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Chairman of State Duma Committee: â€œAzerbaijan-Russia relations turned from the policy of emotions into the policy of long-term partnershipâ€

30 June 2008 13:38 (UTC +04:00)

Reminding that 16 years have passed since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Azerbaijan, Ostrovsky said the relations turned from the policy of emotions into policy of long-term partnership in this period. The parliamentarian touched upon the economic relations between the two countries and noted that Russia took the second place among the foreign trade partners of Azerbaijan according to the statistics for 2007. Speaking about the humanitarian cooperation, Ostrovsky said nearly 140 thousand Russians were living in Azerbaijan currently. â€œThe Russian language is educated and spread in this country. A part of Azerbaijani young folk have opportunity to receive education in Russia and to connect their future with the Russian languageâ€. Ostrovsky also noted the narrowing of Russian-information space in Azerbaijan and suspension of the broadcasting of Russian TV channels in this country. The parliamentarians said the negotiations were continued over this issue, but the dialogue was not hopeful. The Committee Chairman said that more than two million Azerbaijanis were living in Russia and called it as an important factor of the social stability in Azerbaijan. â€œBecause money transfers from Russia to Azerbaijan is in a level to be compared with the oil incomesâ€.