On
May 24, the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Sahiba Gafarova,
met with the newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey,
Jahit Bagchi. During the conversation, the parties noted the need to
further strengthen Azerbaijani-Turkish relations in all areas.
Indeed, trade, economic and diplomatic relations between
Azerbaijan and Turkey have been successfully developing for many
years. Meanwhile, a certain one-sided orientation of Azerbaijan
towards Turkey leads to a gradual decrease in the potential of the
republic's relations with its other closest neighbors - Iran, Russia,
Georgia and
the countries of the European Union.
While relations
between Baku and Ankara are based more on "romanticizing" the
concept of "fraternal" nations
than on a pragmatic assessment of reality in the international arena,
Azerbaijan could improve its foreign policy, focusing on pursuing a
multi-vector line in relations with foreign countries.
Thus,
the expansion of contacts with Russia and Iran through the EAEU seems
to be a logical step. Baku has every chance to make good money on
transit trade between Moscow and Tehran. In addition, this choice
will force the European Union to try to involve Azerbaijan (along
with Turkey) as much as possible in European integration programs,
which is again extremely beneficial for Baku.
As a result, we can safely say that a common regional economic zone can be formed between Azerbaijan and its neighbors, in which large energy and transport projects implemented at the initial stage can create a basis for the development of relations in other spheres of the economy.
