President: There are Forces Trying to Harm Azeri-Georgian Relations

Baku Today
Dec 18 2004

Commenting on the current situation on the Georgian-Azerbaijani border,
President Ilham Aliyev told journalists on Friday that the issue has
been clarified.

“All problems on the border will be eliminated after we make sure that
no cargo is passed to Armenia,” underlined the President, saying that
Azerbaijan and Georgia are committed to fighting contraband.

Aliyev noted that consignments are smuggled to Armenia through
Azerbaijan, President Aliyev said: “We will not have this happen
again”. He stressed that the border will remain closed until a normal
work schedule in Georgia is provided.

Expressing his stance on the recent incident involving Azerbaijanis
living in Georgia, President Aliyev said that a peaceful life of
Azerbaijanis abroad is a very important issue for the state.

“There are forces trying to harm the friendly relations between the
two countries. We know who they are. Unfortunately, there are such
forces in Azerbaijan as well. However, the main forces are outside
the country. We cannot allow hurting the strategic partnership between
Georgia and Azerbaijan.”

President Aliyev called on the Azerbaijanis living in Georgia to
respect the laws of the country and not to commit violations. He
also voiced his confidence that all the outstanding discrepancies
will be eliminated.