Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 12
By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's visit to China is historic in terms of its form, content and status, said Novruz Mammadov, deputy head of Azerbaijani presidential administration, chief of the administration's foreign relations department.
He made the remarks Dec. 12 speaking to reporters at a press conference in Baku.
Mammadov stressed that against the backdrop of the processes recently going on in the world and the region, the Azerbaijani president's state visit to China has become a very important historic event.
"Firstly, in any state every year two or three visits are given the status of the state visit. There may be 10 to 15 visits during the year, but only two of them are conferred the state visit status," noted Mammadov.
He added that China's giving such status to the visit by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is an indication of a special attitude.
"Indeed, the visit itself, the talks held during the visit, meetings, discussions, exchange of views, and the signed documents - there were ten of them, the most important being the joint declaration between the president of Azerbaijan and the president of China - fully prove what I said," he added.
Mammadov further said that no sphere was left untouched, as far as expansion of cooperation is concerned.
He said the exchange of views between the heads of the two states on the backdrop of developments and processes occurring in the world today has particular importance for further strengthening and deepening cooperation in certain areas.
"I'd like to note that for over ten years both China and Azerbaijan have been providing successful and continuous development in stable and secure conditions, despite that Azerbaijan is a small country, while China is one of the most powerful countries in the world," he said.
"We intend to mutually respect each other, to protect mutual interests and fruitful cooperation," stressed Mammadov. "Nothing can prevent this. Therefore, it is very important to develop cooperation in all areas and demonstrate determination and willpower with this regard."
He went on to quote the Chinese president as saying that there have long been relations between Azerbaijan and China.
"Such ties have also long existed between the peoples. And he [Chinese president] has a relation of personal friendship with Azerbaijan's president," he noted.
Mammadov added that there was a very substantive conversation regarding the fight against illegal trafficking of drugs and on enhancing cooperation in many areas.
"At the same time, the cooperation in international and regional organizations was highlighted especially," he said. "In the first half of this year, we became a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Even despite the president's non-participation, they accepted us."
A special role of cooperation in financial and banking sectors was also emphasized, according to Mammadov.
He further said the Chinese leadership demonstrated very strong support for the fair resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of the international law norms and principles and in line with UN Security Council's resolutions.
China also stressed that it would continue to hold such a stance, according to Mammadov.
"Azerbaijani side too declared that it will always express its concrete position within the one-China principle. This shows that there is a mutual understanding between us in all areas. This is of great importance," he said.
"All this is indicated in the document signed by the two countries," he noted.