SUMMING UP …

There is no denying that print media are designed to perform the function of chronicling modern times. And it is possible to say with confidence that our "one-year-old" magazine has successfully coped with this "adult" role, especially given the fact that last year was quite prolific.

Over this period of time, perhaps the most important political and economic event in the region was the official opening on 13 July 2006 of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline. Politicians and experts have unanimously described it not only as a guarantee of economic prosperity in Azerbaijan and stability in the entire South Caucasus, but also as a factor which will have tremendous geopolitical impact. After agreement has been reached with Astana on transport of Kazakh oil through the BTC pipeline, Azerbaijan has turned into a "bridge between Europe and Asia". Given the ever-growing demand of EU countries (and beyond) for hydrocarbons, as well as the persistent wish of Europe to diversify the market of energy supplies as soon as possible, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of the BTC pipeline. In addition to this, the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum project has also been completed. It is tailored to transport gas from the Caspian gas field of Shah Deniz. Work was in full swing throughout last year to ensure the commencement, as soon as possible, of the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line. 

The signing, by the ministers of transport of Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well as the Georgian minister of economic development on 7 February, of the agreement on the construction of the railway line is evidence of the successful outcome of this work. The recent concerns expressed by Yerevan, which due to its stubborn political position has again been sidelined from the most important economic and political projects of the region, are further evidence of the fact that the steps Azerbaijan is taking to resolve the Karabakh conflict are thought through.

As is known, the year 2006 was touted as the "year of extensive opportunities in the settlement of the Azerbaijan-Armenian conflict over Nagornyy Karabakh". Unfortunately, these hopes have not been justified. The well-known meeting between Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharyan in the Rambouillet castle near Paris did not produce any results. However, the president of Azerbaijan had "a lot more reasons to come out as a victor" after the negotiations in France. This was to a great extent explained by the clear position of Baku, which, unfortunately, does not hold true for Yerevan. Shortly before leaving for Rambouillet, Ilham Aliyev clearly said that he would never sign an agreement which would bring into question the fact that Nagornyy Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan. Later, during a visit to the Karabakh region, including the front line, the president stressed again that Baku did not refuse to hold negotiations, but its patience was running out. Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharyan met twice more in 2006 within the framework of the Prague process - in Bucharest and Minsk. The dialogue also continued at the level of foreign ministers. However, there have been no tangible changes for the better. In the meantime, another undisputed success of Azerbaijan's diplomatic efforts is that the need for preserving the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan was repeatedly recognized by several world leaders last year.

The inviolability of this principle was confirmed by US President George Bush during Ilham Aliyev's visit to Washington. Besides that, the international community represented by the EU, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, GUAM and governments of leading countries of the world has described as unlawful the so-called "constitutional referendum" in Nagornyy Karabakh. At the same time, Baku has managed to use the floor of the UN General Assembly to draw the attention of the world to the arsons the Armenian side has perpetrated in occupied territories. As far as Yerevan is concerned, it appears that its politicians have got lost in their own subterfuges. Robert Kocharyan has said recently that an active phase in negotiations should not be expected until after the parliamentary election in Armenia.

Last year was also marked by the strengthening of relations between Azerbaijan and the EU. First of all, an action plan on Europe's New Neighborhood Policy was adopted. The plan is expected to step up political, economic and humanitarian cooperation between Azerbaijan and countries of the EU. During President Ilham Aliyev's visit to Brussels, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in an effort to ensure European energy security within the framework of strategic cooperation, as well as the modernization and development of Azerbaijan's energy infrastructure. Ilham Aliyev also paid official visits to a number of EU countries where important bilateral documents were signed and Azerbaijan's objectives associated with accessing European markets clearly outlined.

Last year saw a number of developments pertaining to Azerbaijan's participation in different international organizations. First of all, this is the transformation of GUAM into a fully-fledged international regional organization for democracy and development. It is worth that a special statement by GUAM member-states with regard to frozen conflicts on their territories was incorporated into the agenda of the UN General Assembly. It is also possible to say that after Ilham Aliyev's visit to the NATO headquarters, the spirit of cooperation between the Alliance and Baku received further incentives. The president also signed a decree on bringing the national legislation into conformity with WTO standards.

As for the strengthening of Azerbaijan's bilateral relations with other countries, perhaps last year's most memorable event was Ilham Aliyev's visit to the USA, as well as the December visit to Washington by First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva. Prior to the US visit by the president of Azerbaijan, different theories were being expressed as to possible topics of his "twosome" negotiations with the White House leader. However, the main outcome of the visit was that, according to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs and the US co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza, "Ilham Aliyev, as always, very effectively informed official representatives of the USA of the priorities in the development of Azerbaijan, the renewal of the political environment in the country and liberalization of its political system".

Last year, Baku repeatedly became the focus of many important political events. The 33rd session of foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference was held in the capital in July and Azerbaijan was elected as chairman for one year. Baku also hosted a number of political, economic and humanitarian activities as part of the Year of Russia in Azerbaijan. First of all, it is worth pointing to the very fruitful visit to Azerbaijan by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the tremendous interest in the economic opportunities of our countries on the part of Russian businessmen and heads of Russian territories and regions. However, at the end of last year Azerbaijani-Russian relations experienced a number of shocks, mainly associated with the price of gas for Azerbaijani consumers. The price more than doubled, while the volume of supplies reduced at the same time.

It was immediately suggested that this was some kind of a response of the Russian Federation to Azerbaijan's refusal to contribute to the economic isolation of Georgia. After this decision of the Kremlin Baku announced its "enforced decision" to switch the energy sector of the country from gas to furnace oil, which will inevitably affect the volume of Azeri oil transportation to Novorossiysk. In the meantime, the "gas" wrangling was almost immediately followed by a ban on retail commerce by non-citizens of the Russian Federation, which dealt a serious blow to quite a few labour migrants from Azerbaijan. Then there was news that the broadcasts of Russian TV channels to Azerbaijan would be suspended in the summer of this year. This gave many observers the ammunition to talk about a considerable strain in the relations between Moscow and Baku. 

In this connection, it is worth recalling Ilham Aliyev's interview with Russia's leading radio station, Ekho Moskvy, where the president dotted the i's and crossed the t's. The present Azerbaijani-Russian relations bear the form of "strategic partnership" which is in the interests of both sides. And this creates extensive opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation.

As far as international developments are concerned, our magazine has continuously kept an eye on the crisis surrounding Tehran's nuclear program. This problem perturbs the entire world community and is directly related to Azerbaijan, a country sharing a border with Iran, while Iran is home to millions of ethnic Azerbaijanis.

In late spring 2006, everyone was particularly concerned whether the USA was indeed going to play the so-called "Azerbaijan card" in the region. The issue became even more topical in the wake of an uprising by outraged Azerbaijanis living in northern Iran following the publication of cartoons about them by the country's pro-government newspaper. However, expert predictions that this uprising would develop into large-scale disturbances in the region did not come true. It is worthy of note that further progress of peace negotiations on Karabakh settlement and Ilham Aliyev's visit to the USA were also linked to the Iranian problem. R+ has provided an insight into all these developments.

Another "burning" issue of the 24 issues of our magazine last year was the situation in Iraq to which all the developments unfolding in the New World over this period of time have been linked - starting from the victory of democrats in Congressional elections up until George Bush's strategy in the Middle East. Unfortunately, the situation in Iraq keeps catastrophically deteriorating. It could not be rectified by the formation of the government of national unity, by numerous visits of the world's leading politicians and diplomats to the region and by the demonstrative execution of Iraq's former dictator Saddam Hussein. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is still a "dead zone" which has now become even more complicated by the bloody stand-offs between Fatah and Hamas and the confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah on the territory of Lebanon in the middle of the summer.

Since we are coming into light under the name of Region, we could not have by-passed Azerbaijan's closest neighbour and ally - Turkey. A whole host of pages in our magazine dwell not only on the level of bilateral relations between Baku and Ankara, but also on Turkey's efforts to become a fully-fledged member of the EU, the Kurdish problem, the dispute over the island of Cyprus and the exposure of the hysteria raised by world media over the so-called "Armenian genocide". As a matter of fact, numerous historical publications on this theme are intended to uncover the attempts to falsify history which are constantly made by Armenian politicians and scientists.

It only remains to assure our readers that R+ will continue to be an accurate and impartial chronicler of modern history.