, then a certain change of heart in Paris’s position on the Azerbaijani-Armenian settlement is not unlikely.

Speaking about the success of Azerbaijan's energy strategy, which also did not go unnoticed by the participants of the discussion Aliyev noted that “we have always built and compared our plans with the future because it was my father's vision."

And this is true: the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline laid down by the national leader Heydar Aliyev, given the current geopolitical factors, allows the nation to hope for a speedy output to full capacity. And this refers not only to the export of condensate from the Shah Deniz, Absheron and other gas fields but also the transit of additional volumes of oil from Central Asia, as well as from Russia itself, traditionally regarded as a competitor to Azerbaijan in the transportation of hydrocarbons.

The European partners were unsure both about Azerbaijan's sufficient gas reserves and about the future growth of its demand for it. This resulted in TAP’s (Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline) small capacity compared to TANAP’s (Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline).

Here, Aliyev noted that European Energy Commissioner Mrs. Simson has called Azerbaijan "a pan-European gas supplier."

“So, this demonstrates that we need not only to plan the project from a commercial point of view, but also from a strategic point of view and need to continue this combination,” the president emphasized, adding that “we better have the capacity and have it not fully engaged rather than to have resources and not to be able to transport.” As a matter of fact, this is how he voiced one of the main factors of Azerbaijan's energy strategy.

Touching upon the issue of European security and challenges for Azerbaijan in the context of the war in Ukraine, Aliyev said:

“So, I think this new geopolitical change will lead to the militarization of Europe, of the world. And on one hand, it can be a dangerous kind of a trigger, on the other hand, I think that could be also a kind of factor of deterrence.”

And then he expressed an amazing, but absolutely objective thought, which he suffered together with the whole country:

“In Azerbaijan, we realized many years ago that no one will help us and all our illusions about the prevalence of international law disappeared. Not immediately, but throughout the times of negotiations. So, we realized that if we don't have a strong army if we don't raise a young generation ready to fight for dignity not only for the land, we will always be occupied and always will complain.

Thus, Aliyev pointed out the source of Azerbaijan’s power and demonstrated the way for each individual country in a crisis and in the face of danger.

“We were fed up with complaining, you know, let others complain about us now,” the Azerbaijani leader revealed, smiling. Without a doubt, this joke is addressed not only to the country that seized Azerbaijani lands for almost 30 years but also to the Western establishment that supported the aggressor.

“Our policy in the field of regional development, our policy in international affairs, in matters related to the territorial integrity of countries, is absolutely clear, absolutely free from any interests of the current situation. And I believe that Azerbaijan will become much stronger as a result of geopolitical changes. We already see it," he summed up the preliminary result of the strategic planning and efforts of Azerbaijan in the current global crisis.

The president also touched upon the economic sphere, in particular, the prospects for the export of electricity, including renewables to the European markets. Referring to Azerbaijan as a transit country, he pointed to the "well-done homework" of China's global “One Belt, One Road” project.

“With respect to the Zangazur corridor and as far as I got it correctly, how China can facilitate. I think there's a big potential in the Zangazur corridor and already I mentioned that the railroad connection between China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, is started,” the president remarked.

Aliyev also noted that "China and Azerbaijan have established excellent relations" and that he himself had repeatedly met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“He called me a good friend of China during one of our meetings. So, I think only this is enough to demonstrate the level of our cooperation,” the president said proudly. At the same time, he recalled that "Azerbaijan is a country not only of the East-West corridor but also of the North-South corridor", pointing to the strategic importance of the state for the countries of the Moscow-Tehran-New Delhi conditional axis.

In general, everything said by the President over and over again testifies to Azerbaijan's commitment to a balanced foreign policy and the desire for mutually beneficial cooperation with all international actors.

At the same time, Ilham Aliyev, speaking about the progressive development of the Organization of Turkic States, cited an interesting metaphor: “You know, you have to live in your family. You have to live in your country. That's my, how to say, approach. Of course, I respect people who live in other countries. It's now normal in a global world. But I think that for everyone, that's my personal view, is better to live in your country and in your family. So, this is our family and we must be in our families. This is a natural space for all of us.”

This judgment, of course, should not be taken literally, but in a broader sense - as a call to the fact that the Turkic states should form a single agenda in order to become a powerful geopolitical centre of power, without the former dependence on the interests of other players.

It is symbolic that the last among the speakers at the conference was the representative of Uzbekistan - First Deputy Chairman of Uzbek Oliy Majlis Senate, Rector of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy Sadyk Safayev, who began and completed his address to Ilham Aliyev in the Uzbek language.

The official stressed the unprecedented role of Heydar Aliyev's political legacy for the entire Turkic world and thanked Azerbaijani President for organising the conference.

“You probably realize that we don't need to have an interpreter. Our language are so close, our people are so close, that we not only understand each other, but we feel the pulse of each other,” the president responded.

These words undoubtedly serve as the leitmotif of the efforts of the Turkic states towards greater political unity in the context of the emergence of a new world order.

In general, as already mentioned, Ilham Aliyev's speech leaves the impression of fixing a certain watershed, as a result of which Azerbaijan enters a qualitatively new level of international cooperation.

Caliber.Az