POLITICS
SECURITY MINISTERS OF AZERBAIJAN AND GEORGIA MEET IN GANJA
A delegation led by state security minister of Georgia, lieutenant-general Valerian Khaburdzaniya paid one day visit to Ganja, on the invitation of the national security minister of Azerbaijan, colonel-general Namig Abbasov, 10 July.At the meeting, attended by the high rank security officials of Azerbaijan and Georgia, Minister Namig Abbasov noted that President Heydar Aliyev and Eduard Shevardnadze founded the strategic partnership between the two countries, and stressed the necessity of expanding partnership between the special services of the Countries. The Minister said he attaches great importance to the cooperation of the national security services of Georgia and Azerbaijan, noting that there is nothing to hamper this partnership, and expressed a confidence that this meeting would also contribute development of this cooperation.Security minister of Georgia V. Khaburdzaniya expressed his gratitude for invitation and satisfaction with the level of cooperation between the two countries. Discussed were the issues of strengthening and expanding of cooperation between special services of the two countries in combat against terrorism, aggressive separatism and religious extremism, smuggling, illicit drugs turnover, proliferation of mass destruction weapons, illegal migration and other forms of trans-national organized criminality. Parties stressed the necessity of regularly organizing such meetings in Azerbaijan and Georgia. At the meeting, passed in an atmosphere of complete understanding, the Parties signed the ‘Additional Protocol to the Treaty on cooperation and mutual activity between the National Security Ministry of Azerbaijan Republic and State Security Ministry of Georgia’. The same day, a group of top officials of the National Security Ministry of Azerbaijan together with their Georgian colleagues left for Tbilisi.