A SINGLE STRATEGY

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made his first visit to Turkey in 2015. Moreover, the status of the visit, defined as a state visit, imparted a special slant to it. Laying special emphasis on the in-depth history of Turkic statehood of late, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed Ilham Aliyev with a guard of honour wearing the warriors' costumes of the 16 historical Turkic states. This symbolic gesture together with President Aliyev's visit to the Ataturk Mausoleum shows that the unity of Turkey and Azerbaijan based on historical traditions, will be further fortified in the 21st century. For both countries 2015 promises to be a very important one in several aspects, which has meant that watches needed to be synchronised.

First of all, in Armenia they are intensively preparing for the centenary of the so-called "Armenian genocide", in the hope of wringing some concessions from Turkey because they have the imaginary "support of the world public". Ankara and Baku are to stand together in opposing the invented claims.

The first surprise for the Armenian public was Erdogan's statement about holding events on 24 April 2015 to mark the centenary of the battle at Canakkale. "We have sent invitations to the events to be held on 24 April to many leaders of states and governments in the world. Naturally, my brother Ilham Aliyev and I will be in Canakkale together," R. T. Erdogan said in his statement to the press on the outcome of his talks with Azerbaijan's president.

Incidentally, the Turkish press writes that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has also received an invitation to the events.

For Turkey the battle at Canakkale is one of the glorious military pages in its modern history. Beginning in the early days of 1915, the operation of the Entente countries, mainly Anglo-French troops, to seize the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, and Istanbul on the way, ended in the victory of the Turkish army, both on land and sea. In that period several thousand Azerbaijanis stood together with the Turkish defenders of Istanbul.

 The choice of this date is not accidental, since it is precisely the 24 April when the invented "Armenian genocide" is being marked, which President Ilham Aliyev pointed out in his words. "On behalf of myself and the entire Azerbaijani people, I am extremely grateful to you for selecting this date. The choice of this date is a very wise step. I feel convinced that our peoples will understand how important this date is," I. Aliyev said.

"Naturally, for Azerbaijan the issue of combating Armenian propaganda plays a role of paramount importance in the light of achieving a settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. Turkey remains our main ally in tackling this issue, as it does in many others."

Ankara is making the forging of diplomatic relations with Armenia and the opening of the frontiers dependent on the "Armenian genocide" issue, but on the liberation of Azerbaijan's occupied territories. Not a single meeting between Azerbaijani and Turkish delegations passes without agreeing the positions on a settlement of the conflict, which for the moment is not gladdening anyone with any kind of progress.

"Unfortunately, the [OSCE - Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe] Minsk Group is not undertaking any decisive steps in this matter. Therefore this process is continuing to be one of time-wasting tactics. Once again I would like to recall in particular that in future we will resolutely continue to offer our support to Azerbaijan regarding a peaceful settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan," Erdogan noted.

Moreover, Turkey is not only rendering moral and diplomatic support but is also facilitating the development of Azerbaijan's defence capability, selling the latest types of arms and organising joint production of them.

"We are buying a lot of arms and ammunition in Turkey. At the same time, today an exchange of opinions has taken place on the joint production of defence industry equipment in Azerbaijan. Today Turkey is a power-wielding centre on a world-scale. The stronger Turkey is, the stronger Azerbaijan will be. Naturally our strength lies in political, economic and military strength. Therefore we have big plans for further cooperation in the defence sphere. I would like to note that joint Turkish-Azerbaijani military training exercises were conducted in Azerbaijan within several days last year. In future, such exercises will be conducted regularly," Ilham Aliyev said in Ankara.

He also noted that the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict is being drawn out owing to the lack of a constructive stand by Armenia, which is trying to preserve the status quo and block any possible positive expectations of the negotiating process.

"Unfortunately, the Minsk Group cannot manage to achieve any kind of result in this matter. Actions are being taken, but unfortunately they are not having any effect. Last year certain progress was observed during the negotiating process. But the steps of a provocative nature taken by Armenia, in particular in conducting exercises on the territory of Agdam district in November and the attack on Azerbaijani positions have had a negative impact on the negotiating process. Naturally, Azerbaijan countered this in a worthy manner, and the enemy was put in his place. This conflict can only be decided within the framework of territorial integrity. Nagornyy Karabakh is part of the age-old lands of Azerbaijan, I. Aliyev stressed.

Incidentally, at the last session of Azerbaijan's government devoted to discussion of the results of 2014 and the plans for 2015, the president noted that the failure to achieve a settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict is linked with the stand taken by external forces.

"The failure to resolve this problem cannot simply be explained by the unconstructive stand taken by Armenia. Evidently there are those forces in the world that have no interest in this conflict being settled. Evidently there are those forces that are interested in this conflict remaining in a 'frozen' or a 'semifrozen' state and using it as a means of bringing pressure to bear on Azerbaijan. The picture that we have seen over the past few years in various regions such as Europe and the Middle East is further boosting this stand and this approach. This is the conclusion that can be drawn from these processes. Therefore it needs to be made clear how long we will have to come up against these double standards!" the head of state said at the Cabinet of Ministers' sitting.

"The continuing occupation of our lands is not simply the work of Armenia. Armenia is a powerless, poverty-stricken country, which is finding itself in a helpless state. Naturally, if Armenia did not have big patrons in various capitals, the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict would have been justly resolved long ago. Today, even the leadership of Armenia admits that. Without support from outside, they would not be able to maintain the occupation of the lands they have seized for even a single day," the president said, after stressing that Azerbaijan is many times more powerful than Armenia from an economic and a military point of view.

The tense situation on the border in 2014 demonstrated the might of the Azerbaijani army. "In the summer months of last year and at the end of the year, Armenia resorted to blatant provocations on several occasions. Both times the Azerbaijani army worthily repulsed the enemy, showing him his place. In the summer months more than 50 invaders were destroyed. In November an Armenian provocation also drew a response. The Armenian leaders, a criminal and dictatorial regime, bear the responsibility for the events that occurred as a result of these provocations. Present and previous leaders of that country are also directly responsible for the lamentable state Armenia is in today. Since it is precisely because of Armenia's aggressive policy that it will not be able to manifest itself as an independent country. In fact, it has not even achieved independence," Ilham Aliyev stressed at the session of the Azerbaijani government.

But the failure to settle the conflict is not preventing Azerbaijan from developing major regional projects. Turkey remains the country's main partner in this direction, which, thanks to these projects, is being transformed into Europe's main transit hub. The main route for exporting Azerbaijani oil, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline runs across Turkey. And Turkey itself remains the major market for the gas from the "Shah Deniz" [Sah Daniz] gas field.

As in past years, the economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey currently remains on a high level. According to Erdogan the trade turnover between the countries reached 5bn dollars last year, and the main aim is to triple it before 2023.

In this case, it is not just a question of trade, but of mutual investments, the volume of which will grow as new projects are implemented. "Before 2020 the volume of Azerbaijani investments in Turkey will reach 20bn dollars. Turkish companies are operating successfully in Azerbaijan and have implemented projects worth 10bn dollars," I. Aliyev said.

The "Southern Gas Corridor" and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway projects will further boost the historical, spiritual and cultural community of the two countries. Moreover, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will already start operating this year, which will allow Europe to be connected to China and South-East Asia by a single line.

 "At the end of this year, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project will be ready to start operating. At the same time, this means the opening of the line from Beijing to Istanbul. A train from Western Europe will go as far as the shores of the Caspian Sea on the line mentioned, then from the ports of Aktau and Turkmenbashi to Beijing. I would particularly like to make note of this here," the Turkish president stressed.

But the first violin in the forthcoming period is of course the "Southern Gas Corridor" project, the basis of which is the construction of the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP). "The completion of the 'Southern Gas Corridor' will further deepen cooperation in the energy sector where we are already involved in multilateral cooperation. Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and other members of the 'Southern Gas Corridor' need to actively work together here. Next month the first consultative council of the 'Southern Gas Corridor' is to have a meeting in Baku. Specific, precise recommendations regarding the realisation of this project will be made at the meeting. I should also note that the foundation of this 'Southern Gas Corridor' was already laid three years ago in Istanbul. My dear brother and I signed the TANAP project. The TANAP project essentially forms the cornerstone, i.e. the basis, of the 'Southern Gas Corridor'. Thus, today the decision taken by us has been transformed into a grandiose world project. The 'Southern Gas Corridor" and the development of the 'Shah Deniz' gas field are a major infrastructure project in Europe at the present time. In total, investments worth 45bn dollars will be made in these projects," Azerbaijan's president said.

The "Southern Gas Corridor" project will ultimately open up for Europe a way of diversifying supplies of energy resources. Although the first stage is staking on Azerbaijani gas resulting from the development of the second stage in the "Shah Deniz" gas field, in the future the pipeline will allow Europe to obtain gas from Central Asia, Iraq and Iran. Thus the state visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Turkey has confirmed the two countries' intention to develop full-scale strategic cooperation. For both countries 2015 will pose the tasks of combining their efforts even more to combat Armenian propaganda on the "Armenian genocide", as well as to implement such large-scale projects of continental importance like TANAP, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and others.