Official news
The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has offered his condolences to the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, after the numerous deaths which occurred as a result of two separate incidents, a fire at an old people's home in the Krasnodar Territory and an explosion in a Ulyanovsk coal mine in Kemerovo, oblast of Russia.
The State Head of Azerbaijan offered his condolences, on behalf of Azeri people, to all the families and relatives of the victims, as well as all the Russian population.
On 19 March Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev participated in an official opening ceremony of two transport junctions - a bridge and a tunnel in Baku near '20 January' subway station.
The work was carried out within the framework of a project on unloading transport infrastructure in Baku at the presidential decree on "Improvement of transport system of Baku in 2006-2007".
The overall work with the total budget of 300mln manats is scheduled to complete in 2 years.
In March the Azerbaijani Transport Ministry intends to conclude a three-year program on development of transport infrastructure of Baku. It is planned to build 18 new overbridges and underground passages, conclude the construction of Baku Circular Road -1 and commence the construction of the Baku Circular Road -2. Furthermore, the existing road from Mashadi Azizbayov subway station to the Heydar Aliyev Baku international airport will be expanded.
On March 19, Azerbaijan's President, Ilham Aliyev has congratulated the Azerbaijani people, as well as our compatriots living and working abroad, on the occasion of the All-National Holiday of Novruz Bayrami "Holiday of Spring", Trend reports.
The Presidential congratulations states that this holiday is closely connected with the laws of the Universe, brightly demonstrating the ancient customs and traditions our ancestors have left behind. This National Holiday fully reflects the rich moral world of our people characterized by renewal of nature. It imparts a sense of confidence in the days to come, instills superior feelings in the hearts, calling on the people to be good, merciful and compassionate.
Moreover, the Azerbaijani President extended his particular congratulations to the Azerbaijani soldiers who are safeguarding our land.
On 19 March Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev issued pardon decree on Novruz holiday.
Over 101 prisoners have been pardoned, while lifer Kerimov Keramet's imprisonment has been reduced by 25 years.
One of the leaders of Yeni Fikir Youth Organization Seid Nuriyev, convicted by the Court of Grave Crimes on July 12, 2006, nine prisoners were released and four prisoners were released from fine punishment.
On March 19, 2007, Azerbaijan's President. Ilham Aliyev has signed an order on presenting the personal Presidential grant to a group of people, Trend reports referring to National AzTV Channel.
According to the Presidential Order, Firangiz Aliagha gizi Alizadeh, Heyraddin Sayyadddin oglu Gojayev, and Muslim Meshadimusayib oghlu Imanov were conferred on these personal Presidential grants.
On March 19, 2007, Azerbaijan's President. Ilham Aliyev has isused an Decreee on foundation of the State Migration Service in order to carry out state policy in the sphere of migration, development of governance, regulation, and forecatsing migration processes, Trend reports referring to National AzTV Channel.
At the same time, the regulations of the Service have been approved. The Azerbaijan Cabinet of Ministers has been commissioned to prepare proposals concerning the structure of service, estimate of expenditures, dada base on the numbers of employees, and then al these submit to the Azerbaijani President.
Tuesday, 20 March, Azerbaijan's President, Ilham Aliyev has taken part in both solemn and festive arrangements, held in connection with the National Holiday of "Novruz" ("Spring Holiday") in Baku City.
The head of Azerbaijani said that this holiday had always played an important role in developing the national and spiritual values of the Azerbaijani people. "These traditions have existed for many centuries and the Azerbaijani people have always adhered to them" said the President. He added that Azerbaijan was successfully developing its economy. "We should uphold our economic potential. Each citizen of this country can feel its development within all spheres of life. We have significantly reduced the poverty level in the country. We are working in the right direction."
The President noted that Azerbaijan was rapidly integrating into the international community and building a democratic society. " Azerbaijan is taking an active part in different regional projects, and the country's capabilities are increasing. Today, we are able to solve any problems we face. We are pursuing our independent policy based upon Azerbaijan's national interests," said Mr. Aliyev.
Touching upon the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, the Azerbaijani President said that Armenia seemed to be procrastinating. "They should take it into consideration that this period of time is presently working for us", he concluded
The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has offered his condolences to the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, after the numerous deaths which occurred as a result of two separate incidents, a fire at an old people's home in the Krasnodar Territory and an explosion in a Ulyanovsk coal mine in Kemerovo, oblast of Russia.
The State Head of Azerbaijan offered his condolences, on behalf of Azeri people, to all the families and relatives of the victims, as well as all the Russian population.
FOREIGN POLICY
Peter Semneby, the EU Special Representative in the South Caucasus, urged that Azerbaijan and Armenia should intensify their co-operation with the public in order to sign a peace agreement.
Semneby believes both Azerbaijan and Armenia could exert more effort. The issue has not been given enough attention to date.
Semneby expressed his hope that the peace agreement will be signed as soon as possible. He was commenting on the statement of Goran Lenmarker, the President of the UN Parliamentary Assembly, on the possibility of the peace agreement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict being settled after the presidential elections in Armenia.
"Some two decades have past since the conflict and it is high time for the parties to sign the peace agreement. We hope that on the basis of the last meeting of the presidents of the two countries in Minsk, the settlement can be achieved," he noted.
The issue of the Action Plan between Azerbaijan and European Union within the European Neighborhood Policy was discussed at the meeting of the Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Araz Azimov, with the EU Special Representative for South Caucasus, Peter Semneby, on 20 March in Brussels. The Press-Secretary of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan, Khazar Ibrahim, said that the meeting focused on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and transport relations.
Within his visit to Brussels, Azimov gave a speech at the Foreign Relations Committee of the European Parliament, as well as at the EU-South Caucasus Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Co-operation. In addition, he held a meeting at the Head Foreign Relations Directorate of the European Commission. He met with the Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Jan Furne. Azimov was invited to the European Policy Center, where he gave a speech on the foreign-policy priorities of Azerbaijan.
The Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the UN, Agshin Mehdiyev, informed Trend that the present stage of negotiations regarding the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was discussed on 20 March in New York at the headquarters of the UN during the meeting of the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, with the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon.
The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan expressed Azerbaijan's position that a more active involvement from various international organizations, including the WTO, by adopting international law standards and principles, including principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, would assist in the prompt settlement of the regional conflicts.
Mammadyarov reported on the extractive industry transparency initiatives and said that Azerbaijan is prepared to share its experience in this regard with UN participating countries.
The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, who is on a working visit to Washington, stated in his interview with ITAR-TASS that the USA had not requested for a mobile radar be placed in the territory of Azerbaijan which may be a component of the American anti-missile defense system. "We have not received such a proposal," he said.
In addition, the Minister said that according to Azerbaijan's legislation, foreign bases and objects are not permitted to be placed in this Country. "For instance, the radio radar station used by Russia is the property of Azerbaijan and has been rented to Russia," Mammadyarov said, adding that all equipment in this station is also owned by Azerbaijan. "Should anyone wish to install mobile radar in the territory of Azerbaijan, it will automatically become the property of Azerbaijan," he stated.
The Head of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Lieutenant General, Henry Oberyng, stated at the press conference in Brussels on 1 March, that the Pentagon wishes to possess mobile radar in the Caucasus within anti-missile defense. "We would like to place radars in this region," he said, although he did not mention any specific country.
The military experts then proposed that it could be placed in Georgia or Azerbaijan. However, during his working visit to Washington, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Nino Burdjanadze, said that to date Tbilisi had not received such a proposal.
The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, said in Washington that Azerbaijan already plays a role as an economic regional leader. "The gross domestic product of Azerbaijan has doubled over the last three years. Last year the GDP growth was 35% and the present growth is 28%," he stated.
The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan spoke of three large-scale projects, in particular the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, strengthening the sovereignty of Azerbaijan and raising the welfare of the Country's population. According to Mammadyarov, BTC appears as a contributory factor in strengthening the stability in the region. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement on the use of BTC. Generally Kazakhstan is interested in transporting nearly 25 mln tons of oil via the pipeline.
The second project is the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline. "At the first stage, its capacity will be 8 bln cu.m of gas per year, thereafter increasing to 16 bln cu.m and at the final stage, to 24 bln cu.m," the Minister said. The gas pipeline will deliver gas from the Azerbaijani sector of Caspian to Georgia and Turkey for further delivery to Greece and Austria and from Greece to Italy. " Azerbaijan's companies are working on technical issues to extend the pipeline, in particular with Austria. It is a very interesting project for us that may be realized in 2012- 2014," the Minister said.
The third project is the railway Baku-Tbilisi-Kars pipeline. The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan said that a transport corridor between West and East may pass through Azerbaijan and Georgia. According to preliminary assessments, the railway may be built up over a period of 18 months. The cost of the project is between $400-$600 mln. "We hold negotiations with Kazakhstan, a country that is interested in this project. After Turkmenistan and China join the project, the railway will be beneficial," the Minister stated.
Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov signed a U.S.Azerbaijan Memorandum of Understanding on Energy Security Co-operation in the Caspian Region today on March 22 in the US Department of State.
The agreement marks the intention of the Governments of the United States and Azerbaijan to set up top-level discussions on energy security in the Caspian region co-chaired by the U.S. Department of State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. The top-level discussions aim to deepen and broaden the already strong co-operation amongst the governments and companies to expand oil and gas production in Azerbaijan for export into global markets. Particular focus will be the input of Azerbaijani gas into the Turkey-Greece-Italy gas pipeline, and potentially the Nabucco pipeline and other pipelines, in order to assist Europe bolster its energy security by diversifying its natural gas supplies.
This Memorandum of Understanding forms an important element in our growing partnership with Azerbaijan, which includes co-operation on energy, democratic and market economic reform as well as security.
US-Azerbaijani Mutual Understanding Memorandum on co-operation within energy security in the Caspian region which was signed in Washington on 22 March, will strengthen rivalry amongst natural gas suppliers to Europe.
Matthew Bryza, the US Assistant-Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, said during talks with journalists in Washington that the United States is trying to strengthen rivalry to assist the European gas market not to be dysfunctional as it is at present." The US diplomat assured that alternative channels for natural gas delivery to the old Continent, the development of which is specified in the Memorandum, will not impact Gasprom's interests.
Bryza said that though the Memorandum will strengthen rivalry amongst natural gas suppliers to Europe, it will not affect the business of Russian gas giant Gasprom. "Gasprom already possesses huge shares in the market, Bryza stressed. Russia supplies 65% of gas to Turkey and covers 40% of gas imports to Europe."
NAGORNO-KARABAKH
On 21 March in Yerevan, the Foreign Minister of Armenia, Vardan Oskanyan, expressed his regret that the Armenia and Azerbaijan are not very close to signing the document to confirm the principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, Mediamax reports.
During his speech at the conference, Oskanyan said that many contradictions remain and the final meeting in Geneva cannot be considered as progress. The Armenian Foreign Minister believes that the parties will continue consultations to organize a meeting of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia after the parliamentary elections in Armenia.
Oskanyan voiced that Armenia is prepared to continue negotiations on the basis of the document that is on the negotiations table at present. According to him, in 1996 it was only possible to hope that the document would be discussed, which aims at recognizing the self-appointment rights of Nagorno-Karabakh people through conducting a referendum..
On 21 March the Ambassador of Turkey to Azerbaijan, Huseyn Avni Garsioglu, visited internally displaced persons residing in trains in the Imishli district of Azerbaijan. 1,800 members of 385 families of refugees and internally displaced persons were presented with gifts in celebration of Novruz Bayrami (National Holiday of Azerbaijan).
The Ambassador became familiar with the living conditions of the refugees and internally displaced persons as a result of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
During his speech on 21 March at Middle Asia and Caucasus Institute of Jon Hopkins in Washington, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov stated that Russia plays a constructive role in the negotiations regarding the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
"Based on talks with the Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, I can say that the Russian representative plays a very constructive role," Mammadyarov said. "Prior to the recent meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Geneva, a meeting took place in Moscow. My talks with the Foreign Minister of Russia, Lavrov, concurred with Azerbaijan in that we need to move forward. I positively assess the role of Russia," Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister said.
According to Mammadyarov, within its foreign policy role, Azerbaijan's top priority is the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "Nagorno-Karabakh is a very sensitive issue for the people of the two countries," he said. "Over the past 15 years of negotiations, we were close to reaching an agreement several times, but at the final moment, certain events occurred which prevented this from taking place. I feel that now is the appropriate time to regulate the conflict. We should take each step at a time so as to achieve great confidence between the two nations," Mammadyarov stressed.
According to the Azerbaijani Minister, we believe that the prompt settlement of the conflict is in the interest of Armenia and its national security. "It is obvious that a political decision should be taken step by step in order to strengthen the confidence between the countries and to establish economic co-operation, resulting in the withdrawal of troops and involvement of the peacemakers. This is reality. The sooner the Head of Armenia understands this, the better it will be for Armenia and the region in general. "We are continuing negotiations regarding the principles of the settlement. We have succeeded to a certain extent, but there is still more to do," Mammadyarov said.
The Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Araz Azimov, said at the press conference in Brussels that Azerbaijan should become closer to a new stage of relations with EU as partners and as partners integrated as a whole, Trend Special Correspondent reports.
" Azerbaijan and other partner nations could build up mutually effective and beneficial relations, probably serving the goal of development and progress in the South Caucasus," he said. According to him, within his visit to Brussels, he also reported on the policies of Azerbaijan, regional concerns and risks. "We have concluded a memorandum on energy partnership between the EU and Azerbaijan in November last year. Today we are implementing this memorandum which will take Azerbaijan to a better place in terms of development of internal infrastructures as well as energy saving policies and the search for alternative energy sources as well as to develop democratic majors in energy market inside," Azimov said.
"Relations with neighboring countries and that is to be said that we are concerned with the developments on the south. And we hope that issues will be solved peacefully. We are concerned with the situation in our conflict zone and we hope that we can count on the support of the EU and for which I was pledged by the way, in terms of political settlement. A settlement that will bring Azerbaijan and Armenia together as one region of Karabakh within the territorially integrally Azerbaijan provided with self rule states and making outreach economically and culturally to international community. Guarantees for that will be provided by international community jointly including by EU. Azerbaijan is ready to contribute. There is no war solution to the conflict. But probably Azerbaijan will continue to stand of the principled position. Any territorial secession will not be accepted. There is only one chance to build peace. That is within the territorial framework of Azerbaijan. That should clearly be explained and understood by the Armenian side. I hope that there shall be pluralism in Armenia about solutions of the conflict and I hope that at least a few people there will speak in favour of peace with Azerbaijan and in favour of a settlement on the basis of principles," Azimov said.
The energy sector represents basis for strategic relationships between Azerbaijan and the European Union. The Greek Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Themistokles Demidis, made this statement in to solemn celebration of the National Holiday of Greece in Baku on 23 March.
Greece supports Azerbaijan's integration to Euro-Atlantic organizations and proximity to the EU, the development of political, economic, humanitarian and human relationships. At the same time, EU attaches great importance not only to energy sector, but also the development of democracy - human rights, superiority of the law, and freedom of assembly. The diplomat stressed the Azerbaijani-Greek relationships are developing day by day. Members of the Azerbaijan-Greek inter-parliamentary friendship group visited Baku recently and intergovernmental commission on cooperation will be soon held in Athens. With respect to Athens' official attitude towards the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict the Ambasdor said that Greece is for peaceable resolution of the conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.