noticias.info (Comunicados de prensa), Spain
Aug 27 2004

Relations between Azerbaijan and Germany looking good

Germany and Azerbaijan want to continue to expand their mutual trade
relations. This was announced by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and the
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Heydar Oglu Aleyev, in
Berlin on Wednesday.

Speaking on August 25 after his meeting with Aleyev, Schröder noted
that relations between Germany and Azerbaijan are very good, adding
that reforms in Azerbaijan have spurred economic growth.

President Aleyev’s efforts to strengthen the rule of law deserve our
respect, Schröder commented. He encouraged German industry to invest
more in Azerbaijan in view of the progress being made there.

Schröder said President Aleyev has made it clear that German
companies are highly welcome. He announced that a conference of
German and Azerbaijani companies will be held in Berlin late this
year or early next year with a view to expanding economic cooperation
between the two countries.

Schröder and Aleyev witnessed the signing of two agreements in the
Chancellery, one on avoidance of double taxation and the other for
the delivery of four Airbus passenger planes to Azerbaijan’s national
airlines, three A 319s and one A 319 Corporate Jet. The order is
worth 169 million dollars.

Schröder noted that the Airbus contract is symbolic of the closer
relations that now exist between Azerbaijan and the European Union.
Resolving the conflict with Armenia peacefully.

In reference to the Nagoro-Karabakh* conflict Schröder assured Aleyev
that Germany supports the Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. They
both stressed that the conflict needs to be resolved politically,
i.e. by peaceful means. Schröder noted that Germany is working to
help achieve a settlement of the conflict in the framework of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

*Nagoro-Karabakh is an enclave in Azerbaijan where the majority of
the population is Armenian. Azerbaijan’s declaration of independence
from the Soviet Union in 1991 was followed by outbreaks of violence
and armed conflict in this region. Armenian insurgents brought parts
of Nagoro-Karabakh and access routes to Armenia under their control.
A ceasefire has been in effect there since 1994.