BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 23
By Jani Babayeva - Trend:
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev is one of the biggest international politicians of our times, Russian military expert, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko told Trend.
"The scale of his personality and intellectual potential make him one of those leaders of the modern world whom everyone watches and closely follows," he said.
"The fact that [President Ilham Aliyev] managed to sign the Declaration with Russian President Vladimir Putin is, of course, an outstanding diplomatic and political result. It will have an impact on the development of our relations for decades to come. We note the exceptionally successful and fruitful visit of Azerbaijani President to Russia. The Russian expert community welcomed his arrival, and, of course, the signed declaration is an outstanding document that was achieved through the efforts of the two sides. It brings relations between our countries to a new strategic level of interaction," Korotchenko said.
He stressed that Russia sees Azerbaijan as a reliable ally, a strategic partner in the entire spectrum of relations between the two countries.
"It is very important to note that Russia, within the framework of this Declaration, has committed itself to suppress the activities of any organizations and individuals that will work on the territory of Russia to the detriment of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan. We often see when a number of public organizations, individuals, in this is mainly an Armenian and pro-Armenian lobby, which makes territorial claims to the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. I believe that Russian law enforcement agencies should now, guided by this Declaration, prevent such activities immediately," he noted.
"I think that certain changes should be made in the field of law enforcement technologies - now there should be no propaganda of Armenian separatism should not be in the Russian media, nor on Russian television, nor in public statements," he stressed.
Korotchenko also drew attention to the fact that relations between the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Russia will develop.
"Obviously, we will be talking about a series of exercises. I believe that, first of all, it is necessary to conduct anti-terrorist exercises of the Special Forces of Azerbaijan and the Special Operations Forces of Russia. Here we need an exchange of experience, a joint fight against terrorism. Considering that the risk of this kind is still real today in the region, it is necessary to resolve the issue of the withdrawal of all illegal Armenian armed formations from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan as soon as possible," he said.
"I confirm once again about urgent need to unblock transport communications in the region, delimitation and demarcation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border," he added.
Igor Korotchenko added that, in general, the Declaration contains a large number of points, each of which deserves special attention.
He also emphasized that President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is a great friend of Russia.
"We note how much is being done by the efforts of President Ilham Aliyev personally to ensure that the Russian language is freely used on the territory of Azerbaijan. We note his support in the field of activities of schools where teaching is conducted in Russian, support in the activities of the Baku and Azerbaijan diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. We respect President Ilham Aliyev as a worthy son of Azerbaijan, a worthy son of his great father Heydar Aliyev. He is an ally, a partner who will never deceive and who keeps his word," Korotchenko said.
He stressed that both Russia and Azerbaijan are fully sovereign in their foreign policy, which is very important.
"There are probably no more than ten such countries in the world that can afford, without regard to external centers and forces, some circumstances to implement a sovereign foreign policy," he concluded.