Newsletter No. 330
News-Analysis
July 16, 2006

 

YAMANAKA VISIT CONFIRMS JAPAN-AZERBAIJAN TIES

Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Akiko Yamanaka paid a visit to Baku from the 13th to the 15th. As far as can be gathered from the press, the main purpose of the visit was to confirm Japan-Azerbaijan relations following the March visit to Tokyo of President Ilham Aliyev.

Yamanaka held talks with Prime Minister Arthur Rasizadeh, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, and the head of the International Relations Department of the President's Office, Novruz Mammadov. The main discussions seem to have focused on economic cooperation, in particular issues surrounding the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, in which Japanese companies are invested. Yamanaka also promised Japan’s continued economic support, saying, “We are ready to help Azerbaijan and provide technical assistance to the government in personnel training.” She also encouraged the Azerbaijani side to carry through economic reforms within the country.

During her visit with Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, there was also discussion of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Armenia. Mammadyarov updated her on the most recent developments in the negotiations, and explained Azerbaijan’s perspective on the issue.

Deputy Foreign Minister Yamanaka also met with students of the Japanese language faculty of the Baku State University, no doubt to encourage them in their studies.

Although the reports were not entirely clear on this point, it seems that one of the main avenues of future Japan-Azerbaijan dialogue are going to take place through structured talks between businessmen of the two countries. We’ll have to keep an eye on that.