US support for Azerbaijan in its Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations with Armenia will most likely prove the price for any agreements on other issues made during US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s July 4 visit to Baku, local analysts say.
With ongoing instability in Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan’s role as a logistics point for US and NATO operations in Afghanistan could take on heightened importance, military and political experts in Baku believe.
A $203 million commercial satellite project could make energy-rich Azerbaijan the first South Caucasus country to venture into outer space, but some critics ask whether financial problems will interfere with the satellite’s launch and operation.
Natural gas sales and transit agreements signed by Turkey and Azerbaijan on June 7 appear to give a long-awaited green light for Azerbaijani gas sales to Europe-bound pipeline projects. While energy executives have welcomed the news, a source at Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR tells EurasiaNet.org that the two sides failed to reach a comprehensive gas agreement.
Baku may still sport all the signs of energy wealth, but, after an almost decade-long boom, the International Monetary Fund is cautioning that Azerbaijan’s oil sector no longer has enough muscle to power economic growth alone.
The White House has appointed US diplomat Matthew Bryza, a former American co-chair for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution talks, as its new ambassador to Azerbaijan, EurasiaNet.org has learned.
A diplomat from the US embassy in Baku who asked not to be named stated that an official announcement will be published on the White House’s website on May 21.
In a surprise move, Turkey and Azerbaijan have postponed signing a package agreement on gas issues that had been touted as a strategic breakthrough on gas shipments to Europe.
Azerbaijan and Turkey are close to resolving a two-year gas-pricing dispute that has soured relations between the two strategic partners and which has stalled development of the Nabucco pipeline.
The cancellation of next month’s military exercises with the United States has prompted some speculation that the White House may be in the process of "losing" Azerbaijan. But Azerbaijani analysts say that they see no sign that relations between the two countries are heading into a crisis phase.
The global downturn is punishing Azerbaijan’s third largest city, Sumgayit, a onetime center for the Soviet military-industrial complex that is still struggling to find its stride in the global economy.
