GLOBAL PLAYER IN A COMPLEX REGION

The truth about mandatory transition from quantity to quality could not be more suited to the recent events taking place around the geopolitical status of Azerbaijan.

Late last year, the country was elected a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and joined the Non-Aligned Movement.

Then there was another significant event - Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov was invited to a meeting of G20 foreign ministers held in the Mexican city of Los Cabos. Baku received such an invitation to the world's "elite club" for the first time, which, of course, testifies to Azerbaijan's transformation from a regional leader into a global player.

The 48th Munich Security Conference and the subsequent Seoul Nuclear Security Summit are new evidence of the growing political authority and economic power of Baku.

The inclusion of the head of the leading state of the South Caucasus on the list of participants in the summit in South Korea is unquestionable evidence of the contribution that Azerbaijan can make to the intensification of international security efforts in the Caucasus region and to the elimination of nuclear weapons in general. This idea was stressed in Seoul by President Ilham Aliyev, who noted that nuclear security concerns all countries, and Azerbaijan is no exception.

According to the president of Azerbaijan, Baku carries out all decisions on nuclear security and supports the efforts of the international community in this area. In this issue, the republic has long been cooperating with the IAEA, which gave consent for the construction of the republic's first nuclear research reactor in 2007.

The Seoul summit also made it possible to draw world attention to the serious threat of nuclear security in the South Caucasus region coming from an outdated nuclear power plant in Armenia. The Azerbaijani president noted that, built in 1976, the nuclear power plant in Armenia does not meet modern standards and is located in a seismic zone. All this has turned the Metsamor NPP into a source of threat to the region and nearby countries.

At the same time, President Ilham Aliyev also proposed using modes that establish regional nuclear security and reliability and provide a party seeking to build a nuclear power plant with authority. In this case, there may be such procedures as obtaining consent from the neighbours, transparent exchange of information on the safety and security of these areas and inspections and compensation for risks. That is Yerevan will have to reckon with its neighbours' opinion should it build a new nuclear power plant. To confirm Baku's resolve to promote this initiative, President Ilham Aliyev said that during its presidency of the UN Security Council in May this year, Azerbaijan plans to hold high-level discussions. This will be a good opportunity for discussions on such broad issues as anti-terrorism, including the fight against nuclear terrorism.

It is noteworthy that President Ilham Aliyev's speech forced the Armenian leader Serzh Sargsyan to justify himself by saying that although the operation life of the Metsamor NPP expires in 2016, it is still safe, while the very theme of nuclear security is a priority for Yerevan.

The president expressed confidence that the summit will yield effective results in terms of calls for nuclear security in the modern world.

The Seoul summit as a whole showed that the number of states wishing to expand relations with Azerbaijan is steadily growing, while enemies of the country are forced to be on the defensive. It is no secret that Baku's access to "the kitchen of world" politics means that the country will be taken into consideration and therefore, there is a chance that Azerbaijan's expectations will be noticed.

All this enhances the possibilities of Azerbaijani diplomacy to advance national priorities and means that the next summit on nuclear security, which is scheduled for 2014 in the Netherlands, will be even more difficult for Armenia.

After all, being in the UN Security Council, Azerbaijan can very quickly put Armenia in its place, initiating a discussion, during which relevant resolutions will be adopted, including on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.