Today's Zaman: Azerbaijan on the 20th anniversary of regaining independence

Today's Zaman

Thursday, October 20, 2011

FAIG BAĞIROV

The year 1991 was a milestone for the world in general and for our region in particular. The reason we call it a milestone is the fact that 1991 was important for international relations.

The bipolar system, which lasted for several years and was called the Cold War, left its place to a different international system as a consequence of the USSR’s collapse, triggered by the rebellion of peoples. The Soviet regime, which tried to keep various states within it through artificial and utopian slogans and the most anti-democratic practices, could not resist the rightful opposition of the peoples although it tried to resist. We see that resistance in the Jan. 20, 1990 Baku Massacre staged by Soviet army.

The people of Azerbaijan, which paid a high price to become a state and independent nation throughout its history, once more, overcame all obstacles and embraced its independence. It regained its independent republic, which it had lost on April 28, 1920 again on Oct. 18, 1991. However, the period after it regained independence was a hard and problematic time for the people. There was an interdependence between the nations in terms of economic, political and social life during soviet era. Consequently, with the collapse of USSR, it became difficult for the countries to live alone and we may even say that life stopped. When we add to this Armenia’s assault on Azerbaijan with territorial demands and the administration of Azerbaijan that could not produce the politics necessary to save Azerbaijan from its current position, we might have a slight idea about the misery our country faced back then. Azerbaijan, which regained its independence, lost 20 percent of its territories within two years and came to the verge of political and economic collapse.

The events moved towards breaking the country apart. Ebulfez Elçibey, then president of the country, phoning Haydar Aliyev, higher assembly speaker of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, and telling him, “It is necessary for the survival of our state that you come to the capital,” voiced the hopes of the people.

In 1993, the people brought Haydar Aliyev to power like a savior. That’s exactly when Azerbaijan started bringing itself together and producing rational policies as a state. After coming to power, the most important issue for Haydar Aliyev was to ensure internal stability in the country. That’s why it needed to sign a truce with Armenia as the first order of business. Then the illegal armed organizations in the country must be rendered ineffective and illegal weapons possessed by the people must be confiscated. Haydar Aliyev managed to successfully realize all of this thanks to his vast experience in state affairs.

Now his government was face-to-face with challenges such as revitalizing the economy and saving the country from the isolation it had succumbed to. However, while doing this, the current state of international relations must be carefully assessed, existing powers must be taken into consideration, realities must not be ignored and a strategy to prevent the emergence of hard-to-surmount obstacles in the path they set out must be adopted.

Within a very short period of time, Azerbaijan started establishing good relations with neighbors and regional nations, except Armenia. Azerbaijan was no longer a lonely state isolated in the region. From that time on, we observe that multi-dimensional elements and balance were dominant in Azerbaijan’s foreign policy. Azerbaijan managed to develop within a very short time pragmatic and close relations with Euro-Atlantic institutions, Islamic countries, Turkic countries, members of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Far Eastern countries.

Relations with Turkey have a specific significance in Azerbaijani foreign relations. That’s because these relations are not ordinary ones between two countries, but special ones. It’s next to impossible not to see the traces of Haydar Aliyev in relations with Turkey.

As a result of Haydar Aliyev’s great efforts, a very important step was taken in 1994 to carry the natural riches of Azerbaijan to world markets and a strategic agreement called “the Agreement of the Century” was signed. Azerbaijan managed to become one of the most important actors in the energy field through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural gas pipeline agreements. Moreover, connecting the rich natural gas reserves of Azerbaijan to projects such as the Nabucco, Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is on the agenda.

The country’s economy, which grew rapidly as a result of endeavors by the Azerbaijani government, represents 75 percent of the total economy of Southern Caucasus countries (Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia). Thanks to the successful policies of Mr. İlham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan, efforts have been made to develop sectors other than oil and natural gas. As a result of this, other sectors grew more rapidly than oil and natural gas in 2010. Naturally, we can observe this as developments in infrastructure and socioeconomic growth throughout Azerbaijan. According to the Global Competitiveness Report issued by the World Economic Forum for the 2010-2011 period, Azerbaijan was the first amongst the CIS countries. Standard and Poor’s raised Azerbaijan’s rating from “steady” to “positive” for 2009-2010 period. Fitch declared Azerbaijan a country where investment can be made. According to reports of the World Bank, Azerbaijan ranks 15th among 183 countries in terms of establishing a new business.

What must be considered is that Azerbaijan realizes these achievements during a period when the entire world is struggling with economic problems. Azerbaijani companies make big investments in many countries around the world. Among these countries is our sister Turkey. It is expected that the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) will make $20 billion in Turkey within the next decade.

There is no doubt that we observe fundamental changes in the social and cultural life of the country in line with all these economic developments. Visionary investments by our government in the field of education draw special attention. The fact that Azerbaijani students are being sent to prominent universities around the world with state support to receive graduate, post-graduate and doctorate educations exemplifies this. The fact that Azerbaijan was the winner of the 2011 Eurovision contest can also be seen as an example of the development of the socio-cultural life of our country. Similarly, Azerbaijan’s recent leadership in international sports competitions draws attention. Our government has made an official application to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan realized all these positive developments after regaining its independence, in spite of the fact that 20 percent of its territories are being occupied by Armenia, giving it almost 1 million immigrants, and being subject to double standards. The injustices it has experienced have never discouraged Azerbaijan from its firm will to develop. Our nation worked and is working with the hope that the injustices shall one day end, without deviating from pragmatism. Everybody who is sane and believes in justice, knows that those countries that isolate themselves from other nations and greedily lust for the territories of others harm their own people the most. They only slow down our development.

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