Baku hosts geopolitical roundtable vowing to tackle world crises
Global Forum brings the wind of change

ANALYTICS  15 March 2024 - 20:00

Baku is hosting the XI Global Baku Forum on "Fixing the Fractured World" under the auspices of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Nizami Ganjavi International Centre. It should be noted that the Global Baku Forum is a traditional international platform for discussion of the most important issues on the world agenda.

The Forum witnessed the participation of representatives from numerous countries and esteemed international organizations. With over 350 guests representing more than 70 nations, the forum has garnered significant attention.

The event encompasses a diverse array of discussions. These include assessments of COP28 outcomes and preparations for COP29, as well as dialogues on threats to the evolving world order, such as security concerns and prospects for peace. Additionally, discussions will focus on strategies for navigating global challenges, addressing conflicts, and confronting megatrends like climate change, food security, and nuclear safety.

In keeping with tradition, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, addressed the opening ceremony of the Forum. The head of state began by noting the growing prestige of the event. "I believe that today the Global Baku Forum is on a par with such leading international forums as the World Economic Forum in Davos and the Munich Security Conference," Aliyev said.

Quoting the President's words, it should be noted that the fact that Baku has become a platform for the international forum, which is rapidly increasing in prestige, contains an important message that countries outside the conventional West, those that until recently were called developing countries, and now more and more often - countries of the Global South, can also make a significant contribution to the global communication of world issues. Azerbaijan's four-year chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement, which without exaggeration has breathed new life into this organisation, has also played a significant role in raising Azerbaijan's profile in this capacity.

The President then touched upon the geopolitical changes in the South Caucasus, noting that the full restoration of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty was "indeed a very serious geopolitical change, which I believe will have many positive consequences for the resolution of seemingly intractable conflicts".

Continuing his thoughts, Aliyev spoke about the destructive role of the OSCE Minsk Group during almost thirty long years of Armenian occupation of Karabakh, whose main goal was "not to resolve the conflict, but to freeze it, the desire to make the Armenian occupation eternal and to convey to us the inevitability of our reconciliation with the occupation", and concluded that "never in the history of the independence of the South Caucasus has peace been as close as it is today. And this is the result of the Second Karabakh War. This is the result of the anti-terrorist operation we carried out last September, which took less than a day and put an end to separatism in Azerbaijan forever, restoring our sovereignty and territorial integrity".

The President of Azerbaijan gave a brief history of the Karabakh conflict and its resolution, not to satisfy the ego of Azerbaijanis, but to draw the following far-reaching conclusion: "What has happened in Azerbaijan in the last three or four years is not a local issue. It has already had many positive consequences that have affected the situation not only in the South Caucasus. I think it can be used as a model for resolving seemingly intractable conflicts. But first of all, of course, with the prevalence of international law".

Indeed, at a time when international law seems to be losing its relevance, Azerbaijan has demonstrated to the world the necessity and, above all, the possibility of adhering to its basic principles, and it has shown that even small states are capable of such an act of will with the proper mobilisation of resources.

Moreover, speaking about the inconsistent behaviour of the Armenian leadership after the 2018 revolution, Aliyev remarked: "The famous slogan of the Armenian Prime Minister that 'Karabakh is Armenia' is, firstly, an absolute violation of international law and, secondly, too ambitious for a country that thought it could hold our lands forever." In doing so, the Azerbaijani leader taught a political lesson about the need to balance the desirable with the possible. The collapse of Armenia's "Miatsum" project is a vivid example of what happens when politicians fail to get a grip on reality.

In his speech, Aliyev also touched upon the absurd and despicable policies of France, pointing out that the international community as a whole did not support Paris' destructive initiatives: "The reaction of the French government to the Second Karabakh War and the anti-terrorist operation was absolutely inadequate. There were five attempts to bring this issue to the UN Security Council and to impose sanctions on Azerbaijan for something we did not do. We did not do anything against international law. All these five attempts failed because other members of the Security Council did not support them. After that, there were several more attempts to impose sanctions on Azerbaijan in the European Union. These attempts also failed."

A significant part of Aliyev's speech, devoted to the already solved Karabakh problem and related questions, demonstrated the ability of a single country to put an end to the geostrategic despair caused by the local conflict and to become a state on the global agenda. In this sense, the COP29 conference to be held in Baku in November this year is significant, and this idea was also reflected in Ilham Aliyev's speech: "Thus, COP29 will be the first opportunity for us to show that a country that lives independently and does not depend on anyone can develop successfully. This is a proof of the correctness of our policy. The policy that Azerbaijan has been following for thirty years".

Caliber.Az