Photo from conference

The conference, which began today, is to discuss pressing issues and problems affecting the whole South Caucasus, Elhan Nuriyev, head of the Centre for Strategic Studies, said.

He said that many countries are represented at the conference.

“There is a plan to discuss geopolitical issues that are important in the post-Soviet area”, Nuriyev said. "We want Azeri society to be strong and developed and to live in a safe region."

Elnur Aslanov, chief of political analysis and information department at Azerbaijan’s presidential administration, touched upon the issues of the Azeri-Russian relations, while speaking at the opening of the conference.

“The trade turnover with Russia is now reaching 2 bn dollars and the positive balance in the trade turnover between the two countries will change in Azerbaijan’s favor beginning from 2010”, Aslanov said.

He especially noted the expansion of Azerbaijan’s relations with the United States in economic and military and technical sphere as well as transition of the Azeri army to the NATO standards. Aslanov also stressed active participation of Azerbaijan in anti-terror operations.

Adam Ward, director of studies at the UK's International institute for Strategic Studies, told the conference that all countries are interested in security in the region, as the South Caucasus is an arena of the geopolitical interests of the strongest superpowers. What is most important is to find ways to settle frozen conflicts in the Caucasus and make this region safer.

Deputy speaker talks tough on Karabakh

“No countries are interested in a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,” the Azerbaijani parliament's first deputy speaker, Ziyafat Asgarov, said in his speech to the conference .

Asgarov said that the world's leading political forces pursue double standards on Karabakh. He said that NATO quickly solved the problems in the Balkans, while the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was entrusted to the OSCE Minsk Group. “The Minsk Group has not been able to do anything for the past 18 years. The people and army of Azerbaijan can solve this problem.”

Asgarov said that international forces invited Azerbaijan to find a peaceful solution to the problem. “A NATO Parliamentary Assembly official told me that nobody wants to set aside Christian Armenia and help Muslim Azerbaijan.”

Asgarov told the conference that if the principles of international law are not upheld, then this should be made clear and Azerbaijan will know what it has to do.

Conference objectives

The main objective of the event is to hold an exchange of views and ideas among the world's leading think-tanks and institutions on the realities and prospects of development of the South Caucasus region, security, peace and stability in a geopolitically important part of the world and to make an academic contribution to the development of Azerbaijan's foreign policy and international diplomacy.

The forum will discuss the continuing regional conflicts and prospects for peace; regional cooperation on energy security; joint projects and stability and security in the South Caucasus; the integration of the South Caucasus countries with European structures, in particular, the European Union; the prospects of cooperation of regional countries and their neighbours; international security; projects for scientific and academic research and other geopolitically important issues.   

The event involves leaders and researchers from the world's leading think-tanks, including the Azerbaijani presidential  Centre of Strategic Studies, the International Institute of Strategic Studies (Great Britain), the Jamestown Foundation (USA), Johns Hopkins University (USA), the Heritage Foundation (USA), the European Institute for International Relations (Belgium), the US Atlantic Council's Eurasian Energy Centre, the European Union Institute for Security Studies (France), Hamburg University, Moscow State University's Centre for Post-Soviet Studies, Tehran University, the Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (Georgia) and the University of Economics and Technology (Turkey).

The forum also involves Azerbaijani state and government officials, MPs, leaders of international organizations and diplomatic representations, academics, representatives of non-governmental organizations, journalists and political scientists.

Jamil Bayramov
News.Az