BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24
Trend:
Several years ago, we officially applied to the SCO Secretariat to upgrade our status to that of an observer, but, unfortunately, this issue has not yet been resolved, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said during the meeting with the leaders of Russia’s top mass media at the TASS headquarters, Trend reports.
"The point is that as far as the SCO is concerned, we are already involved in a certain sense. We have been a dialogue partner for more than a year now. This is the first step. The second step is to be an observer. Several years ago, we officially applied to the SCO Secretariat to upgrade our status to that of an observer, but, unfortunately, this issue has not yet been resolved. And my contacts with the leadership of Russia, with the leadership of the People's Republic of China and with other members of the SCO in this context show that there is no reason why our status should not be upgraded. But this is not happening for reasons unknown to us," Azerbaijani president said.
"As for other integration projects, we proceed from the principles of expediency and to what extent this would meets our national interests. I think it is no secret to anyone that the leading role in the CSTO belongs to Russia. This was demonstrated not so long ago in the CIS. And it was clear to everyone even before the events in Kazakhstan. Having allied relations with the Russian Federation, as well as two out of 43 provisions directly dwell upon issues related to the provision of military assistance if necessary – these are provisions 6 and 16 – I think that this is quite enough. It is clear that the CSTO is the CSTO as long as Russia is there. If Russia were not in the CSTO, then no-one would even remember it. This is what we are proceeding from. Therefore, the step in the matter of raising the level of military-political cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan has been taken. We also have very trusting, close and friendly relations with other members of the CSTO, with the exception of Armenia. I think that after the end of the second Karabakh war, our relations with Armenia will also normalize. In any case, we have officially declared our desire to conclude a peace treaty with Armenia. This will probably happen at some stage. But in the current geopolitical realities, we must be realistic and should not wish for what is impossible to achieve. We must move towards establishing a lasting peace in the Caucasus. Therefore, I think that yesterday's document answers your question to a certain extent. The same, anticipating further questions, also applies to the issue related to the EurAsEC. This has also been discussed both in the expert community and in the political arena for a long time. But here too, we proceed from the principle to which extent this will meet our economic interests because our strategy and tactical steps have always been based on our own resources, on what we have at our disposal. We have managed to create a self-sufficient economy and not depend on international financial institutions or other financial injections," the head of state said.