Former British Defense Minister: Iran and Russia play a destructive role in the region

Member of the House of Commons of the British Parliament, former British Defense Secretary, Liam Fox, made a speech today at the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Azerbaijan.

   He gave his assessment  to the challenges and problems of the South Caucasus region and around the world,  to the  geopolitics of global processes and shared  his  assessments of the prospects of development of the situation.

   In particular, Liam Fox said that the situation of the Cold War period, when two forces opposed each other, have been changed by the confrontation  of multi-polar world. Now  there is a confrontation of not  two political systems, but  of several. They are nuclear powers, regional powers and religious groups.  He called Pakistan and Iran the sources of such threats. 

      In this sense, Europe and the West should rely on Turkey as an important regional player and contribute to the rapprochement of Ankara  with the  EU.

   As  for social values ​, such ​as freedom and democracy, according to Fox, it is impossible to choose between security and freedoms. However, the main priorities for the West, in any case remain: the free market, rule of law and fundamental freedoms.

   In this regard, Azerbaijan should strive to ensure that all of these priorities, said the Fox, and  mentioned as an  example Georgia and that Saakashvili's government was able to defeat corruption, which is almost something natural in the Caucasus.

    Referring to the military-political situation, the ex-defense minister  of  Britain noted  the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenian forces. He also said that  the Karabakh conflict and the occupation of the territories around Karabakh should be separated from each other.  He called the intolerable the situation where the factor of occupation of lands is used as a bargaining chip in negotiations.

     Among the main regional threats, he called Iran and its nuclear program.

Over 30 years of existence, the regime has not changed and continues its aggressive policy, supporting the terrorist organization "Hezbollah" and "Hamas." If they have nuclear weapons, a threat to international stability will be more than real, says Fox.

   The Azerbaijani authorities  know well  that the Tehran regime wants to export political, Shiite Islam to other countries and  this is  a threat to the stability in Azerbaijan, said Fox.

      Another threat is Russia, which could have a negative impact on stability, as it was in August 2008, when it was occupied by a part of Georgia, said ex-minister. 

   In this sense, Russia has a maximum capacity to influence the Karabakh conflict. This effect is much greater than that of the democratic West, he said.

   To counteract these threats, NATO must cooperate actively with its partners in such a strategically important region as the South Caucasus, namely Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, said Fox.

    Responding to questions from the audience on ways out of the situation and, in particular, the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, Fox cited the example of Northern Ireland, where the economic interests outweigh the interests of separatism and attract people to live in one state and not be separated. -02В-