|
Azerbaijan Relations with Former Soviet Republics
Although Elchibey stressed Azerbaijani independence from
Moscow, he signed a friendship treaty with Russia on October 12,
1992, calling for mutual assistance in the case of aggression
directed at either party and pledging mutual protection of the
rights of the other's resident citizens. Between that time and
the coup of 1993, however, Elchibey accused Russia of aiding
Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh, and Russia accused Elchibey of
mistreating the Russian minority in Azerbaijan. Relations
improved with the return to power of Aliyev, who pledged to
uphold and strengthen Azerbaijan's ties to Russia. Russia's
official position on Nagorno-Karabakh was strict nonintervention
barring an invitation to mediate from both sides; in the Russian
view, Azerbaijani territory seized by Armenia was to be returned,
however. In early 1994, seizure of property from Russian citizens
in Azerbaijan (mostly to house refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh)
remained a source of irritation.
Azerbaijan's role in the CIS changed drastically in the early
1990s. After Azerbaijan signed the Alma-Ata Declaration as a
founding member of the CIS in December 1991, the legislature
voted in October 1992 against ratifying this membership. However,
Azerbaijan retained observer status, and its representatives
attended some CIS functions. Aliyev's announcement in September
1993 that Azerbaijan would rejoin the CIS brought a heated debate
in the legislature, which finally approved membership. Aliyev
then signed the CIS charter, its Treaty on Collective Security,
and an agreement on economic cooperation. Relations with former
Soviet republics in Central Asia also were uneven after
independence. Elchibey's advocacy of the overthrow of President
Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan caused particular diplomatic problems
with that country. In keeping with the policy of rapprochement
with the CIS, Aliyev began improving ties with Central Asian
leaders in the second half of 1993.
Data as of March 1994
|
