PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV SPEAKS AT BSEC SUMMIT
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev spoke at the 15th Summit of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization held in Istanbul, Turkey on June 25.
He first thanked the government and President Ahmed Necdet Sezer of the host country for excellent organization of the summit and hospitality.
The President qualified the 15-year activity of the organization as very positive. “Practical results of the close cooperation our countries have been working in over these years are obvious,” he said.
Speaking of the progress Azerbaijan has achieved for the mentioned period, President Aliyev noted it was the result of serious political and economic reforms implemented in the country.
“We attach much attention to the regional cooperation, and we are the initiators of a number of important projects. In general, Azerbaijan is playing an active role in boosting the Caspian Sea - Black Sea cooperation.”
The Azerbaijani leader pointed to close cooperation with Georgia, Turkey and Russia in delivering the Azerbaijani oil to the world markets via three oil pipelines.
“Next year, Azerbaijan is expected to produce 1 million barrels of oil per day. Now, Azerbaijan is turning into a gas exporting country with necessary transport infrastructure.”
The President expressed confidence that his country’s initiatives in both transport and energy sectors will contribute even greater to the regional cooperation.
In this connection, he stressed the significance of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, whose construction is to start soon. “This railroad to connect Europe and Asia will be capable to transport considerably more amount of cargo, thereby opening new opportunities for the friendly countries.”
President Ilham Aliyev also spoke of the problems existing in the region, including the unresolved conflicts.
Touching upon the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, he reminded of 20% occupied territories of Azerbaijan and over 1 million refugees and internally displaced persons from the conflict. “It is great injustice, it is violation of international legal norms,” he said.
“Taking the opportunity I would like again to draw the attention of the heads of state and governments to this issue. As long as unresolved, this problem presents a big threat to us, to the entire region and to regional cooperation.”
President Aliyev stressed that solution to the problem can be found only and only on the base of the international legal norms. “Territorial integrity of Azerbaijan must be restored, more than a million of our compatriots, who have been suffering over ten years, must return to their homes.”
On the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani leader said there are a lot of positive examples of self-governance in the world, including in Europe, which could also be applied in this region.
“I hope this conflict, and other unresolved ones will be settled bringing long-standing peace, stability and cooperation to the region,” President Ilham Aliyev said.
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