Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
Jan 11 2005
SPEAKER MEETS WITH GREEK AMBASSADOR
[January 11, 2005, 23:08:09]
On January 11, Speaker of the Milli Majlis /Parliament/ of Azerbaijan
Murtuz Alasgarov received Ambassador of Greece Mercurios Karafotias
on completion of his tenure in Azerbaijan.
The Speaker expressed satisfaction with development of relationship
between the two countries. The reciprocal visits by our leaders and
the documents signed as a result, have brought the bilateral
relations up to a new level; our interparliamentary cooperation is
also developing, our deputies often express common stance in the
international organization, he said.
Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Murtuz Alasgarov said
that a number of reputable international organizations had confirmed
the fact of occupation of the Azerbaijani lands and urged Armenia to
release the territories, but the country is not going to abandon its
aggressive policy. He expressed hope the PACE 25 January session at
which the relevant report is to be delivered, will give an impetus to
the problem’s resolution.
The Speaker, finally, thanked the Greek Government for the support in
relation to the conflict, and wished the Ambassador success in his
future activities.
Mr. Karafotias expressed gratitude for the kind words and noted that
his country is very interested in development of cooperation with
Azerbaijan. He said that the question of forming interparliamentary
friendship group with Azerbaijan was discussed at the very first
meeting of the newly elected Greek Parliament, and described this
fact as a graphic indicator of Athens’ attitude towards Azerbaijan.
The Ambassador also touched upon the official visit by President
Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan to Greece scheduled for 2005. We hope this
will open a new stage of our developing relationship, he said. Mr.
Karafotias reaffirmed that his country supports fair position of
Azerbaijan with respects to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and stands for
its settlement on the base of the principles of the international law
and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
The parties also exchanged views on a number of other issues of
mutual interest.