Foreign

Home page

Foreign

Fuad Ismayilov: â€œMadrid proposals should be reprepared taking Azerbaijanâ€™s position into accountâ€

10 July 2008 11:10 (UTC +04:00)

-Presidential elections will be held in Azerbaijan this year. Did OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and Parliamentary Assembly form observation missions?

Missions have not been formed, because the Government of Azerbaijan should send an invitation according to our legislation. After that, composition of the mission will be formed. Such missions always include representatives of OSCE, CE Parliamentary Assembly, NATO Parliamentary Assembly and European Parliament. Two missions will be established - long term and short term missions. Short term mission will arrive in Azerbaijan during the elections.

-One of remarks on Azerbaijan is linked with freedom of media. OSCE Special Representative on Media Freedom Miklos Haraszti stated that he did not change his position in the prepared report on this issue. Do you initiate to influence on his position?

We have good relations with Office of Haraszti, irrespective of several painful factors. Reports of Office are their normal activity. We are not satisfied with several assessments and told them about it. I consider that the office will assist Azerbaijan to increase qualification of mass media.

-Do you estimate OSCE as productive mechanism directed to the solution to Nagorno Karabakh? Former President of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Goran Lennmarker was a rapporteur on Nagorno Karabakh. Will new rapporteur be appointed to this position?

New rapporteur will probably be appointed. One of the priorities of OSCE PA is conflicts. Either Lennmarker, or other one can be appointed to this position. Can OSCE PA new Chairman be a rapporteur? Everything depends on whether he will be interested in this issue or not. Maybe, priorities of new President will be different. However, OSCE MG is one mechanism, which discusses solution to Nagorno Karabakh. We can take stance on effectiveness of the work implemented by MG. We have concrete questions to MG. We do not know how long the negations will be continued. That is why we told them: the time is going, but there is not any effect. Co-chairs cannot make aggressive country accept international principles. Therefore, solution to Nagorno Karabakh prolongs, it is not in favor of our interests. Unacceptable actions are committed in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has sent survey to change co-chairs of OSCE MG and the body replied it. What was the main goal of this step? Does official Baku want to change any co-chair? There are rumours that the Government of Azerbaijan wants to change Matthew Bryza?

The fact is not put so. These are issues of procedural character. We have not supposed on MG as organization and its mandate. The fact is that we want to change concrete co-chair. There can be created such situation to substitute Mr. â€œAâ€ with Mr. â€œBâ€. Issue is not on the agenda at present. The work on the list of Madrid proposals presented by co-chairs during meeting of the presidents of the conflict parties in St. Petersburg is underway. I also name the list of proposals, not core principles like co-chairs. These proposals should be reconsidered taking Azerbaijanâ€™s position into account. The document should envisage Azerbaijanâ€™s territorial integrity and withdrawal of troops from the occupied lands.
-To the point of occupied territories, Bernard Snowâ€™s mission for the assessment of burned areas visited the region and laid everything upon the nature in his report. Will Azerbaijan ask OSCE to send new mission?
-We cannot be satisfied with Bernard Snowâ€™s recommendations. We concern over the environmental situation in Nagorno Karabakh. Not only arsons are the subject of question. As Snow says it is impossible to conduct any joint environmental action by Azerbaijan and Armenia in the occupied territories today, first it is impossible because of security problem. In 2006 when we raised this issue before OSCE and UN, we simply stated that occupant troops should be withdrawn from the burned areas. It is important for the normal environmental operation. How we can work at gunpoint? New arsons should be prevented and earth blanket should be restored there. Instead of this they proposed us to conduct some environmental operations. At first our position on the issue of cooperation with the opposite side makes is impossible. On the other hand, it is dangerous to operate even on the Azerbaijan-controlled side of the contact line. Current situation makes even the most primitive work impossible. It will be possible only in that case that Armenian Armed Forces are withdrawn from the occupied territories.
-Letâ€™s move about the issue of cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Director of Radiation Problems Institute of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Adil Garibov said that Azerbaijan would begin construction of nuclear reactor in 2009, but IAEA official Andrei Chupov said it would be negotiations to begin 2009, but not construction. What is truth?
-Truth is in the middle. It is difficult to speak about the concrete term and comprehensive discussions should be held within this phase. Not only the construction and exploitation of nuclear reactor are the subjects of question. There are legal aspects, security and location issues as well. The negotiations have already begun. Our experts visited Vienna and IAEA experts visited Baku. The concrete term will depend on the progress achieved at the negotiations. If there is progress, we can look forward to prepare construction area in 2009 as the start of work. Otherwise it will be extended until 2010.
-How the mutual relations with Austria are developing? President of this country planned visit to Azerbaijan. Why he didnâ€™t realize it?
-The visit was postponed because Austria took over EU chairmanship and there were other reasons too. This year Azerbaijan has much work. Particularly energy and energy security cooperation is developing between the two countries. Therefore Austrian leadership is seriously considering the presidentâ€™s visit to Azerbaijan.
-Does Austria, an active player of Nabucco Project, concern over the visit of Russian president to Azerbaijan? What will happen if Azerbaijan sells its natural gas to Russia?
-Austria does not concern over this issue absolutely. It seems to me that this issue is approached in Azerbaijan differently from Europe. They do not dramatize the issue in Europe. EU approach is so: considering huge need in natural gas, all pipeline projects are seen as possible and donâ€™t exclude each other. Europeâ€™s natural gas need is increasing day by day, but production is reducing. Therefore Europe is anxiously seeking new energy sources and is ready to take advantages from all opportunities it gets. For example, Austrian leading company OMW, one of the Nabucco participants, is ready to cooperate with both Gasprom and Azerbaijan. But our participation depends on our economic interests. We should decide is the project useful for us or not? Europe has to create such terms that it make our participation economically useful for us.