AZERI FOREIGN MINISTER PESSIMISTIC ON CIS FUTURE
Ali Ahmadov, Emil Babaxanov, ANS.

ANS TV, Baku
28 Aug 05

[Presenter] Russia, which is considered Armenia’s strategic partner,
last week was forced to correct and change its policy with regard
to the countries, which once shared a similar position on the West’s
efforts to penetrate the post-Soviet countries. This is also explained
in Moscow by the fact that Russia, which put on the back burner such
a global issue as the strengthening of the CIS, wants to recover
its reputation which it has lost as a result of orange revolutions
[in the post-Soviet area].

Russia’s official circles say with full confidence that the Kremlin
has already lost the post-Soviet area and that it is high time to make
drastic changes in this area. For this reason, Moscow has decided to
make public its new policy at the reformist CIS summit in Kazan. The
Kazan summit was to define if there was a room for Russia and its
reforms in the post-Soviet area, and Russia did so.

[Correspondent, over video of summit] It was clear even before the
summit that the CIS had problems. Maybe, the Moscow meeting of the
foreign ministers of the CIS countries ended so unsuccessfully for
the first time. The ministers who were preparing for the meeting
of presidents, failed to agree on the summit’s final document and
its agenda.

[Passage omitted: more details about tasks of the summit]

Some CIS member countries did not sign many of the documents submitted
for discussion and agreed to sign the others on certain conditions. The
Baku government was also among those offering its own conditions.

[Head of the foreign relations department of the Azerbaijani
presidential administration Novruz Mammadov] Taking into account
its national and state interests, Azerbaijan has not signed many
of the adopted agreements. It signed some of them with special
proviso. Azerbaijan did not sign the documents about the establishment
of structures which might have threatened Azerbaijan’s independence
to some extent.

[Correspondent] Other documents which our country joined were full of
provisos. Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Xalaf Xalafov said that
Azerbaijan signed an agreement on humanitarian cooperation on proviso
that the agreement should be implemented in line with the Azerbaijani
Constitution and laws. Otherwise, it would not implemented. The Baku
government also refused to apply common education standards in the
CIS under this document.

The CIS leadership also wanted to make appraisals and confer scientific
degrees on people in the CIS area. That is Moscow was to decide who
would gain a scientific degree. Azerbaijan also denied the idea of
creating a common information space. Had the Baku government entered
the area, any CIS country, including Armenia, would have got any piece
of information in Azerbaijan, familiarized itself with systems here and
finally, distributed its information in Azerbaijan without obstacle.

Apart from Azerbaijan, its partners in the GUAM – Georgia, Ukraine
and Moldova – signed the agreement on humanitarian cooperation with
proviso. Azerbaijan and its partners in the GUAM have cautiously
signed the documents on terrorism and illegal migration which at
first sight seem to be harmless, but also important. For instance,
Baku wanted that the document also stressed the importance of the
fight against separatism along with extremism.

It is interesting that the CIS countries could have started freely
launching armed operations on territories of other countries on the
pretext of the fight against terrorism, had they adopted the document
as it was. The Baku government and its allies in the GUAM have denied
such dangerous assistance. Azerbaijan did not also sign a document
on common borders and military cooperation in the CIS.

[Passage omitted: the future of the CIS is vague]

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov admitted that he often
asked his older counterparts’ opinions about the fate of the CIS.

[Mammadyarov] It is difficult to say how its future will be. Countries
view the CIS in a different way. How the CIS will develop or will it
develop is under a big question mark.

The issue has reached such a point that during the summit some
countries, including Azerbaijan, have not signed the document on
marking 2006 as the year of CIS. Baku believes that holding such
events on a bilateral format is enough.

[Passage omitted: the CIS is gradually losing its reputation]