Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Georgia, Armenia And Azerbaijan Agree To Form Transcaucasian Confede

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Georgia, Armenia And Azerbaijan Agree To Form Transcaucasian Confede

    GEORGIA, ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN AGREE TO FORM TRANSCAUCASIAN CONFEDERATION BY 2019

    Georgia Today, Georgia
    April 4 2014

    1 April, 2014. The ISET Economist was invited to attend the signing
    ceremony concluding the last round of trilateral negotiations held in
    Geneva under the joint sponsorship of the Swiss Confederation, the US,
    Russia and Turkey. The three countries, represented by heads of states,
    agreed to join the newly created Transcaucasian Confederation and thus
    bring peace and a promise of prosperity to a deeply divided region
    that has provided the setting for yet another round in the Great
    Game - the battle between Russia and Western powers for political
    and ideological hegemony in Central Asia and South Caucasus; control
    over strategic trade routes (the traditional Silk Road); and access
    to the vast natural resources of the Caspian basin.

    The agreement, carrying the signatures of Ilham Aliev, Serge Sarksyan
    and Irakli Gharibashvili, charts the political and economic contours
    of the future Transcaucasian Confederation (TC). It also envisions
    a series of shorter-term confidence-building measures seeking to
    dissolve existing political tensions, open borders, and normalize
    economic and cultural relations between the three neighboring nations.

    The agreement consists of ten points outlining the main principles
    of the future economic, social and political arrangements:

    1. Borders. The parties agree to eliminate state borders and any
    other internal barriers to the movement of goods, physical persons
    and capital on the territory of the newly formed Transcaucasian
    Confederation (TC). Follow up negotiations with South Ossetia and
    Abkhazia will be conducted in Moscow and Istanbul to agree on a set of
    confidence-building measures such as direct dialog and the resumption
    of trade, transport and tourism linkages, eventually leading to the
    elimination of borders between TC and these territories.

    2. Territorial conflicts. Currently disputed territories, such as
    Nagorno-Karabakh, will be assigned the status of autonomous tax
    free zones exempting their residents (legal and physical persons)
    from any taxes levied by the Armenian, Azeri and Georgian cantons. A
    similar status will be granted to South Ossetia and Abkhazia should
    they decide to join TC at a later time.

    3. Political arrangements.

    a. Modeled after the Swiss Confederation, TC will be governed by the
    Federal Council, serving as collective Head of State. It will be a
    collegial body of 7 members (three representing Azerbaijan and two the
    Georgian and Armenian cantons, each). As a compromise between Georgia
    and Azerbaijan, membership in the Federal Council will be limited to
    three consecutive terms, candidates must have attained the age of forty
    to be elected, and would not be allowed to serve past the age of 65.

    b. The President of the Confederation will be elected by the Federal
    Assembly from among the seven members, in rotation and for a one-year
    term; the President chairs the government and assumes representative
    functions. However, the President will be a primus inter pares with
    no additional powers.

    c. TC Parliament will consist of two houses: the Senate with equal
    representation for each canton and autonomous region; and Congress
    elected under a system of proportional representation. When both
    houses are in joint session, they will be known collectively as the
    Federal Assembly.

    4. Neutrality. TC will adhere to the principles of military and
    political neutrality and will not join the North Atlantic Treaty
    Organization, the European Union, the Eurasian Union or any other
    military or political bloc.

    5. International trade and transit. TC will simultaneously seek
    deep and comprehensive trade liberalization agreements with the EU,
    the Eurasian Union, Turkey, Iran, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian
    countries. Punitive transit fees will be applied on goods originating
    in countries imposing tariff and non-tariff restrictions on trade
    with TC.

    6. Collective investment in and, ownership of, rail and road transport,
    pipelines and electricity transmission infrastructure. The parties
    recognize the vast opportunity for TC in restoring the role of the
    traditional Silk Road route linking Central Asia to the Black Sea and
    Europe, on the one hand, and forging North-South transport, trade and
    energy links between Russia and Turkey, on the other. To expedite
    the necessary investment in transport, pipeline and electricity
    transmission infrastructure, the parties agree to the principle of
    joint investment, collective ownership, building, and operation of
    all existing infrastructure.

    7. Capping military spending and promoting inclusive growth. The
    creation of TC brings to an end a series of frozen conflicts
    undermining regional security, threatening investors' property rights
    and slowing down economic development. In recognition of the above
    and to address pressing social challenges, the parties agree to cap
    military expenditures at 3% of TC's combined gross domestic product
    (GDP). An aggressive "military conversion" plan will be implemented
    over the next five years (until 2019) to retrain former military
    personnel for suitable civic occupations (e.g. drivers of tanks and
    armored vehicles will be trained in the operation of tractors and
    other types of heavy agricultural and construction machinery). Every
    dollar saved in military expenditures will be used to promote inclusive
    growth and reduce inequality.

    8. Economic specialization. TC will promote regional specialization
    corresponding to the natural comparative advantages of its constituent
    parts. The Azerbaijani canton will mainly specialize in agriculture and
    fuel production; TC's manufacturing base will be established in the
    Armenian canton. The Georgian canton will be tasked with maintaining
    law &order and hospitality services. The parties realize the risk of
    picking the wrong specializations such as making Armenians responsible
    for fuel production; leaving law and order in the Azeri hands; and/or
    counting on Georgian males to man assembly lines.

    9. The teaching of history. To stop arguing whose ancestors were the
    first to populate this or that hill, whose poetry had greater impact
    on the world literature, and which nation was the first to adopt
    a monotheistic religion, the parties agree to a joint rewriting
    of regional history textbooks. In particular, the most important
    technological and cultural achievements will be randomly assigned to
    prominent historical figures representing the various ethnic groups
    populating the region since times immemorial. As a gesture of good
    will, Georgia agrees to rename "Homo Erectus Georgicus" to "Homo
    Erectus Caucasicus". Conversely, all great follies and attempts at
    ethnic cleansing will be non-randomly assigned to villains of unclear
    ethnic descent who shall be branded as "ultra-nationalist fascists"
    and demonized.

    10. Official languages, anthem, and national symbols. The three
    cantons will pull their resources to construct the world's largest
    Alphabet Tower featuring all three national alphabets at the
    intersection of the three national state borders. The three main
    languages of the region will be given the status of state languages
    and will be taught in all cantons. Nomination to any civil service
    position will be conditioned on Google Translate-assisted fluency
    in all three languages. TC's anthem will include three verses, one
    in each language, to be performed in a randomly assigned order. The
    anthem will have as its general theme a famous aphorism by Aristotle:
    "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts".

    Speaking to journalists after the signing ceremony held at
    Geneva's Grand Kempinski hotel, the three leaders explained that
    the breakthrough in negotiations (which have been slowly progressing
    behind the scenes since November 2012) was triggered by the recent
    crisis in Ukraine. The political and military confrontation in Ukraine
    provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for countries along the
    Caucasus Transport Corridor (CTC) to attract investment and compete
    with alternative trade routes via Ukrainian and Russian ports on the
    Black Sea and via the Baltic ports and Russia to Central Asia. The only
    way to act on this opportunity was to make peace. "And since peace
    was blocked by disagreement about (arbitrary) border lines we had to
    think out of the box and eliminate the root cause of the conflict -
    the borders", concluded Ilham Aliev.

    * This blog was dedicated to April Fools' Day.

    By ISET Economist's special correspondent in Geneva, Eric Livny

    4.04.2014gr

    http://www.georgiatoday.ge/article_details.php?id=12084

Working...
X