Aliyev’s friend rejoices at “Azerbaijan’s historic victory” in Yerevan

Yerevan and Astana agreed to actively work together, participate in the peace process, and Yerevan and Astana were declared sister cities.

On April 15, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was on a one-day official visit to Armenia. In a conversation with Armenpress on the eve of the visit, he assessed the Armenian project “Crossroads of the World” as a new transport idea that deserves attention and comprehensive study from the point of view of connecting to the regional logistics structure of interconnections. “The full functioning of transport links is an important step towards the economic integration of the entire South Caucasus and the establishment of stable peace in the region,” he said.

The President of Kazakhstan also added that establishing a strong and lasting peace between Yerevan and Baku is in the interests of his country. “We are interested in the speedy conclusion of a peace treaty between two friendly states.”

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has already stated in Armenia that Yerevan and Astana have agreed to actively work together and participate in the peace process. “We highly appreciate Armenia’s desire to restore transport links in the South Caucasus. In this sense, we welcome the initiative of the respected Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, which is called “Crossroads of the World”.

This was Tokayev’s first time as President of Armenia. The parties discussed issues of economic and investment cooperation, emphasizing that the list of export and import products should be increased. “Kazakhstan is ready to increase Armenia’s exports to $350 million. It is necessary to intensify ties in industry, financial innovation, tourism, agriculture and other areas,” Tokayev noted. Following the meeting between the leaders of the two countries, a statement was signed. Tokayev invited Pashinyan on an official visit to Kazakhstan. Issues of deepening cultural ties were also discussed. The capitals of both countries – Yerevan and Astana – have been declared sister cities, and parks will also be created in both capitals. “I am pleased to announce that the creation of a park named after St. Mesrop Mashtots, the author of the invention of Armenian writing in Astana, and a park named after the Kazakh poet, founder of Kazakh literature Abai Kunanbayev in Yerevan are being discussed. “,” said Pashinyan.

This is the second visit of Kazakh officials to Armenia over the past two months. In mid-March, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan was in Yerevan. The two ministers held a private conversation, then met with delegations and signed an agreement for 2024-25. Action plan. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan At a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu, he presented the “Crossroads of the World” program. “I also had the opportunity to present to my colleague our vision for developing these new transport capabilities, you know about the Crossroads of the World, we talked about it today, logistics capabilities based on respect for the sovereignty and jurisdiction of all countries. countries based on the principles of equality and reciprocity. Of course, I also presented to my beloved colleague the situation in the South Caucasus,” Mirzoyan said.

Commenting on the “Crossroads of the World” project, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleun noted that this could be an additional opportunity for both countries and that they would work to make the middle corridor fully functional. “Ararat Mirzoyan drew attention to the fact that the “Crossroads of the World” is being implemented in Armenia. I believe this is an additional opportunity for our countries, and we are committed to working together with our partners to ensure that the Middle Corridor finally realizes its full potential.” The middle corridor is otherwise called the Trans-Caspian transport route and extends from China through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia to Turkey, and from there to European countries. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan noted that the geographical location of Armenia is of great importance for them.

Murat Nurtleu was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan for about a year, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Mukhtar Tleyberdi was in Armenia in 2022. at the meeting of CSTO foreign ministers. In general, visits by Kazakh officials were more often associated with meetings of the CSTO or the Eurasian Economic Union. However, at the press conference following the meeting of foreign ministers, nothing was said about the CSTO and the problems associated with this structure. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan only briefly mentioned that he attaches importance to cooperation in various organizations. “The positions of our countries on some international processes and challenges are close, our opinions often coincide. That is why we have paid special attention to security and sustainable development in Central Asia and the South Caucasus. Our mutual cooperation in various structures, such as the UN, CIS, CSTO, EAEU, makes a significant contribution to the development of our relations,” the minister emphasized.

In turn, Mirzoyan emphasized that it is important for Armenia to develop bilateral relations with different countries. “RA is interested in developing its bilateral relations from the American continent to the Far East and East Asia, and, of course, relations with Kazakhstan play a very important role in our perception, and I am very glad to see the same mutual interest on the Kazakh side; today we have reached specific agreements to develop these relations.”

On the eve of Tokayev’s visit, amid tensions with Russia, Nikol Pashinyan Egemen Kazakhstan and “Kazakhstanskaya Pravda” in an interview with newspapers, he talked about not politicizing the EAEU, noting that the EAEU and its economic principles should not be associated with political ambitions. “The EAEU is an economic association without any political, let alone geopolitical, agenda. The Armenian and Kazakh sides generally share this approach and develop cooperation within the framework of this economic union with precisely this logic. We continue to develop cooperation within the framework of our economic cooperation, trying to prevent any attempts to politicize the EAEU.” According to Nikol Pashinyan, basic freedoms of trade and integration cannot and should not be limited by political considerations; this, in his opinion, will lead to corrosion of the fundamental principles of unification. Pashinyan also stated that relations between the two countries on multilateral platforms are characterized by regular, mutually reliable contacts. “Also taking into account the fact that within the framework of multilateral structures Yerevan and Astana often occupy, if not always random, then very close positions, Armenia is ready to further develop and deepen constructive cooperation with Kazakhstan at various international and regional platforms on the basis of mutual support.”

Thus, the head of the Armenian government assured that they continue to develop cooperation within the EAEU, trying to stop all attempts to politicize it. Pashinyan did not disclose who is making such attempts and how this affects the cooperation of the Union member countries.

However, it can be assumed that in the case of Armenia, the risks of politicization may be expressed, in particular, in restricting the movement of goods to the Eurasian market. There were such precedents, for example, when problems with Armenian goods arose at the Verin Lars checkpoint against the backdrop of Armenian-Russian tension. The only land road connecting Armenia with Russia has not been smooth sailing for Armenian freight forwarders in recent months. Businesses often sound the alarm about problems.

It should be noted that Armenia’s trade turnover with the EAEU in 2023 increased by 42.7 percent, amounting to more than $7 billion. Is RA prepared for the various possible economic risks it may face? The RA authorities should have these risk management programs if from time to time Armenian businessmen face various artificial problems.

And the EAEU warns at different levels that leaving the structure “contradicts the interests of Armenia.” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia in an interview with Novosti in February Alexander Pankin noted that cooperation within the EAEU is effective for Armenia. Pankin emphasized that over the past few years, Armenia has become a leader within the Union, in particular, in terms of GDP growth rates, capital investments and the volume of construction work. According to him, all this became possible thanks to a single market within the Union, free movement of labor resources, simplified procedures for opening enterprises, preferential terms for energy supplies, etc. “Thus, from an economic point of view, membership in the Union is certainly beneficial for Yerevan, and, in our opinion, refusal from it would be contrary to the interests of the country,” said the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister.

Let us recall that in 2023, after the meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in June, Pashinyan did not participate in the meetings of the intergovernmental councils of the EAEU and the CIS in Bishkek in October, and at the end of November he also boycotted the meeting of the CSTO Council held in Minsk. After a seven-month boycott, Pashinyan finally left for St. Petersburg on December 25 to attend a meeting of the Supreme Council of Eurasia. At that meeting, Pashinyan said that the EAEU is an economic association that should not have a political, much less a geopolitical agenda. “We continue to perceive this as such and, in this context, develop cooperation within the framework of our economic cooperation, trying to suppress all attempts to politicize Eurasian integration,” he said.

At the beginning of February this year, a meeting of the intergovernmental council of heads of government of the EAEU countries was held in Almaty. It was headed by Pashinyan, who emphasized that last year the trade turnover of Armenia with the countries of the Union increased by 39 percent compared to the previous year. Let us recall that on January 1 of this year, the chairmanship of the EAEU passed from Russia to Armenia.

Armenia and Kazakhstan are partners in the EAEU, as well as in the CSTO, and the Armenian authorities say they have frozen membership in this structure. It is known that Kazakhstan has fairly close and deep relations with Azerbaijan.

Let us recall that in Astana in 2014, on May 29, at an expanded meeting of the Eurasian Economic Council, through the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, put forward a precondition according to which Armenia should join the Eurasian Economic Union with its internationally recognized borders, without Nagorno-Karabakh. That day, Nazarbayev read Aliyev’s letter to the audience.

And just a month ago, on March 11, Kazakh President Tokayev, together with Aliyev, visited Shushi, Fizul and stated that Kazakhstan “sincerely rejoices at the historical victory of Azerbaijan.”

A summary in tomorrow’s issue.

Emma GABRIELYAN

daily newspaper “Aravot”, 17.04.2024