The new head of the foreign Ministry and "the Augean stables»

***

- Ahmad bey, do you think that the removal of Elmar Mammadyarov as Minister of Foreign Affairs and the appointment of Jeyhun Bayramov, Minister of Education, who has no diplomatic experience, is a successful choice?

- The main notable point in the personnel changes that are taking place in Azerbaijan now, and especially in the last two years, is that people who are less known to the public or whose names are not mentioned in certain scandals are often nominated. There is a belief that a good manager is a person who can lead all areas. From this point of view, it seems that Jeyhun Bayramov's previous positions, especially his managerial activity as the Minister of Education, have created confidence in the country's leadership that he can successfully lead many institutions. Therefore, he was appointed. As for the diplomatic experience, if we look at the content of the processes and appointments in Azerbaijan in recent years, there is a tendency that after the dismissal of very strong or very powerful people, their responsibilities are divided among several people. It is possible to increase the functions and activities of the assistants of former Minister of Foreign Affairs or professional diplomats working in the field of foreign policy. Let J. Bayramov play the role of a more effective manager there.

- Despite having so many diplomats in the country, why Jeyhun Bayramov? Is it possible that all those who worked with Elmar Mammadyarov already lost their credibility and those working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are waiting for a serious personnel reform?

- The recent scandal, and especially the facts that emerged as a result of the operation carried out by the SSS at the MFA, require that many people be filtered through the diplomatic activity for some time. In his speech, the President made very serious accusations against many diplomats. The presence of a person not from the MFA and the leadership of a person who has not participated in certain processes can lead to the gradual renewal of the diplomatic corps and the removal of many people from it. Therefore, the appointment of a person not only from another organization but also with no diplomatic experience in this organization means that there are no family ties or J. Bayramov dos not tie with others. J. Bayramov will be able to properly assess the processes taking place there in a neutral way and bring the necessary efficiency to the FMA.

- What do you think was the reason for the dismissal of Elmar Mammadyarov? Because before the last meeting of the president, there were talks about his dismissal. And the media often began to write about his wealth. This is followed by the operation carried out by the SSS at the MFA. Why and when did Elmar Mammadyarov become the target of anger?

- Over the past two years, the issue of dismissal of people over a certain age and the renewal of long-serving staff has been active in Azerbaijan. We see that for the last 6-7 months, the president's team has been in an updated form. That renewed presidential team consisted of a small number of people who had held the same post for many years. One of those people was Elmar Mammadyarov. E. Mammadyarov was one of the first people appointed by Ilham Aliyev after coming to power in 2003. Therefore, his long tenure in this position attracted everyone's attention. In a sense, one would think that steps would be taken in connection with E. Mammadyarov. To be honest, two months ago I did not think that any steps would be taken in this regard. Because this is a very tense and intensive period for Azerbaijani diplomacy. At that time, I did not expect the Minister of Foreign Affairs to be replaced. However, journalistic investigations and the spread of many rumors mentioned regarding the name of the Minister of Foreign Affairs could affect the effectiveness of the number one diplomat of Azerbaijan in foreign countries. This was seriously considered by the President and a relevant decision was made.

- In their speeches, government officials say that Azerbaijan pursues a successful foreign policy. On the other hand, they criticize the work of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. If the work of the Minister of Foreign Affairs was unsatisfactory, then who or what body pursued this foreign policy? Isn’t this self-denial?

- When we say successful foreign policy and the country's number one diplomat, we always think of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. However, it should be taken into account that the head of state is also a diplomat. He has worked in this field for a long time and has pedagogical experience in this field. Therefore, Azerbaijan's diplomatic success often means the activity of the President himself, and steps in this direction are associated with his name. Some information about E. Mammadyarov appeared after journalistic investigations. Until then, there was not much negative information about his activities. Only in the last few months has it become clear that his diplomatic activities also have certain shortcomings.

In general, according to the Constitution of Azerbaijan, the person who determines the country's foreign policy is the president. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has only an executive function in this matter.

- In general, what do government officials mean by a successful foreign policy? What have we achieved? There is no progress on the Karabakh issue, the country's rating on the Open Government Initiative platform, of which Azerbaijan is a member, is very low, and it is out of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. The country's image is very low due to human rights and democracy, freedom of speech, and the country's name is always high due to corruption. Do you think that all this will be solved by just changing the Minister of Foreign Affairs?

- As for diplomatic successes, if we put the issue in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, one thing must be taken into account. The version currently on the negotiating table, a diplomatic virtual document, is a document that fully meets the interests of Azerbaijan. In this regard, the country's diplomats have virtual success in this matter. But we have not been effective in realizing these successes. Diplomats must also be able to execute a document once it has been obtained. Success means the adoption of that document. As for other issues, Azerbaijan has a difficult approach to foreign policy issues. Diplomacy often refers to intergovernmental relations. If the attitude of the President and representatives of the government of Azerbaijan towards the President of France and the representatives of the government is good, it is considered good. If there is a certain development in the relations of the various executive bodies of Azerbaijan represented in Europe, it is presented as a success of diplomacy. In modern times, diplomacy has become a multifaceted concept. This often includes inter-parliamentary relations and diplomacy between civil society. Although the Azerbaijani side can achieve diplomatic success in strategic alliances at the intergovernmental level, the parliament is unable to function normally with its partners. For example, one of the bodies that have long criticized Azerbaijan is the European Parliament. Or, although there is a perfect intergovernmental relationship with the United States and relationship with the executive structures, we see in the processes taking place in the US Congress and Senate that there are shortcomings. There are also shortcomings in diplomacy between civil societies. Therefore, the concept of diplomacy in Azerbaijan should be further expanded. In addition to the development between the executive branches, inter-parliamentary and inter-civil society relations should also be included in the success of diplomacy. It will then be clear that diplomatic efforts need to be stepped up, both within the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and in other institutions. There is a serious need to form a common approach to diplomacy between the government, civil society, and parliament, especially within Azerbaijan. At the very least, this can be very helpful in resolving many common issues.

- In your opinion, what should be done to improve the country's foreign policy and where should Jeyhun Bayramov start?

- I am sure that the sudden appointment of J. Bayramov also raised this question in front of him. To succeed on this path, he must first gather professionals around him. J. Bayramov is an outsider. There is a serious need to form a strong team in the immediate vicinity in order to build his activities with the so-called old team. He needs a very strong, effective team of professionals that he can trust. This is the first step. Then Bayramov can organize his activity with the team between the proposals and results. But now the question that concerns and worries everyone is who will represent the Azerbaijani side around the table of the OSCE Minsk Group. As a standard, we accept that the Minister of Foreign Affairs must be at the negotiating table. The format is as follows. But E. Mammadyarov was a person with an institutional memory of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He has been sitting around the negotiating table since 2003. His experience can be compared to the experience of very few diplomats. We can only compare it with the experience of Andrzej Kasprzyk. No other diplomat has sat around negotiating table for such a long time. Therefore, this question makes everyone think. J. Bayramov must determine for himself whether he should act in this direction personally, or transfer it to individuals who have been working in this direction in the MFA so far. In the current situation, rather than the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Azerbaijan may be interested in having his deputy or other dignitaries sit around the negotiating table to punish the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs or to undermine their interest in this format. From that point of view, there are important questions facing J. Bayramov.