Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
July 10 2008
Fuad Ismayilov: `Madrid proposals should be reprepared taking
Azerbaijan’s position into account’
[ 10 Jul 2008 14:10 ]
Baku. Tamara Grigoryeva`APA. Fuad Ismayilov, Azerbaijani Ambassador to
Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, OSCE and International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) gave an interview to APA
-Presidential elections will be held in Azerbaijan this year. Did OSCE
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and Parliamentary
Assembly form observation missions?
Missions have not been formed, because the Government of Azerbaijan
should send an invitation according to our legislation. After that,
composition of the mission will be formed. Such missions always
include representatives of OSCE, CE Parliamentary Assembly, NATO
Parliamentary Assembly and European Parliament. Two missions will be
established – long term and short term missions. Short term mission
will arrive in Azerbaijan during the elections.
-One of remarks on Azerbaijan is linked with freedom of media. OSCE
Special Representative on Media Freedom Miklos Haraszti stated that
he did not change his position in the prepared report on this
issue. Do you initiate to influence on his position?
We have good relations with Office of Haraszti, irrespective of
several painful factors. Reports of Office are their normal
activity. We are not satisfied with several assessments and told them
about it. I consider that the office will assist Azerbaijan to
increase qualification of mass media.
-Do you estimate OSCE as productive mechanism directed to the solution
to Nagorno Karabakh? Former President of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
Goran Lennmarker was a rapporteur on Nagorno Karabakh. Will new
rapporteur be appointed to this position?
New rapporteur will probably be appointed. One of the priorities of
OSCE PA is conflicts. Either Lennmarker, or other one can be appointed
to this position. Can OSCE PA new Chairman be a rapporteur? Everything
depends on whether he will be interested in this issue or not. Maybe,
priorities of new President will be different. However, OSCE MG is one
mechanism, which discusses solution to Nagorno Karabakh. We can take
stance on effectiveness of the work implemented by MG. We have
concrete questions to MG. We do not know how long the negations will
be continued. That is why we told them: the time is going, but there
is not any effect. Co-chairs cannot make aggressive country accept
international principles. Therefore, solution to Nagorno Karabakh
prolongs, it is not in favor of our interests. Unacceptable actions
are committed in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan has sent survey to change co-chairs of OSCE MG and the body
replied it. What was the main goal of this step? Does official Baku
want to change any co-chair? There are rumours that the Government of
Azerbaijan wants to change Matthew Bryza?
The fact is not put so. These are issues of procedural character. We
have not supposed on MG as organization and its mandate. The fact is
that we want to change concrete co-chair. There can be created such
situation to substitute Mr. `A’ with Mr. `B’. Issue is not on the
agenda at present. The work on the list of Madrid proposals presented
by co-chairs during meeting of the presidents of the conflict parties
in St. Petersburg is underway. I also name the list of proposals, not
core principles like co-chairs. These proposals should be reconsidered
taking Azerbaijan’s position into account. The document should
envisage Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and withdrawal of troops
from the occupied lands. -To the point of occupied territories,
Bernard Snow’s mission for the assessment of burned areas visited the
region and laid everything upon the nature in his report. Will
Azerbaijan ask OSCE to send new mission?
-We cannot be satisfied with Bernard Snow’s recommendations. We
concern over the environmental situation in Nagorno Karabakh. Not only
arsons are the subject of question. As Snow says it is impossible to
conduct any joint environmental action by Azerbaijan and Armenia in
the occupied territories today, first it is impossible because of
security problem. In 2006 when we raised this issue before OSCE and
UN, we simply stated that occupant troops should be withdrawn from the
burned areas. It is important for the normal environmental
operation. How we can work at gunpoint? New arsons should be prevented
and earth blanket should be restored there. Instead of this they
proposed us to conduct some environmental operations. At first our
position on the issue of cooperation with the opposite side makes is
impossible. On the other hand, it is dangerous to operate even on the
Azerbaijan-controlled side of the contact line. Current situation
makes even the most primitive work impossible. It will be possible
only in that case that Armenian Armed Forces are withdrawn from the
occupied territories.
-Let’s move about the issue of cooperation with International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA). Director of Radiation Problems Institute of
Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Adil Garibov said that
Azerbaijan would begin construction of nuclear reactor in 2009, but
IAEA official Andrei Chupov said it would be negotiations to begin
2009, but not construction. What is truth?
-Truth is in the middle. It is difficult to speak about the concrete
term and comprehensive discussions should be held within this
phase. Not only the construction and exploitation of nuclear reactor
are the subjects of question. There are legal aspects, security and
location issues as well. The negotiations have already begun. Our
experts visited Vienna and IAEA experts visited Baku. The concrete
term will depend on the progress achieved at the negotiations. If
there is progress, we can look forward to prepare construction area
in 2009 as the start of work. Otherwise it will be extended until
2010.
-How the mutual relations with Austria are developing? President of
this country planned visit to Azerbaijan. Why he didn’t realize it?
-The visit was postponed because Austria took over EU chairmanship and
there were other reasons too. This year Azerbaijan has much
work. Particularly energy and energy security cooperation is
developing between the two countries. Therefore Austrian leadership
is seriously considering the president’s visit to Azerbaijan.
-Does Austria, an active player of Nabucco Project, concern over the
visit of Russian president to Azerbaijan? What will happen if
Azerbaijan sells its natural gas to Russia?
-Austria does not concern over this issue absolutely. It seems to me
that this issue is approached in Azerbaijan differently from
Europe. They do not dramatize the issue in Europe. EU approach is so:
considering huge need in natural gas, all pipeline projects are seen
as possible and don’t exclude each other. Europe’s natural gas need
is increasing day by day, but production is reducing. Therefore
Europe is anxiously seeking new energy sources and is ready to take
advantages from all opportunities it gets. For example, Austrian
leading company OMW, one of the Nabucco participants, is ready to
cooperate with both Gasprom and Azerbaijan. But our participation
depends on our economic interests. We should decide is the project
useful for us or not? Europe has to create such terms that it make
our participation economically useful for us.