BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 21
Trend:
Italy and Azerbaijan respect and support each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of borders, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said while making a press statement together with President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella, Trend reports.
“Dear ladies and gentlemen! Mr. President, first of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to you for the invitation to visit Italy on a state visit and for the hospitality extended to me and the delegation,” Ilham Aliyev said. “I am very glad to be in your beautiful country again. Today, both during our one-on-one meeting and in the negotiations with the participation of our delegations, I became further convinced that Italy and Azerbaijan are friendly countries very close to each other.”
“Mr. President, I recall with satisfaction your official visit to Azerbaijan,” noted the Azerbaijani president. “That visit gave a powerful impetus to the further cooperation between our countries and all the agreements reached during that visit are being implemented today.”
“There are plans to sign numerous bilateral documents today,” Ilham Aliyev added. “Each of them is important. They cover many areas. However, I would like to emphasize the Joint Declaration on Strengthening the Strategic Partnership because this declaration essentially sets forth future directions of our strategic partnership. This is a very deep and detailed document covering political, economic, cultural, humanitarian areas – all areas. At the same time, it contains a provision on the provision by Italy and Azerbaijan of support to each other within the framework of international organizations. And this happens between close and friendly countries, between allies.”
“Further development of our cooperation in the economic sphere will be very positive,” said the Azerbaijani president. “I am sure that we will now see cooperation of Italian companies in the non-oil sector. So far, many Italian companies have participated in various projects in Azerbaijan. As for trade, Italy is our number one partner on a global scale. Last year, our turnover reached $6 billion. True, a significant part of it relates to the oil sector. Therefore, we have exchanged views on the diversification of our trade.”
“As Mr. President said, we have discussed the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” Ilham Aliyev noted. “Ways to resolve this problem are also stated in the Joint Declaration. It says that Italy and Azerbaijan respect and support each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of borders. At the same time, it states the need to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict precisely on the basis of these principles, the Helsinki Final Act, decisions and resolutions adopted by the UN and OSCE. I believe that this is a very fair position based on international law, and we are grateful to the Italian side for this position.”
“As for the steps associated with a concrete solution to the issue, Armenia comes out with very disappointing, conflicting and contradictory statements,” the Azerbaijani president added. “The head of Armenia once said that Nagorno-Karabakh is Armenia. Then he said that Nagorno-Karabakh is an independent state. Both statements are wide of the mark. Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijan.”
“This is evidenced by history, norms and principles of international law,” Ilham Aliyev said. “The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including Nagorno-Karabakh, is recognized and accepted by the whole world. Therefore, the settlement of the conflict is possible only on the basis of the norms and principles of international law, within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.”