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Researcher of Jamestown Foundation: Azerbaijan set a good example by rejecting the idea of a special status for Karabakh

Vladimir Socor, a researcher at the Jamestown Research Foundation

25 November 2022 18:10 (UTC +04:00)

"I received three main messages from the speech of the President of Azerbaijan," said Vladimir Socor, a researcher at the Jamestown Research Foundation, a participant in the international conference "Along the Middle Corridor: Geopolitics, Security and Economy" held at ADA University in Baku on November 25, APA reports.

He said that the first message is a successful development model based on the presidential institution of Azerbaijan.

According to Vladimir Socor, Azerbaijan not only exports energy to Europe, but it also plays a role as an energy-transit country for Europe, which is the second message: "Although Azerbaijan's policy is balanced, it is mainly based on the West. You can also observe it in Azerbaijan's energy exports to Europe. All energy exports of the country are related to Europe. The companies involved in energy production in the country are also Western companies. This lays on the basis of Azerbaijan's direction to the West. The crucial role of blue fuel in the economy of developed countries will be long-term. I think that "green energy" will never be one hundred percent successful. Blue fuel will always be needed, and this fuel will not lose its importance even after the transition to "green energy." Therefore, the future of Azerbaijan is reliable. Azerbaijan is not only a producer country but also a transit country. I believe and expect that a large amount of gas will be imported from Turkmenistan. This will be conducted through the Southern Gas Corridor from the Caspian Sea, and Turkmenistan is moving in this direction."

The expert said that the third message of President Ilham Aliyev is about Karabakh: "Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity through military-political means. Military decisions were made on the field, and military victory was achieved, followed by political decisions. And this institutionalized the result and victory achieved by military means. Azerbaijan successfully completed the military-political process. What surprised me was Azerbaijan's refusal of the special status approach regarding Karabakh. The initiative to grant special status to Karabakh belongs to Moscow, Russia put forward this initiative 25-30 years ago. Russia worked with the OSCE to promote this initiative. The issue of special status was promoted not only in Karabakh but also in Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine and Transnistria in Moldova. Special status denies a country's national sovereignty. Azerbaijan rejected the idea of special status and set a good example for everyone, especially for Ukraine and Moldova. After the war, the President of Azerbaijan said: "The status of Karabakh has gone to hell." And this approach was welcomed by Ukraine and Moldova. Since these countries also reject this instruction, which is a very dangerous solution for the conflict."