Elnur Aslanov: "Azerbaijan is a country, oriented to the West and at the same time having deep eastern roots"

- How do you assess the results of the visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Moscow?

- The relations between Russia and Azerbaijan base on the trustful notes, which promote the creation of the atmosphere of mutual understanding and close cooperation between the two countries. In this sense, Ilham Aliyev's visit to Moscow proves that Azerbaijan is for the soonest stabilization of the situation in the region and is ready to contribute to reducing tensions, as the President of Azerbaijan said.

It should be admitted that important transformations are now ongoing in the region and in the entire world. For someone, world seems different to someone after August 8, others build new theories of mondialism. Anyway, the issues of security in the region demand serious interference of all constructive forces.

Therefore, the visit of the Azerbaijani President to Moscow should be assessed as an opportunity to discuss effective ways of creating atmosphere of security and stability in the region.

- How do you see the further development of Azerbaijani-Russian relations after Russia recognized independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia?

- With Russia we have many centuries of common history and cultural similarities. I understand your question, but I would like to note that Russia's position on the Karabakh conflict is well-known. It recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. The economic and political relations between our countries are positive which allows to speak of the wide prospects of their development.

At the same time, we should not forget that there are many of our compatriots in Russia, who are a part of the Russian society. It proves existence of a ground for the further development of mutual relations and it is consistently executed by the heads of the two states. Our presidents have repeatedly met through this year and discussed a wide range of issues, which, as you know, refer to the Karabakh settlement and development of economic relations. The commodity turnover of $2 bln is not a small figure and importance of economic relations should also be taken into account, especially in the light of a global crisis on the financial market.

- Do you agree that after this step of the Kremlin the positions of Karabakh separatists, who actively state the advantage of the right of peoples for self-determination as compared to the territorial integrity of the states?

- Russia's position in the issue of recognition of any state has been defined by its relations with Georgia and as President Medvedev said recently this position was formed following the August events. At the same time, as I have already stated, Russia is for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and is also the member of the OSCE Minsk Group.

As regards the position of the Karabakh separatists, they are too weak today, as they realize that the internal political processes in Armenia and the external political image of an aggressor are not in their favor. They realize that Azerbaijan is not the same country it was in 1991 and 1992. Today it is an important actor of regional policy, it is an intensively developing country, which has a real economic potential and prospects. The country's image has changed significantly. Azerbaijan implements huge geoeconomic projects and supports new and important ideas. The external political image of the country has changed dramatically through the past decade and it is being obvious. The discussions of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the UN General Assembly is a proof of it.

Therefore, on the background of economically and politically weak Armenia and Georgia, which is being at war, Azerbaijan is the center of regional discussions of the Caucasus prospects. It all affects the shaky psychology of those, who are in the occupied Azerbaijani lands. They realize that all ideas of secession will soon be terminated.

- Do you think Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili should have taken into account Azerbaijan's interests, when getting involved into the Russian-Georgian war?

- I would not like to philosophize on what was taken or not taken into account by the Georgian President, but it is obvious that we can not feel comfortable in the situation when a new unforeseen situation emerges on the other side of the border. On the whole, there are always several opportunities for the resolution of any issue. In this issue, it is important to base on the understanding of the historical correctness of any decision.

There is another issue - a humanitarian component. The war took almost a month and the conflict consequences will further influence the conscience of people.

I am sure that no one wants the conflict in Georgia to enter the book of history as a certain analogy of a Fulton speech of sir Winston Churchill or murder of Franz Ferdinand.

- How should Azerbaijan build its relations with Georgia following the well-known events, both considering the behavior of this country's leadership (without taking into account the regional projects) and considering the repeatedly voiced facts, proving discrimination of the Azerbaijani population in Georgia?

- You know, we build our relations with any country of the region or the world considering the priorities of our national interests, which are the political, economic and sociocultural factors.

Georgia is a country, with which we have established relations of close cooperation. We base on the understanding of the situation in Georgia, but at the same time, we consider that peace and security in the region are the main chains of effective cooperation.

There are many Azerbaijanis in Georgia, therefore, we are anxious about their fate, for the protection of the life and dignity of Azerbaijan is a central task of Azerbaijan.

- How should Azerbaijan build its further external policy?

- As is known, the purpose of external policy is to ensure the due level of living conditions in the country. In fact, it is just a means for achievement of internal political goals. Thus, the country's external policy should ensure the stable economic development, normal living conditions of peace. While defining their external political concepts, Azerbaijan has always based on understanding these realities.

Naturally, I will not speak of how it can be, as it is necessary to tell how it is now. The country's external policy today is built on the principles of multi-directional cooperation. We often use such term as "Azerbaijan is a bridge between the East and West", without thinking over its practical interpretation.

In fact, Azerbaijan is really a country, oriented towards the West and having deep eastern roots. We understand that without diversification of the country's development towards the East, it would be difficult to develop economy like without understanding the specificities of development of effective relations with the North and South, it is difficult for Azerbaijan to take part in the formation of the polycentric structure of the world order.

On the whole, the world structure is stable when there are several different areas, when all participants of the international community and actively working, which disproves the creation of the unbalanced situation. This promotes easier maintenance of stability.

/Day.Az/