Putin’s, Aliyev’s and Erdoğan’s “games” can cost dearly on Nagorno-Karabakh settlement in Baku
A new blow to the OSCE Minsk group
While the West raises a question prior to European games launching in Baku regarding the level of democracy in the country, and emphasize their negative attitude towards the Aliyev regime, and the European leaders refuse to travel to Baku, Putin and Erdoğan would be next to Aliyev on the days of the European games.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, on June 12-13, will attend the opening ceremony of the European games in Baku. Putin’s assistant Yury Ushakov said that Putin-Aliyev talks are scheduled to discuss bilateral relations, as well as the Karabakh conflict settlement issues.
After arriving in Yerevan on April 24, it was predicted that Putin would travel to Baku not to upset Aliyev, especially now, when the Russian-Azerbaijani relations are on the rise, and the Western structures are the main target of criticism of Baku propaganda. It is clear that Putin is not worried about such “nuances”, moreover, may be Azerbaijan-West tension is to his liking.
Almost every day, Azerbaijani sites cite statements by Western structures and diplomats, endlessly complaining that the West clearly carries out a “black PR” from the European games against Azerbaijan.
Recently, another scandal event was registered in Baku. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, with a claim to terminate the activities of OSCE Office in Baku, has sent a diplomatic note to the OSCE Vienna headquarters. Official Baku has given one month term to the OSCE to end up the works in Baku, by the way, Azerbaijani authorities have failed to substantiate their this kind of move. The closure of the OSCE office occurs just a few days after the visit of the OSCE Chairman-in-office, Foreign Minister of Serbia, Ivica Dačić, to Baku.
As to what the closure of the OSCE office means for democracy in Azerbaijan, human rights protection and providing new “freedoms” to Aliyev’s regime, it is not difficult to imagine. But what was most remarkable in this process was the posture of Russia. Azerbaijan notified the OSCE Secretariat about its decision to close the company’s projects coordinator office in Baku, promptly stated the OSCE Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation Andrey Kelin and added, “We believe that this movement by Azerbaijan is justified as the country decides on its own about the type of the support it wishes to receive from the OSCE.”
Expressing satisfaction in the OSCE via the representative of the Russian Federation and almost justifying Aliyev’s movement, in fact, official Baku and Moscow show full solidarity also giving a blow to the OSCE Minsk Group. And this is implemented on the days of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs’ visit to the region, as it is well known that the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs intend to attend the opening ceremony of the European Games in Baku.
What will Putin, Aliyev, and Erdoğan discuss in Baku?
To win the favor of Azerbaijan and Turkey, Putin, thus, made the next gesture by attending the opening ceremony of the European Games in Baku. Prior to Putin’s visit, the Kremlin announced through several levels that the President of Russian Federation is going to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Azerbaijan.
Russia, indeed, always wanted to show that the “last word” in the process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement belongs to it. Simply, the question is in which conditions Moscow’s aspirations and expectations of Azerbaijan and Turkey can coincide.
Putin Aliyev and Erdoğan will discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Baku, on the background of great expectations by Azerbaijan and Turkey from Russia on this issue. Putin, in his turn, should seek to ensure them that he keeps being the key role-player in the peace process. And as to what Aliyev and Erdoğan can expect in response to this assertion, it is no secret.
Did Erdoğan “make friends” with Putin?
The meeting of Putin with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Baku is also scheduled. Lately, Putin had a telephone conversation with Erdoğan discussing the possibility of holding talks in Baku. On June 13, in Baku, the presidents of Russia and Turkey will possibly discuss the “Turkish Stream” project-related issues, informed Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
As it is seen, Putin and Erdoğan “have made friends”. On April 24, the “sediments” of Putin’s visit to Tsitsernakaberd ended early. Putin congratulated Erdoğan on his victory in the parliamentary elections, and in the recent telephone conversation, Putin and Erdoğan discussed the “Turkish Stream” pipeline-related issues and stressed that in case of having time for the meeting, they would discuss the issue in more detail.
While, the Russian “Gazprom” has agreed on the commercial terms to supply gas to Turkey. Deputy Head of the Russian holding, Alexander Medvedev, assured that “everything is agreed upon: all commercial and economic terms.” According to Medvedev, “Gazprom” does not see a threat for building the “Turkish Stream” gas pipeline. Note that on December 1, when Putin visited Turkey, “Gazprom” and Turkish Botas Company signed a memorandum on reaching 63 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia to Turkey across the Black Sea.
Emma GABRIELYAN
“Aravot” daily, 11.06.2015
