Here, There, & Everywhere

In the two decades since its independence, Azerbaijan has leveraged its energy resources to strike positive and ongoing relations with most of its neighbors, including Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member countries and other Eastern European countries like Ukraine and Belarus, as well as Georgia, Turkey, the EU, Iran, and even Israel. Further afield, the UK is the number one foreign investor in Azerbaijan, the US and South Korea are important diplomatic partners, and Italy, France, and Indonesia are the top three destinations for Azerbaijani exports. In total, Azerbaijan boasts trade relations with over 150 countries and cooperation with important international organizations, including the World Trade Organization (WTO), the UN, the EU, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).

The scope of these bilateral and multilateral partnerships has broadened over the past year thanks to Azerbaijan’s continued diplomatic efforts. For example, the frequent bilateral visits between Turkish and Azerbaijani dignitaries have resulted in almost 200 agreements between the two countries. The beginning of the Shah Deniz II gas project last December also reinforced Azerbaijan’s importance to Europe in its capacities as an exporter and a possible transit point for energy resources from Central Asia and the old continent.

In addition to its already established foreign partnerships, Azerbaijan has continued to reach out to non-traditional partners in the past year. Among the EU member countries, Azerbaijan has strengthened its collaboration with the Netherlands, which President Ilham Aliyev visited in March 2014; Bulgaria, which reached out to Azerbaijan to negotiate its inclusion in the Southern Energy Corridor; Lithuania and Austria, which President Aliyev visited in November 2013; Spain, which sent a delegation led by Foreign Affairs Minister José Garcí­a-Margallo y Marfil for the first time to Azerbaijan in April 2014; the Czech Republic, with which numerous bilateral visits were exchanged in recent years; as well as Austria and Slovakia. Elsewhere in Europe, Azerbaijan’s attention has focused on Switzerland, which President Aliyev visited in January 2014 on the occasion of the Davos Economic Forum and to meet with Swiss counterpart Didier Burkhalter, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose Foreign Minister visited Baku in April 2014.

Recently, Azerbaijan also displayed leadership within the group of Turkic-speaking countries by taking over the chairmanship of the Turkic Council, the umbrella organization that oversees multilateral relations between Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Furthermore, the Caucasian country used its two-year term on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to become more involved in Middle Eastern and African affairs. An important supporter of the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Azerbaijan signed 12 bilateral agreements with Saudi Arabia in December 2012, covering areas including commercial ties, culture, and religion. In February 2014, an Azerbaijani delegation visited South Africa, where Foreign Affairs Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his South African counterpart signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on regular political consultations.

However, one of the most important developments in Azerbaijan’s foreign policy in recent years has been its increased humanitarian and development cooperation. A former war-torn country in need of international aid itself, Azerbaijan underwent a paradigm shift in December 2011, when it established its international development agency, AIDA, which operates under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Guided by the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), AIDA’s initiatives so far have included disaster relief in the Philippines, humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, fighting preventable blindness in Libya, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Chad, and technological support to Afghanistan.