Xinhua, China
Aug 24 2005

No plans to allow US military base in Azerbaijan: president

MOSCOW, Aug. 24 (Xinhuanet) — Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
said on Wednesday that his government has no plans to allow the
United States to establish military bases in his country.

Reports that foreign military bases will be set up on
Azerbaijan’s territory are groundless, Aliyev told the media.

Azerbaijan and the United states have not held any talks on the
establishment of a US military presence in the Caucasus country,
Interfax news agency quoted Aliyev as saying.

No countries will be allowed to set up military bases in
Azerbaijan, as the presence of foreign military bases will do no good
for the stability of the country,” Aliyev said.

Aliyev also said his government’s top priority now is to resolve
the territorial dispute with neighboring Armenia.

In late July, Uzbekistan announced that it was giving the United
States 180 days to close an air base in the southwest of the Central
Asian country.

After that, unconfirmed media reports have said the United States
might redeploy part of its forces in the air base to Azerbaijan.
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