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Azerbaijani President: Nagorno-Karabakh conflict may be resolved only within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and international standards and principles

18 May 2011 03:31 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in his speech said that carried out with meetings, negotiations as well as signed documents with Czech President and a business forum will give impetus to ensure that the connection between the two countries entered a new stage.
"I think an important building of mutual efforts to develop our bilateral relations and their improvement on a qualitatively new level", - he said.

According to him, today there are favorable conditions and opportunities for cooperation between our two countries in various fields. Participation of Czech banks as creditors in the proceeding in Azerbaijan, large construction works - this is a positive development. At the same time, the Azerbaijani oil has an important place in the energy market of the Czech Republic. From this point of view to the further intensification of our relations there is a need for direct transactions between economic entities of both countries.

Our countries cooperate closely within international and regional organizations. Ties with the European Union and Euro-Atlantic structures occupy an important place in the foreign policy of Azerbaijan. It is gratifying our cooperation in the UN, OSCE, European Union, Council of Europe", - he emphasized.

The President stressed that Azerbaijan is a reliable partner in energy sphere and is ready to further contribute to energy security of Europe. â€œWe are interested in supplying our energy resources to world markets in all directions and work on various projects. Cooperation in the energy sector is one of the pillars of our relations with the European Union. A good example of this was signed in 2006 between Azerbaijan and the European Union Memorandum of Understanding on strategic partnership in the energy sector, as well as signed in January this year, the Joint Declaration on the Southern Gas Corridorâ€ - , he said.

President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that undertaken in recent years in Azerbaijan for specific projects provide a dynamic development of our country positively influence the processes of cooperation in the region. As a result of the work of Azerbaijan is developing rapidly. Even in the difficult years of the global financial crisis, the economic development of our country has continued. As a result, over the past seven years, gross domestic product in the country increased almost three times in 2009 and 2010, respectively, our economy has grown by 14 percent, foreign exchange reserves have reached nearly $ 35 billion, the number of people living below the poverty line, decreased five times in our country have invested in excess of $ 80 billion, has opened more than 900 thousand new jobs.

â€However, with regret, I have to say that the most painful problem of Azerbaijan - the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has not yet been resolved. As a result of military aggression of Armenia, 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands - Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding seven regions - are still under occupation. In the occupied territories of Azebaijan carried out ethnic cleansing by Armenia and more than 1 million people became refugees and IDPs. In connection with the conflict, there are four UN Security Council resolutions, the relevant decisions and resolutions of the OSCE, the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, NATO and other international organizations. Nagorno-Karabakh conflict may be resolved only within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and international standards and principles, - Head of state said.

In turn, President Vaclav Klaus said that the history of direct connections between the Czech Republic and Azerbaijan is very short, but the history of Czech-Azerbaijani relations goes back centuries. President Vaclav Klaus said that it was time to give new impetus to these relations. In his words

â€we need to continue all the positive things that have been received from the past. But today we want to bring a new impetus to these relations, and modernity. We believe Azerbaijan is a country that has great development potential, Czech companies are also interested to contribute to the use of this potential", - Czech president said.

Vaclav Klaus noted that Azerbaijan has a stabilizing factor in this complex and conflict-ridden region, in addition, the country plays an important role in the energy balance of European countries.

"Our country also receives from your country, 25 percent of total oil imports. It is in this area has great potential for cooperation", - he said.

Noting that Azerbaijan is the edge of having an ancient culture, historic monuments and beautiful nature, Czech President expressed his satisfaction with the opportunity to learn during a visit not only with capital, but also regions of Azerbaijan. "The Czechs travel a lot. They like to get acquainted with other countries. But as far as I know, they have not yet discovered the beauty of the Caspian Sea and your beautiful mountains. I am confident that soon it will happen that we will be visitors from your country. I came to your country with a large delegation representing the Czech company, they have shown great interest in expanding economic cooperation. So I believe that our visit will be a new impetus to the deepening of political dialogue between us, the expansion of bilateral treaty of cooperation and increased trade relations and investments. I am confident that this background will also develop cultural ties and contacts between the citizens", - he said.