BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 16
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
Azerbaijan is a reliable supplier of energy resources, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Earle Litzenberger told the local media representatives, Trend reports.
"We are marking 30 years of your friendship and we’re also marking Azerbaijan’s independence. I really want to underscore that the US has from the very beginning been a strong supporter of Azerbaijan’s independence. For 30 years we’ve worked with Azerbaijani government and people of Azerbaijan on issues of broadening these relations from the rule of law, human rights, the economy, energy security, which are incredibly important components of our relations. I think our track record is strong. As a friend of Azerbaijan, the US stands ready to help find peace and construct the economic, transportation, and people-to-people connections to help the entire region to prosper in peace. Last week I highlighted the incredibly important role of the Southern Gas Corridor. The US’ sustained support for that project was a part of our goal to improve the European energy security, reduce Europe’s dependence on coal and diversify gas supplies to Europe. We greatly value the strategic role that Azerbaijan has played in that process. Azerbaijan has proved itself to be a reliable, dependable energy supplier.
We started with the Contract of the Century building the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, we have moved beyond that to help develop Azerbaijan’s gas resources, build the Southern Gas Corridor, which is now bringing Azerbaijani gas to Italy, Georgia, Greece, Turkey, potentially to Wester Balkans. It plays a strategically important role," said the ambassador.
