BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 14. The UK Parliament's
All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Azerbaijan is prioritizing
stronger parliamentary and strategic ties with Azerbaijan, APPG
Chairman Bob Blackman told Trend in an exclusive interview.
Blackman said the group's immediate priority is to engage newly
elected British lawmakers and deepen their understanding of
Azerbaijan's strategic importance.
"We've recently reformed the group after the general election of
2024. We had a bit of a hiccup in Parliament, so we've reformed the
group. We've had a struggle to get that approved by the
parliamentary authorities, mainly because of the rather bizarre
things that go on in Parliament. Our focus of attention is to
develop new colleagues, new Members of Parliament, with friendship
with Azerbaijan, so they understand not only the strategic
importance of Azerbaijan, but also the friendship that we've had
between our two countries stretching back over 100 years. And
equally, the importance of Azerbaijan as a strategic partner in
terms of supply of oil and gas, but also a strategic air corridor
between east and west," he noted.
The British lawmaker said the APPG plans to expand parliamentary
exchanges in the coming months.
"I'm here for this energy conference, and I hope that we'll
secure an all-party group visit here in the autumn for more
colleagues to come over and see Azerbaijan, hopefully for the first
time, but not the last, as things go on. Equally, we look forward
to hosting a group in the autumn for the friendship group of
Azerbaijan in the UK," he said.
UK sees cooperation expanding beyond oil and
gas
According to Blackman, while energy remains the foundation of
bilateral relations, cooperation is increasingly broadening into
engineering, renewables, security and defense:
"Obviously the supply of oil and gas is all important, but it's
not just the supply of the raw product. It's the engineering that
goes around it in terms of the pipeline between Europe and
Azerbaijan, which is 3,500 kilometres. The expertise that's gone
into that, but also the infrastructure in the Caspian Sea, which
obviously BP, as our major supplier and major contractor, has been
able to utilise with the benefit of SOCAR here in Azerbaijan. So
that relationship is all important. Equally, the cooperation is not
just about oil and gas, it's the industries around that, but also
the diversification that's taking place, for example on renewables
and the use of solar, the use of other technologies as well, but
also security cooperation, the defence cooperation, which we're
growing the development between the two countries, because
obviously Azerbaijan as an independent country is all important,
and as we're discovering with Russia's invasion of Ukraine,
supporting our friends is all important."
UK calls for greater British investment in
Azerbaijan
Blackman said UK-Azerbaijan relations have evolved considerably
over the years and now present new opportunities for investment,
trade and educational cooperation.
"The friendship has grown, and Azerbaijan has developed. When I
first came here, Azerbaijan had won the Eurovision Song Contest,
and that was really the opening up of Azerbaijan to the rest of
Europe in many ways. And of course things have gone on from the
European Games, the Formula 1, the development of different
sporting activities and relationships between Azerbaijan and the
UK," he added.
He said Azerbaijan's economic ambitions create new prospects for
British businesses.
"We've got to look at the other opportunities. Azerbaijan is
looking obviously at not just a free port, but a freer enterprise
zone, so that companies can develop here in their own right.
British investment is important for that. We've got to make sure
that it's Britain at the forefront, from the UK's perspective. It's
Britain at the forefront of this investment and friendship, and not
allow our competitors in Europe, if I may say so, from also coming
in and utilising the benefits that there are between our two
countries."
Blackman also called for stronger two-way investment and closer
academic exchanges.
"Getting Azerbaijani investment in the UK and involvement, both
for example on interchange between students, getting young people
on a friendly basis studying in Azerbaijan as well as Azerbaijani
students coming to the UK. So that's all important for the
long-term future. It's the thing I've been stressing today, is it's
not just the here and now, it's the long-term investment that we
need to make. Because often you have to make long-term investment
decisions so that you get the benefits of that in the longer term,
rather than just the short term. We as politicians, I'm afraid,
look far too often at the short term, rather than the long term,"
Blackman noted.
South Caucasus peace would strengthen regional
stability
Commenting on regional security, Blackman described the South
Caucasus as strategically important and said progress toward peace
between Azerbaijan and Armenia could unlock broader
opportunities.
"Obviously the South Caucasus is an important strategic area. I
think the importance that has grown between the peace that's being
negotiated between Armenia and Azerbaijan is all important.
Obviously I supported Azerbaijan during the war of regaining
Karabakh, which was always part of sovereign Azerbaijani territory,
but as we know was occupied by Armenia for a long time," he
said.
He welcomed the normalization process between the two countries:
"Now we're getting to the point of normalization of relationships
with Armenia. That's good news, because it does mean that it opens
up a more strategic possibility."
"But then we've got the other countries that border Azerbaijan.
Obviously, "the Stans", they're all important. But we also have a
problem with dealing with Iran. Iran is a rogue internationally,
obviously causing tremendous disorder and destruction. The Middle
East, of course, is at war at the moment with the United States and
with Israel. The relationship between Israel and Azerbaijan has
grown stronger."
Blackman also praised Azerbaijan's model of religious
coexistence. "I always regard Azerbaijan as a model Islamic
republic, where tolerance is there for everyone's religion and
people celebrate their religion quite rightly too. But it's not the
draconian measures that exist, for example, in Iran or one of the
other more fervent Muslim states. That, to me, is a model for the
future. Therefore, it's all important that we enable Azerbaijan to
continue to develop that relationship with Armenia, because
obviously it's fundamentally a Christian country in Armenia. So
that builds that sort of multi-religious basis behind it, where
everyone tolerates everyone else. And of course, Azerbaijan's
ability and capability to enhance the Jewish community here has
been all important in terms of relationships and demonstrates that
actually people can live side by side without hating each other in
a place."
Parliamentary exchanges, mine clearance cooperation
planned
Blackman said parliamentary diplomacy will remain central to the
APPG's work.
"We are hoping to facilitate a group of the Friendship Group
from Azerbaijan to come to the UK. And similar to what we're
planning, another UK all-party group."
He also confirmed that a British parliamentary delegation
focused on humanitarian demining is expected to visit Azerbaijan
later this year.
"There's definitely one happening in November, which is part of
the mine clearance program. We have an all-party group that looks
at explosives and how we combat, achieve the demining. The aim of
that is to come in late November. We will try and facilitate a
visit before that."
The APPG also plans to continue organizing parliamentary events
highlighting bilateral cooperation and the contribution of the
Azerbaijani community in Britain.
"In Parliament we often have receptions where we celebrate what
BP has done and what the Azerbaijani community in London has done
for the UK. Because there's a big diaspora, which is obviously
something we celebrate. So it's bringing people together. It's
getting different peer groups together. And because in the last
elections in the UK, we had a huge influx of new people. In the
last elections in Azerbaijan, there was a big influx of new people.
And in fact, the head of the Azerbaijan Friendship Group is a new
MP for the last election. So it's developing those
friendships."
Ukraine war has increased Azerbaijan's strategic
importance
According to Blackman, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has
fundamentally reshaped Europe's energy landscape and reinforced
Azerbaijan's importance as a strategic partner.
"The illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia has disrupted the
whole supply chain in terms of oil and gas, particularly gas, to
the European Union. Before the war in Ukraine, Azerbaijan was
operating about 15% capacity. And, of course, now the strategic
importance of Azerbaijan's supply to Europe is all important."
He said the Southern Gas Corridor has demonstrated the value of
long-term strategic planning.
"The long-term vision of setting up that pipeline from
Azerbaijan through to mainland Europe effectively demonstrates how
important that was to create another corridor for gas and oil. That
means that we are no longer as dependent as we were on Russia."
Blackman added that wider geopolitical developments have further
strengthened the case for closer UK-Azerbaijan cooperation.
"There's still a big job of work to be done. And that makes the
relationship between the UK and Azerbaijan all the more important.
As Iran is supplying Russia with drone technology, which is a real
challenge in terms of geopolitical involvement, Azerbaijan becomes
even more important. And, therefore, the security of Azerbaijan is
all important as well."
Blackman is visiting Azerbaijan at the invitation of ADA
University to participate in the 20th anniversary of the Baku
Summer Energy School, held from July 6 to 17. The annual program
brings together government officials, policymakers, academics and
energy experts from around the world to discuss global energy
security, the green transition and regional cooperation. During his
visit, Blackman also held talks with Speaker of the Azerbaijani
Parliament Sahiba Gafarova and Fariz Ismayilzade, head of the
Azerbaijan–UK interparliamentary friendship group.
