Azerbaijan - Italy. An Armenian mess?

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Azerbaijan - Italy. An Armenian mess?

12:30 * 23.07.14

By Formiche.net
http://www.formiche.net/2014/07/22/mazzone/


This will be a summer of passion for the Italian Government, abroad.
The Presidency of the European Semester for Italy is on the one hand a
way to prove to be a reliable partner, on the other a slippery road
where you can fall easily, as proved by the recent story of the
candidacy of Federica Mogherini as High Representative for Foreign
Affairs of the European Union.

For this reason, never as now, the government of Matteo Renzi is under
the magnifying glass of the governments of the 28 and will prove to be
coherent with commitments, both in Italy and abroad. Certainly,
another till now hidden and very controversial situation does not
help. It has the potential to explode suddenly at the expense of Italy
and to damage it during the European Semester.

The source of the scandal comes from Azerbaijan' steppes, a country
known for two things: oil and dictatorship of Alyev, a dynasty of
despots who disdain the observation of the most elementary basic
rights, both civil and human, and that has the habit of putting in
prison (if they are lucky) journalists and opponents.


Italy has commercial ties with Azerbaijan, just like the rest of the
European countries, being the Great Britain at the top of the list.
This is because, in a two-tier world, human rights follow a parallel
path compared to economic needs. In particular, the former Prime
Minister Enrico Letta has formally committed to Baku for the
construction of the mega TAP gas pipeline, which would carry gas from
Baku to San Foca (Lecce), and then be sold throughout Europe. A huge
project, which is colliding with the typical localism of a
short-sighted policy and unable to come to terms with the future and -
more importantly - unable to keep their commitments.


President Ilham Aliyev has recently been to Italy, to talk about TAP
and beyond. And here there is the case. Days before the visit of
Aliyev a document, which - according to the experts would be
euphemistic to define as imperfect - was negotiated by the two
diplomacies, and in which it seems that Italy has forgotten the
consolidated positions of the EU and the OSCE on the Azeri issue and
on the Nagorno-Karabakh "frozen conflict".


Somebody in the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry has detected the
Azeri trap and blocked the publication of the official text. The
timing of the event is crucial. Aljiev arrives in Rome on July 14th
and on July 16th in Brussels, Italy is playing the game for the
appointment of Federica Mogherini as head of EU diplomacy. The French
are co-chairs of the Minsk Group on Nagorno Karabakh, together with
Americans and Russians, and they could have accused Renzi and his
Minister of Foreign Affairs for a pro-Azerbaijani text on the frozen
conflict. So, the Italian diplomacy duggests to Azerbaijan to work on
a new text.


But Aliyev is an old style satrap and does not care about commitments.
He instructs his ambassador in Rome to publish a document called "
Italy-Azerbaijan Joint declaration on strategic partnership", both on
Facebook and on the official website of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in
Italy. Meanwhile, the chair for Mogherini in Brussels is shivering and
MFA officials understand that it is better not to create other
disasters and begin to work on the text of the joint declaration with
Baku.


But the positions are ambiguous and slippery. The MFA's action against
the Azerbaijani regime is just an unhearable stammering. In short, the
government has not taken a clear position and in Baku they say what
they want, selling the text as an official statement made by the
Italian government. Moreover, the Azerbaijani regime's propaganda
delivers a note to Interfax press agency which says that "Italy
supports the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the
framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan."


That is to say that "suddenly" Italy has changed its position in
relation to the EU and the OSCE, and in relation to itself, given that
our country is a member of the Minsk Group and has always taken a
neutral stance on Nagorno Karabakh conflict. In short, it is a total
lie, but what can we expect from one of the most long lasting regimes
in the world?


In view of this, it must be said that the government was distracted by
other very sticky domestic and European issues. However, at this
point, it would be necessary to clarify as soon as possible the issue