Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva - Trend:
Azerbaijan's participation in the Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Washington in a few days testifies to the fact that today Baku has become an important geopolitical bridge connecting the East and the West.
By inviting Azerbaijan to the summit, US President Barack Obama has taken a timely action, by recognizing Azerbaijan's important role in the global efforts for non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. However, this is not the only and the most important role of Azerbaijan in the geopolitical area of the US and the West in general. The importance of the summit and Azerbaijan's participation there are more important than the stated goals.
Today Azerbaijan helps bring together the interests of the East and the West thanks to the policy of President Ilham Aliyev as no other country in the world. This is done in the energy, transport, cultural and multicultural areas.
This factor is one of the most important preconditions for its presence in all world events, including the Munich Security Conference, the World Economic Forum in Davos and the Nuclear Security Summit.
Azerbaijan is well-known. The country is friendly perceived in the East and the West thanks to the charitable activity of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and its head Mehriban Aliyeva. The Heydar Aliyev Foundation is engaged in many humanitarian and cultural issues. It implements programs to support and promote art throughout the world.
All this makes Azerbaijan a unique country. The country maintains the friendly relations with Western countries, Russia, Iran, Turkey, Israel and the Arab world. It can act a mediator. Other countries trust Azerbaijan's opinion and listen to it.
Although the summit is dedicated to the nuclear safety, the leaders of the countries to be gathered at this huge event will not miss the opportunity to discuss other relevant issues and modern challenges.
Within the framework of the meeting, representatives of the international community, in particular, will discuss measures necessary to be taken to fight the terrorist threat. Here Baku can share its many years of experience of contribution to the fight against terrorism on various global areas and in different formats.
Azerbaijan not only always actively participated in the international fight against terrorism and was one of active members of the anti-terrorist coalition, but was also faced with terror on the part of Armenia. More than 30 terrorist attacks were committed at various times by Armenia against Azerbaijan, and more than 2,000 Azerbaijanis were killed as the result of these terrorist acts.
Regarding the issue of fighting against terror, mandatory establishment of an intercultural, interconfessional dialogue remains the actual topic for today's world, which will help countries with different traditions and cultures come together in the fight against the common evil.
Azerbaijan is a multiethnic, multiconfessional country, which is the main link of the North-South and East-West transport corridors uniting South Asia and Northern Europe, China and Europe. In addition, Azerbaijan is the main gas supplier in the Southern Gas Corridor project, through which gas will reach European countries quite soon, ensuring their energy security by diversifying the sources of gas.
Azerbaijan's relations with the US are also an important issue in terms of the country's participation in the summit in Washington, because this will become another stage of development and improvement of the relations between the two countries. Baku's participation in the summit at the invitation of US President Barack Obama has already become Washington's recognition of Azerbaijan's role as a leading country of the region, which conducts its own independent policy.
Elmira Tariverdiyeva is the head of Trend Agency's Russian News Service