President Aliyev, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson mull Karabakh conflict (PHOTO, UPDATE)

Details added (first version posted on 11:44)

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 10

Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has met with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Istanbul.

At the meeting, the sides noted successful development of bilateral ties between the two countries in various fields, including politics and energy.

During the talk, issues related to the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were discussed. President Ilham Aliyev once again expressed Azerbaijan’s position regarding the settlement of the conflict, and informed Tillerson about the latest military provocation of Armenia on the contact line between the two countries’ troops.

The Azerbaijani president also spoke about the work carried out due to the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project.

Rex Tillerson, on his part, noted that the US will continue to support the implementation of the project.

President Ilham Aliyev asked Rex Tillerson to convey gratitude to US President Donald Trump for the congratulatory letter sent on the occasion of the opening of the 24th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference.

Ilham Aliyev described the letter as US support for Azerbaijan’s energy policy, in particular, the Southern Gas Corridor project.

Rex Tillerson highly assessed Azerbaijan’s activity in peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan, as well as Azerbaijan’s role as a transport and logistics corridor in these operations.

The sides also discussed political and economic reforms, which are being implemented in Azerbaijan, as well as issues related to the development of democracy.