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 | | Dividing the Baby
...still no solution |
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| By Movsum Mammadov |
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A summit of the heads of the countries of the Caspian was held in Ashqabat, capital of Turkmenistan on May 13-14. The conference ended without clear results and aside from name-calling, finger pointing, and proposals and counter proposal, more questions remained than were answered. Saparmurat Niyazov, president of Turkmenistan hosted the conference with the purpose of resolving the division of the energy resources of the Caspian Sea. Four presidents were in attendance: Vladimir Putin, Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, Ali Hamnei, Iran and Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan. For two days they tried to sort out the division of the baby, how to divide the energy resources that lies below the surface - only the wisdom of Solomon could have found a solution that would have been agreeable to all.For two days they argued back in forth but the baby is still complete. Movsum Mammadov, reporter for "Azerbaijan Today", discussed the summit results with Mr. Rustam Mammadov, Branch Chief for Azerbaijani Expatriate Affairs And International NGO Relations of the Presidential Office of Azerbaijan.
AT: The summit is now history and the parties came away without an agreement, so has there been any progress at all?
R.M.: Even before the summit started, there were many sceptics who were sure that there would be no results. I also thought that it would have been a miracle if the leaders had managed to reach a common position. The summit proved that there were legislative and communicative contradictions and until such contradictions are resolved, there can never be any mutual agreement that will be acceptable at international level. The parties experienced some additional problems that complicated the process of defining the Caspian status even further. Nevertheless, there was also some real progress.
Many states that were born out of the rubble of totalitarian regimes would rather believe that any good ideal must be the result of the heads of their states. In saying this, I want to suggest that little or no consideration is given to suggestions that are the product of the greater society. Usually a ruler himself makes a decision and only afterwards is the public enlightened. Such a mechanism still works in these states. Take, for example, the legislative process in Germany; before any head of state can enter into any convention, the citizens are involved in a long review process in which several discussions take place. However, in the countries of the former Soviet Union, it is usually the heads of state that hold broad-based powers and responsibilities, which is why they are more independent in making decisions and taking actions. For this reason it was expected that many of the problems could have been resolved during the discussion stage. Unfortunately, however, things did not work out according to this expectation, perhaps because during this transitional period, the states have conflicting political ambitions and economic interests of states. Consequently, it is not so easy to shape things in a short space of time. The connection can be compared to political dissonance, somewhat like the Domino principal - everything depends upon the action or inaction of another variable.
AT: The mass media in Azerbaijan and the political audience frequently states that Moscow whispers the position of Turkmenistan into the ear of Turkmenbashi.
R.M.: Astrology is interesting but unacceptable for politics. Let's assume that things are not that way and Turkmenistan has its own position, not one agreed by anyone other than itself. Also, this position does not meet with the principles of International law. At least in my opinion, I cannot believe that Moscow is calling the shots; Moscow is also interested in rapidly driving economical processes forward in the Caspian region. Consequently, Turkmenistan is making problems for both Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation.
AT: Last year Azerbaijan and Iran appeared to be at odds over Iran's violation of airspace. Is it possible that the unresolved situation over the status of the Caspian could bring about a repeat of such an incident?
R.M.: Iran violated international law without justification and their action could not bring about any positive result for them. Nevertheless, thanks to the wise reaction of our president this problem was not blown into a large-scale incident. Iran could have experienced serious misfortune. If Tehran values the principles of International Law and wants to have a friendly neighbour, it must restrain from repeating such violations. Iran has shown the world that it is not a friendly neighbour but such actions are not in their best interests. This is considered it to be "a danger for Iran's national security". Iran even treats representatives of western oil corporations as "enemy representatives". In principle, this is the wrong approach. All and all, the status of the Caspian is really not so important for Iran. Tehran is banking its economic interests on the resources of the Persian Gulf. Iran's region of the Caspian is not rich with oil and gas resources. The absence of real economic interest produces a degree of apathy and such behaviour is the result. There is no justification for Iran to be fearful of their neighbour and act in such a way.
AT: Along with the problem of the Caspian Sea, Baku also has to solve an even more important problem - Garabagh. What can you tell us about this subject?
R.M.: On May 13, in Prague, there will be a meeting with special representatives of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia. As everyone knows, not a single official contact took place between Baku and Yerevan last year - the extremely destructive position of Yerevan halted negotiations that could have finally brought about a conflict resolution. However, the West grew tired of the situation and began to apply pressure on the Armenians. The truth of the matter is that Azerbaijan has declared its final position - we either achieve a fair peace settlement or we start to free our occupied territories with armed power - (serious dialogue is necessary for a peaceful solution).
AT: Thank you for your interview
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