Newsletter No. 197
February 17, 2006

 

SETTING THE STAGE FOR PRESIDENT ALIYEV’S VISIT TO TOKYO

The U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC) has reported that President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan will visit Tokyo in March. Thus far, neither MOFA nor any other source I’m aware of has yet announced this visit, but the report is credible.

The USACC also says that Japanese and Azerbaijani negotiators are currently working out the details of an economic and technical cooperation agreement that will be signed during the visit.

In late January, a delegation from Japan led by Tetsuya Yamada of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) met with Azerbaijani officials to discuss various projects related to vocational training.

Japanese Ambassador in Baku Tadahiro Abe is clearly an active man on the scene. Many reports of his activities made the Azerbaijani press in January and February. First of all, he made remarks at the opening of a poster exhibition in mid-January. The exhibition was called “Discover Japan through Contemporary Posters” and included about 75 works. Also in attendance at this event was Azerbaijani Minister of Culture Polad Bulbuloglu.

Then, a Russian news service called Regnum reported last week that Ambassador Abe was present at a ceremony in which 212 tractors, 207 harvester-threshers, 186 ploughs, 148 sewing machines, and 20 harrows were provided to Azerbaijani farmers on a lease basis. In another report from a different agency, Abe also announced an agreement whereby Japan, through its “Grassroots Human Security” ODA program would contribute US $92,000 to build a hospital in Galajig village of the Ismayilly region of Azerbaijan. Furthermore, Abe declared that Japan will support Azerbaijan’s bid to join the WTO.

In regard to the Muhammad cartoon affair, Ambassador Abe told the Trend news service of Azerbaijan that “it is a very sensitive subject. We are sorry that such things took place in the world media… Respect for the representatives of other religions is also important.”

How about that! The Danish prime minister refuses to apologize, but the Japanese Ambassador to Azerbaijan -- who had absolutely nothing to do with it -- freely does so!

All in all, this activity in regard to Japan-Azerbaijan relations is probably meant to set the stage for the Aliyev visit next month.