Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan: Armenia is interested in maintaining the Caspian region as a danger zone. 

Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov made a speech on “Caspian region and its role in global economy” in a video format at the First Caspian European Forum held in Berlin, Germany.

In his speech, the Minister said that with its rich energy resources and location at the crossroads of continental routes between Europe and Asia, the two main energy-consuming markets, the Caspian region will remain in the sphere of geopolitical interests of regional and global powers in the future as usual. The exceptional role of Azerbaijan in the transformation of the region into an integral part of the world economy was mentioned.

"The energy resources of the Caspian Sea are directed to the West only through the pipelines initiated by Azerbaijan. Since their commissioning, more than 515 million tons of Azerbaijani oil and more than 86 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas have been transported through these pipelines.  By the end of the year, the commissioning of the Southern Gas Corridor will once again turn the Caspian region into an important factor in the diversification of Europe's energy supplies and energy security through Azerbaijan.”

Evaluating the continuity of Europe's Energy connection with the Caspian as a strategic necessity, the Minister said that Azerbaijan was a reliable bridge for important initiatives between the Caspian littoral states and Europe. It was noted that the share of Caspian littoral countries in the total trade turnover of Azerbaijan was 18 per cent last year, while the share of European Union countries was about 39 per cent. Azerbaijan also contributes to strengthening the role of the region in the global economy through international transport corridors and infrastructure. Thus, the volume of transit cargo transported in the first six months of 2020 exceeded 3.5 million tons with an increase of 15 per cent by the East-West corridor and 4.5 times as much as the same period of 2019 by Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway. The volume of cargo transit on the North-South route increased by 13 per cent. In general, the non-oil sector grew by 33 per cent in transit through the territory of Azerbaijan in 6 months of this year. 

Minister Parviz Shahbazov underlined that Armenia's policy of aggression against Azerbaijan poses a great threat to stability and security in the region. The recent provocations of Armenia in the Tovuz region, where the Baku-Supsa, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipelines, the Southern Gas Corridor, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and other lines connect the region with the West, have been cited as an obvious example of this: “Starting from September 27, Armenia demonstrated its commitment to its aggressive policy with the planned military provocation. By stopping the peace negotiations process, Armenia once again showed that it insists on the choice of self-isolation from regional development projects and is interested in maintaining the region as a permanent threat zone. As a country that focuses all its energy and opportunities on development and stability in the world, which is interested in the sustainability of achievements, our main desire is to solve the problem peacefully and ensure justice. The 30-year period was quite a long time for Armenia to comprehend this truth. However, Armenia could not adequately assess the opportunity given to it for the country, our region and the world. Armenia's continuing occupation and aggression are aimed not only at Azerbaijan but also at global integration and security.  Therefore, we must try to stop aggression in the region."- the Minister added.