United Press International
Energy – Analysis
Atlantic Eye: Taking Aliyev at his word
Published: Sept. 22, 2007 at 6:01 PM
By MARC S. ELLENBOGEN
UPI International Columnist
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 21 (UPI) — The delegation
moved through security and up the elevators to a grand
foyer. From the window, Gen. Constantin Degeratu, the
Romanian national security adviser, and Eduard Kukan,
who recently left his post after eight years as Slovak
foreign minister, peered out to the Caspian Sea. I too
was at the window looking at the massive building
projects in Baku. I turned to Hassan Abouyoub, the
chief adviser to Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, and Seffi
Bodansky, a senior adviser to the U.S. Congress, as
the door opened.
President Ilham Aliyev greeted his guests, all part of
Global Panel’s Black Sea Initiative. A tall man with a
big mustache, he pointed us to a massive conference
table that filled the large room. The president sat
down with his foreign policy adviser on the other side
of the delegation. Polish Special Envoy Richard
Schnepf, sitting to my right, nudged me to begin. I
started by describing our meetings and interactions of
the previous days.
In the late morning we had flown to the
Russian-proposed joint U.S.-Russian radar site in the
northern portion of Azerbaijan near Russia. The
40-minute helicopter ride had shown us the vast oil
fields below. Azerbaijan is known for its oil springs
and natural gas.
Only recently has the oil market helped pour wealth
upon Azerbaijan. The largest of three south Caucasus
states, it is bordered by the Caspian Sea to the east,
Iran to the south, Armenia to the west and Georgia and
Russia to the north. Armenia and Azerbaijan have had a
long-simmering dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh
region.
A delegation representing the regional governor met us
as we landed. We were taken by entourage to a local
restaurant overlooking an enormous bluff.
There the governor greeted us. As is Azerbaijani
custom, a large table of food awaited us. This ritual
would be repeated four times that day, showing us
great respect. Respect or not, these sessions are not
for the light-hearted, and the ability to stay focused
and fit after numerous toasts of vodka is a
prerequisite for doing business.
We proceeded to a modern bottling plant, a European
Union-Azerbaijan joint venture. We were struck by the
generosity of our guests at every turn. A visit to a
museum commemorating the late President Haider Aliyev,
the founder of modern Azerbaijan, rounded out the
afternoon. We returned to the helicopter for our ride
back.
As I began to brief Aliyev of our meetings, I sensed
shyness. Somewhere in the middle of our briefing,
after a good laugh, the rest of the delegation began
to interact with the president. The conversation was
forthright and interactive.
Aliyev spoke of the vast work that lies ahead for his
country. He explained that he knew he was being
measured by his progress in economic development. He
noted that poverty had decreased from 49 percent to 20
percent, but that there was still some way to go to
include all citizens of Azerbaijan in the upswing. He
pointed to the massive housing projects that we could
all see as we passed through Baku that were being
built to improve living conditions.
The president spoke of the discrepancies between the
main cities and the rural areas.
"I am committed to dispersing the wealth of our
country to all of our citizens."
He spoke of press freedoms, religious rights and
democracy. These did not seem like political
platitudes, but the genuine desire of a youngish
president to move his country forward.
We spoke of the necessity for direct negotiations with
Nagorno-Karabakh. Global Panel and the Prague Society
see a role in facilitating direct contacts and
negotiations about this frozen conflict. We expressed
this to the president, who seemed interested in this
role. Later he would confirm his commitment to a
Global Panel-led initiative. The Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict has been subject to a great deal of external
interference, rendering it not so much "frozen" but
distorted. Either way, it must be resolved.
Earlier in the day we had spoken to Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov and Industry and Energy Minister
Natiq Aliyev (not related to the president). The
question of energy security was a pre-eminent theme.
Also the expansion of the GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine,
Azerbaijan and Moldova) states’ initiative, which
deals with regional security and stability, was
addressed. The second GUAM summit held earlier this
year in Baku brought together the original members
plus the presidents of Poland, Romania, Lithuania and
Bulgaria — an expression of the growing international
importance of Azerbaijan. Energy diplomacy and summits
are another area where Global Panel already plays an
active role.
At a final dinner, on the banks of the Caspian Sea,
with Col. Gen. Kamaladdin Heydarov, the minister for
emergency situations, it became clear that a long-term
rapport and strategy was being developed with
Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan has a long list of tasks ahead of it.
Human-rights groups have been exceptionally critical
of its record. But its young people are very focused
on Europe and Turkey, and very European indeed.
I liked Aliyev and believe him when he says he is
committed to change.
His actions will speak louder than his words.
—
(UPI Columnist Marc S. Ellenbogen is chairman of the
Global Panel Foundation and president of the Prague
Society. A venture capitalist with seats in Berlin and
Prague, he sits on the National Advisory Board of the
U.S. Democratic Party.)
—
(e-mail: [email protected])