AZERI, POLISH LEADERS DISCUSS EXPANDING RELATIONS
ANS TV, Baku
27 Apr 04
(Presenter) Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is visiting Poland. The
president met Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski today. Now over
to Warsaw. ANS TV’s special correspondent Qanira Pasayeva is on the
line. Qanira, good evening, what did the president discuss at his
meeting?
(Correspondent) Good evening, Aytan. It was stated after the meeting,
this meeting was tete-a-tete, that it had discussed bilateral
relations and processes in the region and in the world at large. No
complete statement was made. However, among the issues discussed
between Poland and Azerbaijan, the development of political and
economic relations between the two countries was the main subject of
discussion. An Azerbaijani embassy is expected to start operating in
Poland in the near future. Apart from that, Poland is very interested
in the Odessa-Brody oil (pipeline) project and in the activities of
the GUUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova)
organization.
Another subject that was presumably discussed was the subject of Iraq,
because Azerbaijan’s military forces in Iraq are operating on
Polish-controlled territory, i.e. under the Polish military
command. Apart from that, Aleksander Kwasniewski pointed out that
Azerbaijan’s participation in the European economic summit and in
other events of the sort could help boost Azerbaijan’s relations with
Europe.
The main meetings are expected to take place tomorrow. First of all,
President Ilham Aliyev will participate in the European economic
summit tomorrow. I want to point out that in connection with the
European economic summit, serious security measures have been taken in
Warsaw. I can even say that it is under total control because
thousands of anti-globalists have already arrived in Poland. President
Ilham Aliyev will be the main reporter on the implementation of major
projects tomorrow. President Ilham Aliyev will speak about projects of
importance to Europe – oil, gas and energy projects. He will also
touch on the Baku-Ceyhan and Baku-Erzurum (pipeline projects), because
there is an issue of transporting gas to the European market and
Europe is very interested in expanding alternative sources of energy.
Ilham Aliyev is also expected to touch on the Nagornyy Karabakh
problem, i.e. the unresolved status of the conflict and Armenia’s
aggressive policy remain a great source of danger, i.e. the main
source of danger that might disrupt stability in the region where such
projects are being implemented.
After that, there will be a tete-a-tete meeting with (Armenian
President) Robert Kocharyan which will last for two hours. After the
tete-a-tete meeting, there will be a luncheon on the Caucasus with
Robert Kocharyan and Ilham Aliyev in attendance. I should also note
that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen will also arrive in Warsaw
tonight. After the meeting between Robert Kocharyan and Ilham Aliyev,
Ilham Aliyev will have a meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairmen. It is very interesting that no meeting was planned
between Robert Kocharyan and Ilham Aliyev several days ago. The idea
of this meeting came up after the visit to the region by the new US
co-chairman, Steven Mann, and after the Prague summit of the
(Azerbaijani and Armenian) foreign ministers. That’s why it is very
interesting.
After that, President Ilham Aliyev will have a tete-a-tete meeting
with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The main subject of
discussions will be the events taking place in the region and energy
projects, i.e. the oil and gas projects implemented in the region. And
this will mark the end of President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Poland.
(Presenter) Thank you, Qanira. This was ANS TV’s special correspondent
Qanira Pasayeva reporting from the Polish capital of Warsaw.