Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Aug 28 2004

AZER GASYMOV: THE VISIT BY PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV TO GERMANY WAS
FRUITFUL AND SUCCESSFUL
[August 28, 2004, 19:50:31]

The following is the interview President’s press-secretary Azer
Gasymov gave to the Azerbaijan National Television to comment on the
results of the visit by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to
Germany.

As you know, President of Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev stayed on
an official visit in the Federative Republic of Germany in August
24-26 . This visit was very successful and fruitful from the
standpoint of both bilateral and multilateral relations. It is well
known that Azerbaijan-Germany cultural relations have rich history.
These relations have been developed for many centuries, and entered a
qualitatively new stage by the end of the 20th since nationwide
leader Mr. Heydar Aliyev returned to power in Azerbaijan.

The official visit by Mr. Heydar Aliyev to Germany in 1996 laid the
foundation of the today’s Germany-Azerbaijan relations. Since Mr.
Ilham Aliyev’s election as President of Azerbaijan Republic, the
course towards Germany’s priority in foreign policy of Azerbaijan has
been further developed. These relations are being developed and
expanding day by day.

Germany today is one of the politically and economically most
important developed countries not only in the European but also in
the global scale. Germany is one of the world’s leaders in trade
turnover. Besides, Germany is one of countries enabling to strongly
influence the political processes taking place around the world. From
this standpoint, development of relations with Germany is extremely
important for Azerbaijan, as well as Azerbaijan plays very important
role in Germany’s foreign policy. Thus, the Southern Caucasus is one
of the main parts of the European security architecture, and the fact
that Germany considers Azerbaijan as a leading state in the Southern
Caucasus, the most developed one in all spheres, and attaches special
significance to our country, is also very important. Keeping in mind
the above-mentioned, one can say that the visit by President of
Azerbaijan Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany was of
paramount importance for development of our relations in political,
economic, cultural and other spheres.

One of the most important results of the visit for the political
viewpoint is the Germany’s unambiguous position as to the settlement
of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that was
reflected in the statement by Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Chancellor of the Federative Republic of Germany Mr. Gerhard
Schroeder stated unambiguously: Germany has always supported and will
continue to support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. That is
very important statement. This fact reaffirms that our country’s
stance with respect to Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict settlement based
on the norms and principles of the international law gets more and
more support from the international community.

Touching on our political relations, it should be noted that during
the talks, the parties reaffirmed with deep satisfaction the
realization of a high-level political dialogue between our two
countries, and further continuation of this dialogue still remains on
the agenda. They exchange views on a wide range of regional and
international security issues.

The results of the visit naturally cover the economic sphere, as
well. A number of important documents on economic cooperation were
signed during the visit. One of the noteworthy facts is that German
businessmen, as well as the country’s leading companies are involved
in economic development of Azerbaijan. They stated that they are
going to increase the volume of investments in Azerbaijan, and that
Germany is interested in bringing new technologies to Azerbaijan.
This indeed is a graphic evidence of recognition of Azerbaijan as a
country of rapid economic growth. Another important result of the
visit is the agreement on purchasing several passenger aircrafts from
Germany.

The visit was significant also from the standpoint of multilateral
relations development. As you know Azerbaijan and Germany are
carrying out very fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation in the
framework of international organizations including the Council of
Europe, European Union, NATO and other structures. Our cooperation at
the European Union, which is playing increasingly important role in
the European political and economic space, should be noted in
particular. During the visit, the German side stated once again its
readiness to contribute to integration of Azerbaijan into the
European family, the European Union.

I want to note that political and business circles of Germany, as
well as the country’s leading mass media were closely watching and
widely covering the visit by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. A
number of influential TV channels of Germany prepared a lot of
special programs related to the visit.

All these factors indicate that Germany attaches special importance
to relations with Azerbaijan, and that Azerbaijan is on its way to
take a worthy place in the region and the European family on the
whole. This visit will undoubtedly contribute to further development
of Azerbaijan-Germany relations.