AZERBAIJAN KEY TO ENERGY DIVERSITY

United Press International
Jan 14 2009

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 14 (UPI) — Azerbaijan is positioned
strategically with the necessary infrastructure to advance the
diversification of the European energy sector, officials said.

"We have already reached all major objectives in our country," said
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev. "We have diversified transportation
energy. I am confident that the relationship between Azerbaijan and
European consumers will develop further."

The president pledged to his colleagues in the oil and gas sector
that Azerbaijan would remain an important ally in the region, the
Trend Capital News agency reported.

"Our partners can be assured that Azerbaijan will continue to play
an important role in the future as a reliable partner and friend,"
he said.

He pointed to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the world’s
second longest, and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum Pipeline, or South
Caucasus artery, as signs Azerbaijan and Caspian suppliers changed
the dynamics of the regional energy sector.

His comments came during a meeting with Estonian President Toomas
Hendrik Ilves on the Azeri conflict over the disputed Armenian
Nagorno-Karabakh territories.

Ilves assured his counterpart the countries were important partners
in the political and economic realm.