Australian politicians join the caravan, unable to resist the "lure" of Azerbaijan caviar diplomacy

What could be better than an all-expense paid trip to Azerbaijan in return for a little praising, shoulder patting and love?! 

Nothing, not in the case of Australian politicians at least. 

Reading this piece titled "War of words over shuttle diplomacy in Azerbaijan" I was not really surprised that Australian politicians have joined the caravan of other international folks who give in to the sweet-talk of business class flights, dinners and so on in return for a few favors.   

And looks like they don't even mind it.

Well hell ya?! Who would not be impressed when they are shown only what their hosts want their guests to see which probably was nothing by luxury and prosperity as well as "tolerance, economic development, political stability".

But my favorite part of the story was this line: 

Hmm... because these countries are surely just as "tolerant"?

Ay ay ay... and all of this to support Azerbaijan's calls to liberate Nagorno Karabakh and recognize illegal occupation of its 7 adjacent territories.

But instead of having other countries do the recognition, the blaming and so on, it would be so much better if all this "effort" was put in practice by the Azerbaijan authorities to actually do something about liberating the territories. "international recognition" won't change anything unless genuine efforts are made on behalf of the government of Azerbaijan. And that is that.

Statue saga continues: Mexico says no, Azerbaijan says $$$

In this day and age, its not the skills of a politician, or his/her ability to make sound decisions and guide country's foreign policies that matter. No, in the 21st century, its bronze statues and park renovations that matter the most. Or at least it matters for Azerbaijan and its leadership.

I am sure you all remember the scandal (an embarrassing diplomacy if you ask me) over a statue at a park in Mexico. Back then, there were a lot of nervous breakdowns, feet stomping and cranky messages. The threats went as far as to pulling out the diplomatic mission in the country (this would have been a first. Countries pull out their missions when there is a terrorist threat, or another serious political condition, but shutting down an embassy because a statue of a former leader was removed from a park?!)

But now that the "time-out" period passed there have been new developments. Azerbaijan's ambassador to Mexico Ilgar Mukhtarov informed its audience during a lecture that the January decision to clear the statue (mind you, the map behind the statue remained as well as the name of that section of the park) cost Mexican government around $3.8billion worth in investments.

At least the threats got "bumped up in values" but given that Mexico is approximately one hundred million times bigger than Azerbaijan (its population is estimated to be 118,395,054 in 2013) Azerbaijan's "investment" might not even budge the country that much. 

Long story short, its interesting to see that the story resurfaced and that its clear that Azerbaijani government simply cannot accept that some governments wont pick up its bait no matter how big $$$ it is. 

Once upon a time in Mexico

I was lucky to be able to visit the park where the statue of Heydar Aliyev once stood in Mexico City. Here are few snapshots of what is left.

Monument diplomacy

Yes, its going to be about THAT monument again. You see, it just doesn't stop fascinating me, really. Just today, I came across another article (thanks to a friend of mine who shared it) where my conclusions of just how "strong" and "deep" Azerbaijan's diplomatic relations with its neighbors are, were confirmed. In a press statement Azerbaijan's ambassador to Mexico, Ilgar Mukhtarov stated:

If Ebrard (Mexico's Mayor) decides to remove the monument, we will CANCEL the projects, CLOSE the embassy, it would HURT the relationship between the two countries, and it WOULD NOT BE GOOD for his image to be the person who prevented a USD4billion investment

So not only Ambassador Mukhtarov shows how shallow the essence of our diplomacy is (lets face it, removing a monument of a dictator shouldn't play such an important role in foreign policy but who knew it would?!), he goes much further as to threaten the Mayor of Mexico as well. And wait, there is even more to it, by saying that Mexico will lose the USD4bn investment demonstrates in which ways and "deals" Azerbaijani government "invests" in other countries.

Not sure what softened Mr. Mukhtarov's tone a while later, but whatever it was it didn't make his next statement any less appalling: "his government [Azerbaijan] was prepared to negotiate with the city and find a "friendly" solution to the dispute". 

Now, don't know who nudged our Ambassador, but who ever did it didn't do too good of a job. That nudge should have been a strong shake. But too late now anyway. Still talking about "negotiating" and finding not just a solution but a "friendly" one. And what does that suppose to mean? That Azerbaijani government will offer to renovate another park? Alas, have mercy on your people Mr. President, because you still have the hungry children and many other issues that are awaiting your immediate attention not to mention a drizzle of some of that oil money you are spending elsewhere abroad for park renovations and monuments.

And what is the so- called "dispute"? If the people and the Mayor do not consider the monument fit, why are still even discussing it? Its Mexico's decision! Our government is so much used to meddling with its own people's decisions and their businesses that it considers everywhere and everyone to be the same...

I am just curious to see where this monument diplomacy will end...

New kind of diplomacy: no monuments, no relations!

Looks like priorities of the Azerbaijani government in building diplomatic relations are really shifting. According to this New York Times article Azerbaijani authorities are ready to mess their foreign policy based on a statue.

Perhaps not many of you know but part of the country's diplomatic relations building skills is based on investing heavily (talking millions here) in park renovations and presenting of monuments of the late President Haydar Aliyev as "presents" that accompany the new parks.

This might have worked in other counties where public reaction was always limited or non existent but not in Mexico. Many in Mexico were left puzzled seeing the statue of an ex-KGB general placed in a park next to some well known and historical figures as Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln.

What's surprising here is however how easy apparently it is for the local Azerbaijani government to "damage" it's foreign relations- if the statue goes in Mexico, so will the diplomatic relations between the two countries. Is it that simple? Do no international political relations and rules apply any longer? Our government will really close the embassy in Mexico if the statue is removed?

But the real burning question is then how will the Azerbaijani authorities explain this "sourness" once the statue is removed. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

Diplomatic services

I am having some trouble with my passport. When I renewed it in 2009, our Ministry of Internal Affairs gave me a passport valid for 10 years. But when I saw the amount of pages, I wondered, where was the logic of giving a 10 year passport with the same amount of pages (34) given for a 5-year passport. The officer smiled, said there is nothing they could do about it, that they might change the system, but for now, thats how it is. He informed me that I will just have to come back and get a new one once I run out of pages as there is no policy/ regulation in place with regard to inserting additional pages to a passport that runs out of pages. 

At first, I didn't think about it too much. But as the time went by, and my travels increased I began to worry about this. Finally it was time to deal with the issue. And so I did, I went to Azerbaijani Consulate in Istanbul (two days ago). I was already skeptical but thought it was worth of try. It was a very useful visit indeed to my surprise, as I have learned a lot. For instance, while we all live in a 21st century with advanced technology and all the high- tech conditions that come with it our official consular services, only sends diplomatic mail to Azerbaijan once a month if lucky twice (and please don't tell me that its because its too expensive!) Not only this, but that getting a new passport would take me between a month and three months. In fact, the official sitting behind the window told me that it would be best, if I traveled to Azerbaijan myself and got my passport renewed there. 

In vain search for yet another try, I then called the Azerbaijan embassy in Ankara. Unfortunately my hopes were crashed as quickly as the embassy staff on the phone responded to my question: "no, we don't add pages and it takes several months to get a new passport".

I am just curious, so what if I was in a rush, or had a serious health issue and had to travel abroad as soon as possible, what then? All of this just because they haven't really worked out the process of it all. As according to another consulate official in Istanbul, there is a "working project" but its going to take some time for that kind of system brought outside of the country he told me when I questioned them on how is that possible that they don't have some kind of solution to this. Surely, I am not the first Azerbaijani national who came to them with a similar problem?

Its a real pity as I am missing on a conference I was supposed to attend at the end of October in Brazil. I was invited as a speaker there but I had to inform the organizers that I wont be able to come because of this silly complication. 

Pity, pity, pity... But it has to change, sooner or later. I just hope it changes soon.