ONE VISIT WITH A DUAL TASK

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has paid an official visit to Kazakhstan. It took place from 19 to 21 October in the run-up to the summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking states, which gave it a special relevance: participation in the summit and the development of bilateral ties with Kazakhstan.

The talks between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, which included the delegations, ended with the signing of important documents, followed by statements for the press.

The sides stressed the high level of cooperation in all spheres, both on a bilateral basis and within the framework of international organizations. According to the Kazakh president, both countries are in favour of integration within the CIS and developing cooperation with the European Union. For his part, Ilham Aliyev thanked the Kazakh leaders for their support for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity during the process of a settlement to the conflict with Armenia.

In the economic sphere the priorities of the two countries are cooperation in the sphere of power engineering, transport, agricultural supplies, and so on. The Kazakh president noted that "inter-action in questions of power engineering, oil transportation and the use of the Caspian as a transport outlet for Kazakhstan to the Black Sea and Europe are most important areas of cooperation".

On questions of transport routes, the Azerbaijani leader recalled the swift completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line and the commissioning of the route in 2013. "In point of fact, this means building a new Great Silk Rail Route. This is a route which will link Azerbaijan with Turkey and Europe via Georgia, and Europe with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, other Central Asian countries and China. I am sure that this will be the most beneficial transport route in terms of time and the economic factor. I am also confident that when this route is commissioned tens of millions of tonnes of freight will pass through our territory, and our countries - not just Azerbaijan but all our countries - will as transit countries make their contribution to this transport corridor. These are specific, realistic projects. At the same time, these projects strengthen our unity even more," President Aliyev said.

Agreement was also reached on supplies of Azerbaijani agricultural produce to Kazakhstan's western regions.

It should be noted that Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan need each other in the political, economic and humanitarian senses. The importance of mutual relations between these two countries lies in the fact that today Kazakhstan is the leader of the Central Asian region and Azerbaijan occupies leading positions on the western shores of the Caspian. If no single Eurasian project can practically be carried through without Astana's participation, the implementation of trans-national energy and transport projects, which start or continue through the southern Caucasus, is impossible without Baku.

Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are cooperating fruitfully and support one another in the UN, the Council of Europe and other influential international organizations. As of this month Baku has been elected a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, whereas Kazakhstan is not expecting to achieve this status until 2016. Such are the historical, geographical, political and economic preconditions which both sides must take on board.

Another significant factor which helps to maintain fruitful cooperation between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan is the fact that both countries are affiliated to the Turkic world. The first summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking states was held in Almaty on 21 October, chaired by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The main theme of the summit, as the first forum of a new international organization attended by the heads of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag, were aspects of economic cooperation as the main driving force of regional integration between the member-states of the Turkic Council. The Almaty Declaration - a final document agreeing the main directions of further development of economic, political and cultural ties between the members of this council - was signed at the end of the summit. The Rules of Procedure of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking states were also adopted.

As is known, the foundations of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking states (CCTS), as a full-fledged international structure, were laid back in October 2009 in accordance with the Naxcivan agreement, the participants of which are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.

In his speech President Nazarbayev noted that all the member-countries of the council had a vested interest in the organization developing into a full-fledged international structure. He also called on Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to join this process. With reference to this the secretariat of the Turkic Council should investigate questions of the signing of appropriate agreements with these countries. Formed in Istanbul in 2010, the secretariat is already functioning: the necessary documents which are the legal basis for the council to operate effectively have been adopted. Great responsibility for the development of cooperation between the member-countries lies with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Turkic countries and the Council of Elders.

The Kazakh president also submitted a number of specific proposals aimed at bringing the Turkic states closer together spiritually. They include joint promotion of the heritage of al-Farabi, Yusuf Balasaghuni, Mahmud al-Kashgari and Ahmed Yasawi, and the holding in 2012 of an international symposium "The Turkic world today: the real situation and prospects for development". With the announcement of Astana as the cultural capital of the Turkic world, a number of cultural events and festivals are planned for 2012. 

Nazarbayev also supported the Azerbaijani president's initiative to set up a Cultural Fund of Turkic-speaking Countries in Baku. This will give a new boost to the development of cultural and humanitarian links between the member-countries of the CCTS, and spiritual kinship should become the basis for strengthening economic cooperation - the main subject of the Almaty summit meeting.

It is not by chance that economic cooperation between the Turkic-speaking states is considered to be the main theme of the summit in Astana.  Spiritual kinship and the existence of sufficient natural resources and transport and energy potential among the Turkic-speaking countries could serve as a fairly propitious basis for strengthening mutually advantageous economic cooperation.

With this in mind prospects for the development of multilateral trade-economic and investment relations were discussed in detail and the future direction of the broad use of the transport potential of the CCTS member-countries was defined at the summit. The leadership of the CCTS defined that the main aim is to boost integration of the economies by joint efforts. The countries of the Turkic world possess sufficient natural wealth and abundant land, water and energy resources to achieve this.

The need to create a joint mechanism to counter the global economic recession was also emphasized at the summit. The recent meeting of the economics ministers of the Turkic countries was expected to be a recipe for success. The Business Council of Turkic-speaking states will serve as a boost in the development of trade-economic relations. In relation to this, the question of removing the obstacles to effective mutual trade needs to be addressed. It was noted that trade turnover between the Turkic Council member-countries does not match up to their potential and interests. For example, in the last eight years investments in Kazakhstan from the countries of the Turkic Council amounted to $1.7bn, and investments from Kazakhstan to the countries of the Turkic Council over the same period were about $1bn. However, the potential for increasing this volume, the participants believe, is great. Furthermore, the geo-strategic position of the Turkic-speaking countries should be used in full measure. This will help to resolve questions of freight transportation and transit more effectively.

The presidents of Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan put forward specific proposals on the development of the transport system, logistics and other spheres. The relevant instructions will be given to ministries and departments to render assistance to the CCTS secretariat. The final declaration of the summit expresses the conviction that "all-round ties and the existing solidarity of the Turkic-speaking states are strengthening regional and international cooperation in the Eurasian region;…they recognize economic cooperation as the main driving force of regional integration and express their commitment to the objectives and principles of the UN Charter, the documents of the OSCE and, first and foremost, the Helsinki Final Act".

Apart from this, the participants in the meeting agreed to set up a Turkic Fund of Scientific Research, and in the economic sphere they stressed the importance of improving the investment climate. In relation to this, the parties to the signing of the declaration agreed on the need to strengthen their activities in issuing visas and work permits, especially for businessmen, in order to improve trade and investment potential.

Apart from the economic aspects of cooperation, political and humanitarian trends were also discussed. The participants expressed their readiness to work out joint activities in the fight against terrorism, extremism, separatism, trade in people, illegal migration, illegal drug trafficking, trans-national organized crime, and so on. This cooperation is deemed to be particularly topical following the recent terrorist acts in Turkey.

The second CCTS summit on "Cooperation in the spheres of education, science and culture" is to be held next year in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.