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Azerbaijani President: â€œThe sooner the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is solved, the greater contribution it will make to the regional securityâ€

23 June 2011 15:31 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev addressed Crans Montana Forum in Brussels. APA reports quoting AzerTAC news agency that the head of state welcomed the guests and thanked everybody for inviting him to the Forum. Speaking about Azerbaijan, the President informed the guests about current economic development processes in our country: â€œWe have a strong will to enhance the development of Azerbaijan completely. Azerbaijan has been a member of the Council of Europe for ten years, now our country is strengthening the relations with the European Unionâ€.

President Aliyev mentioned the importance of the meetings held in Brussels and noted the great opportunities for the broadening of relations in the future. Speaking about the phases of the Azerbaijanâ€™s economic development after restoration of its independence, the President informed that our country had high rates of development during the financial crisis too. Azerbaijan is an oil country, but it is also developing the non-oil sector, said the President and added that close cooperation with the European institutions was important for our country: â€œAzerbaijan plays an important role in the intercultural dialog, our society is multicultural and Azerbaijan hosts the international cultural events. Our country gives great attention to the regional securityâ€.

Touching on the Nagorno Karabakh issue, the President said that 20% of the internationally-recognized territories of Azerbaijan have been under Armenian occupation for 20 years, there are 1 mln refugees and IDPs in the country: â€œArmenia has not fulfilled the decisions and resolutions of the international organizations up to now. The sooner the conflict is solved, the greater contribution it will make to the regional securityâ€.

During his speech, the President also touched on the energy issues, spoke about the activity of the State Oil Fund, which is known in the world as a transparent organization, Azerbaijanâ€™s diversified oil-gas infrastructure, the significance of the seriously discussed South Gas Corridor. President Aliyev thanked everybody for their vote for our country in the Eurovision 2011 Song Contest.