FIRST VISIT TO THE CAUCASUS

Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev's official visit to Azerbaijan, scheduled for early July, will certainly be an important event, both for bilateral relations and for the political life of our country as a whole.

The fact that the new Russian leader is visiting Baku on his second (after Kazakhstan) official visit to the post-Soviet area is further confirmation of the high level of political relations between the two countries and of Azerbaijan's leading role in the foreign policy interests of our northern neighbour.

Relations between our two countries have been developing quite dynamically in recent years in many spheres of cooperation - in trade-economic, political, humanitarian and other spheres.

Russia was Azerbaijan's second biggest trading partner, after Turkey, last year. Various ministries and departments, including the law-enforcement agencies, are actively developing cooperation.

The two states have established constructive cooperation on the delimitation of the Azerbaijani-Russian state border. Moreover, Baku and Moscow are conducting a confidential dialogue on the important issue of the harmonization of the draft convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea.

At the Tehran summit of the leaders of Caspian littoral states, which was held on 16 June this year, the president of our country endorsed the bilateral agreements signed between Azerbaijan, Russia and Kazakhstan on the division of the Caspian Sea by the median line, stressing that they form the basis and an important part of a final agreement on the status of the Caspian Sea.

Thus the two countries have laid the groundwork for constructive talks during the Baku summit. 

However, there is no doubt today that, as in previous years and at summits between the leaders of the two countries, the central issue on the bilateral agenda will be the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.

As we know, on 14 March this year Russia voted against the draft resolution on the situation on the occupied territories of Azerbaijan which our country placed on the agenda of the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly.

Although our press reported that Russia later confirmed its support for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the position taken by Russia in the vote in New York caused some tension in relations between Baku and Moscow.

In all probability the Azerbaijani side will focus strongly on this issue in Baku and will insist that Moscow should take a more active and consistent position on settlement of the conflict on the basis of the inviolability of the internationally-recognized borders of Azerbaijan.

Such an approach coincides with the position of Medvedev himself, who has stressed in many of his public speeches and statements that adherence to the rule of law in domestic and international affairs is the key to maintaining the manageability of world development.

At a meeting with representatives of Germany's political and public circles in Berlin on 5 June, Medvedev began his speech by saying that in international affairs Russia will insist on the supremacy of the law and on the observance of international law and order by all states and, first of all, by the leading powers.

In his address to the 12th St Petersburg international economic forum, the Russian president said that Russia is a global player and, realizing its responsibility for the fate of the world, wants "to participate in the formation of new rules of the game, not because of its so-called 'imperial ambitions', but because it has both the relevant public potential and the relevant resources".

The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is one sphere in which it is high time the supremacy of the law was secured.

During the Baku meeting, the president of Azerbaijan will probably draw the attention of his Russian opposite number to the fact that, despite protests from Azerbaijan, some leading Russian companies, specifically companies working in telecommunications and in banking services, have been working illegally for many years in the occupied territories of our country.

It is also unacceptable that various film crews and journalists visit this region of Azerbaijan without obtaining permission from the Azerbaijani authorities.

Baku hopes that, within the context of Moscow's current priority to secure law and order in domestic and foreign affairs, this practice will be ended.

It is also extremely important for Baku to make bilateral trade and economic and, especially, investment cooperation more dynamic. This subject is also likely to take centre stage during the Baku meeting.

As we noted above, last year Russia was the second largest trading partner of our country, with business amounting to $1.5 billion (according to the Russian side, more than $1.7 billion).

However, this figure is not the upper limit for our fast-growing economies, although it is unlikely to be exceeded by the end of this year - according to the results of the first four months of 2008, Russia's trade turnover with our country totalled $488 million, occupying third place after Italy ($1.1 billion) and the USA ($559 dollars).

The situation is much worse in the sphere of investments. In 2006, our country invested about $7 million in the Russian economy, while Russia invested $72 million in the Azerbaijani economy.

According to the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan, in 2007 Russian investments totalled about $2 million, almost the same amount as in the first five months of this year. It is necessary to search for innovative approaches to rectify this situation.

It is in the interests of both states to give new impetus to investment activity and this could be achieved by the implementation of major joint projects, including in hi-tech sectors. We should not underestimate the potential for our companies to combine on ventures into the world market and into the markets of third countries.

Cooperation in the sphere of nanotechnology and the use of innovative models of economic development, as well as joint action to overcome crises, especially the food crisis, are also promising in view of the priority given to these directions within the economic strategy of the new Russian president.

Closer cooperation in these spheres is also important because, in modern conditions of active globalization, no single country can adopt an innovative model of development in isolation from the rest of the world.

A serious prerequisite for successful joint action and cooperation between the two countries is the compatibility of presidential directives on the comprehensive modernization of key industries and infrastructure in both countries.

Both Ilham Aliyev and Dmitriy Medvedev fully recognize the important role of the development of the information society and internet technology, as they understand that only in this way will the leading positions of our countries be ensured in the context of globalization.

On the whole, the adoption of new forms and directions for economic and investment cooperation with Russia is of benefit to Azerbaijan in forming a competitive national economy for the 21st century which will be able to quickly pick up and implement the results of a joint scientific-technical, technological and information revolution.

The positions of Baku and Moscow on many international problems are close or actually coincide.

With this in mind, as well as Russia's growing role in world affairs and Azerbaijan's foreign policy initiatives, there is every prospect of effective interaction between our diplomats across a wide range of world and regional issues.

In this context, it is worth studying the recent initiative proposed by President Medvedev in Berlin on 5 June while addressing a meeting with representatives of the political, parliamentary and public circles of Germany.

As we know, in Berlin the Russian president suggested the drafting and signing of a legally binding agreement on European security - a kind of Helsinki-2. This could be a regional pact based on the principles of UN regulations and would solve the issue of comprehensive security and the problems of armaments control in Europe as a whole, he said.

Developing his initiative, he also suggested considering a European summit to launch the drafting of such an agreement.

Partnership between our countries on issues of the energy security of the region and of Europe would also be useful. By joining their efforts and potential, Baku and Moscow could make a significant contribution to the stabilization of global energy markets.

Cooperation between the two countries in the humanitarian sphere, especially in the spheres of education, culture, youth and sports exchanges is becoming more and more interesting.

The Russian side traditionally pays great attention to the issue of maintaining the position of the Russian language and the Russian information area and ensuring the rights of its countrymen in post-Soviet countries, including in Azerbaijan.

From this point of view, our country has always been, and will continue to be, the most reliable, and a model, partner of Russia within the CIS.

In this respect, it is enough to cite the following facts. In 350 schools in Azerbaijan teaching is conducted in Azerbaijani and Russian, and in 20 - only in Russian.

Of the 1.5 million schoolchildren in our country, over 100,000 are being educated in Russian. Of the 100,000 students, more than 15,000 are being educated in Russian. Many Azerbaijani institutions of higher education have Russian language and literature departments. In Baku there is a Slavic university whose graduates are employed even by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

All these facts demonstrate the extremely positive and benevolent attitude of our country's leadership towards the maintenance of the position of the Russian language and culture, and a Russian humanitarian presence in Azerbaijan.

However, in conducting a policy of "open doors and windows" in the humanitarian sphere, Baku has the right to count on reciprocal measures by the Russian side.

It is no secret, for example, that there is only one Azerbaijani school in the Russian capital, although the number of Azerbaijanis in Moscow exceeds the number of ethnic Russians in Azerbaijan by several times.

In this connection, Baku expects that Moscow will take the necessary steps to honour the obligation that Russia undertook during the official visit to Baku by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in May 2007 to expand the network of Azerbaijani language teaching within the Russian Federation.

In addition, the issue of opening Azerbaijani language and literature departments in major Russian universities has been on the agenda of humanitarian cooperation between the two countries for several years. But Moscow is still silent on this question.

There are other, more serious problems in the humanitarian sphere. First of all, there is the problem of ensuring the rights and security of Azerbaijanis living and working in Russia. We must confess that the situation there is more than alarming.

Despite numerous statements by Russian officials on strengthening the fight against the manifestations of xenophobia and racism in Russian society, the statistics on such crimes are still horrifying.

According to the Moscow Human Rights Bureau (MHRB), an authoritative and informed source on this issue, five Azerbaijanis, including Russian citizens of Azerbaijani origin, were killed and 43 were wounded in skinhead attacks in Russia in 2007. From January-May 2008, about 150 xenophobic attacks were recorded. Seventy-six people were killed and at least 163 were wounded. Among the victims of the attacks, there were representatives of more than 20 nationalities, including Azerbaijanis - six killed and eight wounded.

As can be seen, the number of those killed in five months of this year has already exceeded last year's total.

Unfortunately, the work of the Russian law-enforcement agencies in this sphere cannot be regarded as satisfactory, because many of the assailants have not been arrested, and those who were arrested received light or token punishments.

The specific feature of Russian xenophobic crimes is that major cities are still ahead in the number of attacks, which shows that the prevention of such crimes is totally neglected and that there are tensions in ethnic relations in these centres.

The Russian law-enforcement agencies are able, but are not waging a systematic fight against skinheads and other criminal groups.

Further, the MHRB says that the process itself has undergone a qualitative change. Permanent skinhead gangs, which specialize in murder, have appeared in major Russian centres, especially in Moscow, the Moscow Region and St Petersburg. Such gangs first emerged in 2004-2005, but their number has now increased significantly.

All these tendencies are an objective consequence of the low efficiency of the Russian law-enforcement agencies and the unwillingness of some leaders to issue a clear state directive to eradicate outbreaks of xenophobia and intolerance in Russian society - although, during a meeting with CIS heads of state in Moscow on 22 February 2008, President Putin promised to put an end to this situation.

In this connection, Baku hopes that the new Russian leader, who has spoken clearly about the priority of law and order, will introduce order in this sensitive sphere of bilateral relations.

In general, the potential for cooperation in Azerbaijani-Russian relations and the presence of good political will to deepen a strategic partnership, create a firm foundation for dynamic progress in a whole range of issues of bilateral cooperation.

Such progress is important, not just to our countries and peoples, but also in a wider context, to our neighbours and the region as a whole, because the positive nature of relations between Baku and Moscow is a factor in the political stability and economic welfare of the entire Caucasus-Caspian region.