TO CORRIDOR THROUGH CONSENSUS

IN BRIEF

“At the last summit of the Economic Cooperation Organisation I informed my colleagues about the Zangezur Corridor. Today I can say that the corridor is becoming a reality. This new transport infrastructure will become an important part of the East-West and North-South corridors. I believe that the ECO member states will use this corridor as well."

Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan

The end of November was abundant of critical international negotiations and high level contacts for Azerbaijan. After quite successful negotiations in Sochi with the leaders of Russia and Armenia, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev visited Ashgabat to join the 15th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) together with the leaders of Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Kazakhstan was represented at the forum by prime minister, while Afghanistan could not join the event due to the well-known events in this country.

Why ECO?

Although the ECO has only 10 member states, the organisation has significant potential for all members, as it has a huge market covering a population of 500 million people. The strategic geographic location of member states, hosting of the shortest and most efficient transport corridor connecting the East with the West, as well as the abundance of natural resources are factors that increase the importance of ECO.

ECO was established in 1985 at the initiative of Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey. In fact, this format became a legal successor of the Organisation for Regional Cooperation for Development, which operated in 1964-1979. Several countries, including Azerbaijan, joined the organisation headquartered in Tehran in 1992.

For Baku, ECO, among other things, has also become one of the important organisations, which at condemned the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan at the Istanbul summit back in 1993 and urged Yerevan to withdraw its troops from the occupied territories in line with with Resolution 822 of the UN Security Council. The then President of Azerbaijan, national leader Heydar Aliyev played an important role in this issue as well.

Later, Heydar Aliyev put forward an initiative to create an ECO Research Centre in Baku. When the acting President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev put the issue on the table in March 2021 again, the charter of the Baku Research Centre was adopted at the 14th online summit of the organisation. The objective of the centre is to facilitate regional cooperation of the ECO member states through economic research.

Today Azerbaijan has a special weight in the ECO, as one of the countries interested in reforming the organisation, and increasing its efficiency. Baku also cooperates with the ECO member states on international platforms, including the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement.

An important factor for Azerbaijan and the regional development in general is also the transfer of the ECO chairmanship from Turkmenistan, with which Azerbaijan has had close and partner relations in recent years, to brotherly Uzbekistan. Obviously, with the election of Shavkat Mirziyoyev as President of Uzbekistan, relations between Baku and Tashkent have reached a new level of mutual understanding, pragmatic partnership, and cooperation. Economies of both countries over the past four years, and even during the pandemic crisis, have demonstrated a steady growth. In 2018-2020, the Azerbaijani-Uzbek trade turnover increased threefold. Last year, despite the pandemic, mutual trade turnover grew by 13%, and in ten months of 2021 – by as much as 35%. Both countries have actually become an example of fruitful partnership during crises. Cooperation within international organisations brings effective results both at regional platforms and at the bilateral level. We can assume that in the coming year of Uzbekistan's chairmanship in the ECO both countries, which are the economic drivers of respective regions, will be able to successfully realise their potential within ECO.

Corridor to peace

The main topics on the agenda of the Ashgabat Summit were the further expansion of multilateral partnerships to strengthen ECO as a dynamic organisation, as well as the deepening of cooperation between the member states in various fields, including trade, transport, communications, industry, green energy, and tourism.

Despite the absence of the Afghan delegation at the summit for obvious reasons, the Afghan problem, which is one of the key regional issues, was addressed in the speeches of most of the participants. For example, the Uzbek leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed to unite efforts to develop common approaches and provide the necessary assistance to the Afghan people. “Alone, without the help of the international community, including the closest neighbours, the Afghan people will not be able to withstand these difficult tests,” Mirziyoyev said.

President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stated the significance of involving Afghanistan in large infrastructure projects with the participation of the ECO member states. “Currently, the construction of power transmission lines between Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, as well as a railway line from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan is underway. The construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline is in full swing. We pay particular attention to the intensification of transport and transit communications along the East-West and North-South corridors. In particular, the creation of transport corridors between Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Oman, as well as Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey,” Mr. Berdimuhamedov said.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev underlined that Garabagh and Eastern Zangezur liberated a year ago as a result of the 44-day Patriotic War have been declared a zone of green energy. “The confirmed potential of the liberated territories is 7,200 MW of solar and 2,000 MW of wind energy. At the last ECO Summit, I informed my colleagues about the Zangezur Corridor. Today I can say that the corridor is becoming a reality. This new transport infrastructure will become an important part of the East-West and North-South corridors. I believe that the ECO member states will use this corridor,” Mr. Aliyev said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also emphasised the significance of the Zangezur transport corridor. He said that the initiative of the Middle East-West Corridor passing through the Caspian Sea, and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line are the most visible manifestations of efforts to increase trade and intensify economic ties within the ECO. “The Zangezur corridor is also of great importance, which will establish direct road communication between our country and the region,” Mr. Erdogan said.

As a result of the summit, the member states adopted the Ashgabat Consensus for Action, which united the key priorities of the member countries for the further development and strengthening of regional economic cooperation.

One of the important points for Azerbaijan in the document is the congratulation message of the ECO partner countries because of "the liberation of the occupied territories and the restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity." Assuming that this will contribute to the establishment of stable peace and economic development of the Caucasus, the member states highlighted in the document the importance of "exploring of possibilities for investment in restoration and reconstruction projects in the liberated territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan." This caused an ambiguous reaction in Armenia, since three allies of Armenia in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan – signed the final document of the Ashgabat Summit as well.

Furthermore, the reports adopted by ECO reflected the concept of "corridor" in the context of "documents signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia, and Armenia." Obviously, all these facts are a manifestation of sympathy and support to Azerbaijan’s position in the long-term conflict, fair results of the 44-days of war in Garabagh, and the recognition of Baku's successful foreign policy.

Breakthrough

High-ranking officials of the ECO member states participating at the Ashgabat Summit had a unique platform for one-on-one and expanded negotiations. For example, Ilham Aliyev had an opportunity to meet with the presidents of Turkey, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and other colleagues.

Experts and journalists in the region have long been looking forward to the first meeting of the President of Azerbaijan with the new leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ibrahim Raisi, to discuss the existing problems and tasks between the two countries. The meeting took place in the capital of Turkmenistan, while the journalists had an opportunity to observe the progress of negotiations.

President Aliyev said that Azerbaijan attached great importance to relations with Iran. “Our peoples are fraternal peoples. We have lived together for centuries. Family ties are also wide enough. Our peoples are united by a common history and common culture. This is a great foundation. Therefore, I can say that we are writing the modern history of bilateral relations,” Mr. Aliyev said.

During the conversation, the parties discussed issues of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran within the North-South transport corridor, as well as the Zangezur transport corridor. It was noted that the implementation of the Zangezur corridor will be beneficial to Iran, which will be able to use this transport artery. It was emphasised that after the historic victory of Azerbaijan in the Second Garabagh War, the geopolitical situation in the region has changed. Presidents also discussed the importance of the participation of regional countries in solving the existing regional issues.

Mr. Raisi said that Iran and Azerbaijan “must resolve their own issues by themselves, work together to advance relations, deepening mutually beneficial cooperation." The Iranian President confirmed the invariability of his country's position on the Garabagh issue. "In Iran, the position of everyone from the Supreme Leader to all government officials was that the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan should not be violated. It was necessary to ensure the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan," Mr. Raisi said. He called the recent visit to Tehran of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Azerbaijani government Shahin Mustafayev and the recent contacts of the foreign ministers of the two countries positive.

The central event of the meeting was the signing of an agreement defining the conditions for the transit of natural gas through the territory of Iran. According to the Iranian media, Turkmenistan will supply 1.5-2 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Azerbaijan through Iran annually. The contract is unlimited; its implementation will begin on December 22, 2021. Iran will be able to meet the gas needs of its five provinces by supplying Turkmen natural gas to Azerbaijan under a SWAP contract.

The signed document can actually be considered a symbol of a breakthrough in Azerbaijani-Iranian relations, which had been complicated by a number of factors after the 44-day Patriotic War. Both politicians of the two countries and experts note that the signed document leaves behind the crisis in bilateral relations, which Armenia tried to use in its own interest by all means.

“This is a historical document. It shows once again how deep the Iranian-Azerbaijani ties are. Azerbaijan will receive Turkmen gas through Iran. This is an excellent foundation for trilateral cooperation and confirms our intentions,” Mr. Ilham Aliyev said following the signing of the historical document. Mr. Raisi stressed that this document was aimed at developing relations between the two countries. “The gas agreement between Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkmenistan will serve the development of relations between our countries, relations between two and three countries. Serious and numerous steps must be taken in this direction,” the Iranian president added.

Thus, the one-day Ashgabat ECO summit became a venue for cross-checking watches by the heads of state. The leaders of the ECO member states had an opportunity to discuss the possibilities of further promoting cooperation within the ECO, and to conduct effective bilateral negotiations after a certain pause. We can only hope that the coronavirus pandemic will stop impeding the international relations, and we will soon return to normal life without any crises and barriers.