NEW MINISTER TO RESTART TALKS
Dismissal of Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan may affect the Karabakh talks.
Elmar Mamedyarov is a career diplomat, 42 years old. He was born in the village of Yadji, Ordubad region of Nakhichevan. His father is an academician, director of the Institute of Biology. He has graduated from Kiev's Institute for International Relations, where Mikhail Sahakashvili has also studied. Mamedyarov works in the MFA system from 1992. He is close enough to Ilham Aliyev. He was appointed Ambassador in Italy when Ilham Aliyev was in fact governing the country. He stayed in Italy for half a year. He has never been noted during his career in the MFA that is why his appointment seemed a little bit strange.
The appointment was more unexpected because Mamedyarov is not very aware of the process of Karabakh settlement and. The pro-governmental Baku press says he has written few analytical articles on Karabakh settlement and has had lectures on this subject. However, it is not enough to carry negotiations. He has worked neither with the Minsk group co-chairmen nor even with the Azeri diplomats involved in the process. Thus, Mamedyarov's appointment will hardly be a good proof of the fact that Aliyev really wants to restart the talks. The leader of the National Front Party of Azerbaijan Ali Kerimli said recently that Mamedyarov would not have any political weight and the foreign policy would be totally conducted by Ilham Aliyev personally. Evidently, he is right.
We shall note that the former Minister was dismissed immediately after the regional visit of the US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. The observers in Baku presume that while being the Councilor of the Azerbaijani Embassy in the U.S., Mamedyarov had had certain contacts with him. So, they believe he is Armitage's protégé.
Why did Ilham Aliyev dismiss Vilayat Guliyev? It should be noted that Guliyev was appointed in 2000 when conclusion of an agreement on Karabakh was being outlined. Then Heydar Aliyev needed an experienced political figure on the post of the Foreign Minister who would be able to prepare the public opinion in favor of the agreement based on Parisian principles. Guliyev matched very well. Now Baku carried out a harsher political course and Ilham Aliyev does not want Guliyev any more. Besides, an experienced political figure in the staff of a President-beginner would be dangerous.
Dismissal of Guliyev was stipulated also by the backstage confrontation of two commanding clans - the Nakhichevani group and the clan of politicians and officials coming from Armenia and Karabakh. Mamedyarov represents the Nakhichevani group, while Guliyev's origins are from Shoushi. The observers think that after Guliyev's dismissal the career of other officials coming from Armenia - state Advisor to the President Idayat Orujev, Health Minister Ali Insanov and Minister of Education Misir Mardanov will also suffer. At the same, the positions of the informal leader of the Nakhichevani clan, head of the president's administration Ramiz Mehtiyev have strengthened recently. He has become a power broker in the staff of Ilham Aliyev.
We shall note that the former Minister was dismissed immediately after the regional visit of the US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. The observers in Baku presume that while being the Councilor of the Azerbaijani Embassy in the U.S., Mamedyarov had had certain contacts with him. So, they believe he is Armitage's protégé.
Why did Ilham Aliyev dismiss Vilayat Guliyev? It should be noted that Guliyev was appointed in 2000 when conclusion of an agreement on Karabakh was being outlined. Then Heydar Aliyev needed an experienced political figure on the post of the Foreign Minister who would be able to prepare the public opinion in favor of the agreement based on Parisian principles. Guliyev matched very well. Now Baku carried out a harsher political course and Ilham Aliyev does not want Guliyev any more. Besides, an experienced political figure in the staff of a President-beginner would be dangerous.
Dismissal of Guliyev was stipulated also by the backstage confrontation of two commanding clans - the Nakhichevani group and the clan of politicians and officials coming from Armenia and Karabakh. Mamedyarov represents the Nakhichevani group, while Guliyev's origins are from Shoushi. The observers think that after Guliyev's dismissal the career of other officials coming from Armenia - state Advisor to the President Idayat Orujev, Health Minister Ali Insanov and Minister of Education Misir Mardanov will also suffer. At the same, the positions of the informal leader of the Nakhichevani clan, head of the president's administration Ramiz Mehtiyev have strengthened recently. He has become a power broker in the staff of Ilham Aliyev.
