And selling of weapons worth of 4 billion dollars to Azerbaijan by Russia over 3 years is just the beginning
On October 10, in Minsk, at the Supreme Council Session of the Eurasian Economic Union following the CIS summit, Armenia finally became a member of the Eurasian Economic Union. Serzh Sargsyan has qualified the document of Armenia’s accession historical, and has mentioned this will be the beginning of a new state of integration in the post-Soviet territory.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who a few months ago publicly presented his famous reservations with regard to Armenia’s accession, this time he stated that there are no more obstacles. “Moreover, they had managed to reach a compromise on the issue of requiring finesse as to with what borders Armenia will join is also removed”. One can conclude that the Eurasian trio have agreed on the Karabakh issue, which is also considered to be an acceptable option by Armenia’s authorities. But if the matter is about specific compromise, both official Yerevan and the Eurasian trio countries keep silent.
Meanwhile, in these days, the Azerbaijani media is rejoicing. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s statement in Baku is called a “sensational” one. For example, as reported by haqqin.az, “Armenia has accepted Vladimir Putin’s “Eurasian Union without Nagorno-Karabakh” bill”. And this, according to this media, means that “a customs checkpoint will be installed on the border with Armenia and Karabakh,” and that “it is a great political and diplomatic achievement for Azerbaijan.” The point that there are people in EaEU defending the interests of Azerbaijan, we have been convinced in it a long time ago. The fact is that Russia does not cease reverences in the direction of official Baku and the hints to see Azerbaijan in EaEU. Vladimir Dzhabarov, First deputy Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, has expressed a new hope for expansion of the structure and membership of new countries to EaEU. “Now, there are four countries. Armenia joined,” he said, expressing hope that the EaEU Agreement will be ratified by Parliament of Armenia in the near future. Dzhabarov said that the other former Soviet republics should not be ignored from the integration process. “The relations with Azerbaijani are also developing well, and we have hope for constructive cooperation in this direction. If Azerbaijan over the time makes such a decision (to join the EaEU), despite the long-standing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, then it would be the very way to solve the conflict, when the two countries together will be included in one economic union”. Official Baku has not yet responded to Russia’s ongoing hints, perhaps leaving the impression that Azerbaijan is seriously thinking of the prospects to join the Eurasian Economic Union. Ilham Aliyev, in his turn, conducts a policy of flattering Russia. At the CIS summit held in Minsk, Aliyev even expressed an opinion that the CIS has not exhausted itself and is an important platform to solve different tasks, and that Azerbaijan give great importance to CIS involvement.
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New effort are made for enhancement of foundations of Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation. As seen, selling of weapons worth of four billion dollars to Azerbaijan by Russia over three years is just of beginning. On October 13, Sergey Shoygu, Russian Defense Minister, arrived in Azerbaijan on official visit. He held talks with Zakir Hasanov, Azerbaijan Defense Minister. Shoygu informed that they are having discussions with the Azerbaijani side about military and military-technical important aspects and provision of regional stability and security. The two countries’ defense ministries are thinking of interaction matter, first of all in the Caspian Sea, to give an important practical orientation, they have also agreed to conduct a series of joint naval exercises in 2015.
The media reported that on October 13, Shoygu and Hasanov, signed the 2015 partnership program between Azerbaijani and Russian defense ministries. Hasanov informed that the project envisages purchase of Russian production modern arms and equipment. At the meeting with Shoygu, the President of Azerbaijan also assured that there is a good dynamics in all directions of cooperation between the two countries, including the military sector. Shoygu highlights that the military-technical partnership between the two countries is developing dynamically, by the way, Azerbaijan obtains modern weapons. Russian-Azerbaijani interests in the region seems to not only match, but deepened, and we more and more hear about the assertions about the necessity to strengthen military cooperation. In this context, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin’s recent observation was interesting, when he stated that NATO’s military activity in the South Caucasus poses a threat to the regional stability and can lead to serious consequences.
The next Eurasian Economic Union summit is planned for on December, this year, in Moscow. What trap is prepared this time for Armenia and Karabakh? Is the trap about installing customs checkpoint between Armenia and Karabakh, or at least its “formal” existence? Eventually, the EaEU Agreement and the Charter of the Customs Union suggests that a customs checkpoint should be installed between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. The allegations of its being formal can only be a policy to justify in every way the whims of Moscow, to which our political and social field, perhaps, is ready. Is the issue of winning the consent in the Eurasian backstage and Nazarbayev’s mentioned “finesse required for reaching compromise” the installation of the customs checkpoints between Armenia and Karabakh?
Emma GABRIELYAN
