International
In the period under review Azerbaijan was pursuing a multi-vectored foreign policy and was strengthening bilateral relations with interested states. Baku has successfully maintained its high level of international cooperation (see graph) by balancing relations between the USA, Russia, and Iran without forgetting its own interests by signing agreements on economical cooperation with other countries. The probably most important event for regional stability took place on August 21 when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid his first official visit to Baku, in a move that some regional experts see as Tehran's effort to counter US influence on the energy-rich country. Ahmadinejad and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev emphasized the ethnic, religious and economic ties between the two Caspian Sea nations but security and defense issues were the focus of the talks. During the visit several bilateral agreements were signed and both sides attempted to highlight the positive aspects of their relationship. Azerbaijan and Iran also agreed to meet at a summit in Tehran in October 2007 with other Caspian states - Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan - to break the impasse over the division of access to the sea's resources. The Iranian president, meanwhile, in what was perhaps a reference to US interests in Azerbaijan said that unidentified "forces" are trying to "create problems between Iran and Azerbaijan." He added that efforts to drive a wedge between the two countries have no chance because the friendship between them has a long history and is successfully developing. In addition to political cooperation with Iran, Aliyev mentioned the possibility of cooperation on projects connected to the Nabucco pipeline, which will ease the distribution of natural gas from the region through Turkey to Europe - a policy which is strongly supported by Turkey as well because it would help to reduce its reliance on Russia. The project may also include Central Asian, Iranian and Egyptian gas as well. Azeri diplomats stressed that the participation of Iran in Nabucco would help the EU to diversify its energy supplies. However, this bilateral cooperation would be diametrically opposed to the interests of the US, who wants to make sure that countries like key-ally Azerbaijan use the East-West corridor without letting Iran participate in Nabucco. Secondly, it would be to Armenia's disadvantage, which has much less to offer Iran than Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan has also shown some interest in cooperating with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Novruz Mamedov, Head of the International Affairs Section of the administration of President Ilham Aliyev, said in an interview in August that the President of Azerbaijan is considering this possibility. This can be seen as another signal to the West that Baku has different opportunities and is also considering them - at least as a potential option. Members of the SCO include Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and it has the original purpose as serving as a counterbalance to NATO and the United States. Nevertheless, officially Baku was not neglecting constructive cooperation with the USA during this reporting period. In August a bilateral American-Azeri document about a grant for a Trans-Caspian Oil and Gas Pipelines feasibility study was signed in Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). Their signatures have been confirmed by Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov and the Deputy U.S. State Secretary Daniel Sullivan. The agreement provides for the construction of two pipelines; for the transportation of Kazakhstan oil to the Baku-Tiflis-Ceyhan Pipeline (BTC) and a gas pipeline to transport Kazakh gas and oil from other states through the Caspian Sea. At the ceremony the Head of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev said that the document will promote the strengthening of regional and world energy safety. Daniel Sullivan noted that an open tender for this grant will be announced by SOCAR and USTDA. "It is very important for the USA to provide oil transportation from East to West, and Azerbaijan's role in the realization of these projects is very great," said Sullivan. Another US official compared the significance of the document with the significance of the BTC project.
Less positive for Baku have been the recent hearings at the meeting of the Human Rights Commission of the European Parliament in Brussels concerning the human rights aspects of the EU's Neighborhood Policy (ENP). Senior European Commission official Rutger Wissels said that the deteriorating human rights situation in Azerbaijan is "not acceptable" for the EU. Wissels added that the negative trend in Azerbaijan runs counter to the spirit and purpose of the ENP Action Plan with Azerbaijan, which contains precise commitments concerning human rights, including media freedom. While the ENP offers "positive conditions" such as trade benefits, it remains unable to sanction countries, which ignore its human rights agenda. It was no surprise that Azerbaijan's Ambassador to the EU, Emin Eyubov, refuted these accusations declaring that the "improvement" of the human rights situation is an "essential priority" of the government. Eyubov also mentioned the low level of professional ethics of journalists and the weakness of Azerbaijani institutes, which is partially true but no excuse for the worsening human rights situation in the country.