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AZERBAIJAN DIVERTS EU OIL TO RUSSIA AND IRAN
Valentina Pop
http://euobserver.com/9/26805
24 sept 08
Azerbaijan is sticking to plans to reduce oil exports to the EU and
increase shipments to Russia and Iran, as the South Caucasus country -
home to another Russia-influenced frozen conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh -
seeks to spread risk.
In the immediate aftermath of the Georgian crisis Azerbaijan decided
as a temporary move to reduce shipments through Europe's only direct
import route from the energy-rich Caspian Sea - the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
(BTC) pipeline - and to increase exports to Russia.
But Elhar Nasirov, vice-president of Socar, the Azeri state oil
company, told the Financial Times on Thursday (25 September) that
Azerbaijan would continue exporting oil to Russia and Iran even though
shipments through Georgia had resumed, because of the increased risks
in the Caucasus.
"We don't want to insult anyone ... but it's not good to have all
your eggs in one basket, especially when the basket is very fragile,"
he said.
Separately, Elmar Mammedyarov, the foreign minister, told the FT:
"We are trying to be friends with everybody, at the same time as
acting in accordance with our national interests."
Unlike Russia-critical Ukraine, Azerbaijan has remained silent over
Russia's invasion of Georgia despite disruptions caused to its oil
business.
With presidential elections coming up on 15 October, Azerbaijan's
he ad of state, Ilham Aliev, is trying to strike a balance between a
re-assertive Russia and the West, especially since his country also
has a frozen conflict on its own territory.
The majority-Armenian populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh split
from Azerbaijan in a civil war in 1991 and remains under Armenian
occupation, with Russia and Armenia enjoying close ties.
More than 20 Azerbaijani and Armenian soldiers have been killed in
Nagorno-Karabakh since July, an Azerbaijan government official said
Thursday in claims denied by the Armenian side.
An alleged Armenian-Russian link during the Georgian conflict was
highlighted by the chairperson of the European Parliament's foreign
affairs committee, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, who asked EU's foreign
policy chief Javier Solana in a public hearing on 10 September if
Russian bases in Armenia were used to launch missiles at Georgia
during the conflict.
Mr Solana said he could not confirm the information.
After talks held with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in Moscow
last week, Azerbaijani President Mr Aliev said his country sought
"predictability" in the Caucasus, while his foreign minister
said Azerbaijan's main task was to preserve its independence and
sovereignty.
During a visit in Baku last week, the United States' chief mediator
in the region, Matthew Bryza, said it was more important than ever
to resolve the dispute after the Russia-Georgia war.
"The recent events in Georgia underscore the importance of a timely
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said, adding that
the US strongly support the sovereignty and territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan.
Armenia-Turkey initiative
Meanwhile, in New York, a trilateral meeting between the foreign
ministers of Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan was due to take place on
Thursday (25 September), with Turkey recently opening a new chapter
in Armenian diplomacy.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul made a historic visit to Armenia
on 6 September to watch a football match between the two nations
which have had a closed border and no diplomatic ties since 1993,
when Turkey backed Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Armenian media hope that Turkey's increasing distance from the US
and closer ties to Russia could work in its favour over the frozen
conflict, and could end-up rerouting future Caspian-EU energy links
through its territory instead of Georgia.
"Turkey's pressure on Azerbaijan is also an option. The reason lies
in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which became insecure after
the Georgian war. Actually the BTC proved that no long-term political
project can be profitable if it is realised on the pretensions of
politicians and their unquenchable ambition to isolate the neighbouring
country, which in this particular case is Armenia," analyst Karine
Ter-Sahakian wrote for Pan-Armenian Network.
Valentina Pop
http://euobserver.com/9/26805
24 sept 08
Azerbaijan is sticking to plans to reduce oil exports to the EU and
increase shipments to Russia and Iran, as the South Caucasus country -
home to another Russia-influenced frozen conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh -
seeks to spread risk.
In the immediate aftermath of the Georgian crisis Azerbaijan decided
as a temporary move to reduce shipments through Europe's only direct
import route from the energy-rich Caspian Sea - the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
(BTC) pipeline - and to increase exports to Russia.
But Elhar Nasirov, vice-president of Socar, the Azeri state oil
company, told the Financial Times on Thursday (25 September) that
Azerbaijan would continue exporting oil to Russia and Iran even though
shipments through Georgia had resumed, because of the increased risks
in the Caucasus.
"We don't want to insult anyone ... but it's not good to have all
your eggs in one basket, especially when the basket is very fragile,"
he said.
Separately, Elmar Mammedyarov, the foreign minister, told the FT:
"We are trying to be friends with everybody, at the same time as
acting in accordance with our national interests."
Unlike Russia-critical Ukraine, Azerbaijan has remained silent over
Russia's invasion of Georgia despite disruptions caused to its oil
business.
With presidential elections coming up on 15 October, Azerbaijan's
he ad of state, Ilham Aliev, is trying to strike a balance between a
re-assertive Russia and the West, especially since his country also
has a frozen conflict on its own territory.
The majority-Armenian populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh split
from Azerbaijan in a civil war in 1991 and remains under Armenian
occupation, with Russia and Armenia enjoying close ties.
More than 20 Azerbaijani and Armenian soldiers have been killed in
Nagorno-Karabakh since July, an Azerbaijan government official said
Thursday in claims denied by the Armenian side.
An alleged Armenian-Russian link during the Georgian conflict was
highlighted by the chairperson of the European Parliament's foreign
affairs committee, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, who asked EU's foreign
policy chief Javier Solana in a public hearing on 10 September if
Russian bases in Armenia were used to launch missiles at Georgia
during the conflict.
Mr Solana said he could not confirm the information.
After talks held with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in Moscow
last week, Azerbaijani President Mr Aliev said his country sought
"predictability" in the Caucasus, while his foreign minister
said Azerbaijan's main task was to preserve its independence and
sovereignty.
During a visit in Baku last week, the United States' chief mediator
in the region, Matthew Bryza, said it was more important than ever
to resolve the dispute after the Russia-Georgia war.
"The recent events in Georgia underscore the importance of a timely
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said, adding that
the US strongly support the sovereignty and territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan.
Armenia-Turkey initiative
Meanwhile, in New York, a trilateral meeting between the foreign
ministers of Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan was due to take place on
Thursday (25 September), with Turkey recently opening a new chapter
in Armenian diplomacy.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul made a historic visit to Armenia
on 6 September to watch a football match between the two nations
which have had a closed border and no diplomatic ties since 1993,
when Turkey backed Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Armenian media hope that Turkey's increasing distance from the US
and closer ties to Russia could work in its favour over the frozen
conflict, and could end-up rerouting future Caspian-EU energy links
through its territory instead of Georgia.
"Turkey's pressure on Azerbaijan is also an option. The reason lies
in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which became insecure after
the Georgian war. Actually the BTC proved that no long-term political
project can be profitable if it is realised on the pretensions of
politicians and their unquenchable ambition to isolate the neighbouring
country, which in this particular case is Armenia," analyst Karine
Ter-Sahakian wrote for Pan-Armenian Network.