Baku, February 4 (AZERTAC). Kuwaiti Arabic-language Al-Siyasa and English-language Arab Times newspapers have interviewed Azerbaijan`s Ambassador Tural Rzayev.

The diplomat answered questions regarding the Azerbaijan-Kuwait relations, Azerbaijan`s economic projects and the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Ambassador said President Ilham Aliyev`s official visit to Kuwait in 2009 contributed to overall development of the bilateral relations.

Rzayev mentioned the visit of Kuwait`s Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah to Baku, as well as the second meeting of the Azerbaijan-Kuwait joint commission on cooperation.

He said Azerbaijan puts special emphasis on developing relations with Kuwait, adding the two countries enjoy good cooperation within international organizations. The diplomat praised Kuwait`s supporting Azerbaijan`s stance on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Rzayev underlined that Kuwait participates in several international projects carried out in Azerbaijan, singling out “Baku White City” among others.

The Ambassador highlighted Azerbaijan`s achievements in various areas, particularly tourism. He gave detailed information about his country`s tourism potential.

Rzayev said the Azerbaijani people established the first Democratic Republic in the Muslim East in 1918, which granted women’s suffrage.

He said the first European Games 2015 and the Games of Islamic Solidarity 2017 would be held in Azerbaijan.

The Ambassador also touched upon the 2013 presidential election, saying international watchdogs positively estimated the results of the voting. “They declared that elections were held in free, transparent and democratic atmosphere.”

On Azerbaijan`s foreign policy, Rzayev said Azerbaijan respects territorial integrity of other countries and does not interfere with the their domestic affairs.

He spoke of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, saying Armenia had occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands and as a result of the occupation, over one million Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs. “

Official Yerevan ignores resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council, General Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on settlement of the problem. As a result of the Armenian aggression, Azerbaijani citizens were massively murdered - over 20,000 Azerbaijanis, including children, women and elders were killed, and mosques, schools, historical monuments were destroyed.”

The Ambassador said “despite all this, Azerbaijan`s economy has rapidly developed”.

“Azerbaijan`s economy now accounts for more than 80 percent of that of the South Caucasus,” the diplomat stressed.

“Azerbaijan is also the center of global economic projects. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipelines will be of profound importance to the region and Europe. Azerbaijan launched its first communications satellite into orbit in 2013.”

Rzayev pointed out that Azerbaijan was committed to democratic values, and attaches great importance to inter-religious, inter-ethnic dialogue and tolerance.