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Azerbaijan, U.S. praise successful cooperation

21 April 2014 14:58 (UTC+04:00)
Azerbaijan, U.S. praise successful cooperation

By Sara Rajabova

Relations between Azerbaijan and the United States were discussed during the visit of the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, Ed Royce, at the head of a Congress delegation to Baku.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received the U.S. delegation on April 19, AzerTag state news agency reported.

Congressman Royce hailed bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and the United States as excellent.

Royce praised successful cooperation between the two countries in various areas, including energy, fight against terrorism and Afghanistan-related issues.

The sides also highly appreciated Azerbaijan`s cooperation with European institutions.

President Aliyev expressed satisfaction with the development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and the U.S.

Aliyev said Azerbaijan attaches great importance to expanding cooperation between legislative bodies of the two countries.

Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the head of state highlighted the country`s position on the dispute.

Stressing that the Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan`s lands, over one million Azerbaijanis have became refugees and IDPs, and that Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions have been occupied, President Aliyev said it was important that the OSCE Minsk Group take concrete steps towards ensuring settlement of the conflict within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

The sides said the visit of the U.S. delegation to Azerbaijan was a good opportunity for the congressmen to closely familiarize themselves with Azerbaijan and stressed the importance of the visit in terms of defining new areas of relations.

They also exchanged views on the issues related to the expansion of bilateral ties in various fields.

On the same day, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met Royce and the delegation.

Mammadyarov noted that the parliamentary diplomacy and cooperation between the two countries' legislative bodies were of great importance in terms of development of the Azerbaijan-U.S. relations.

He said the visits of U.S. delegations to Azerbaijan on various levels serve to strength mutual understanding, stressing the importance of increasing the number of such visits.

Speaking on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mammadyarov noted the settlement of the problem would contribute to all-round development of the region.

He said except for Armenia, Azerbaijan enjoyed excellent ties with all neighboring countries.

Mammadyarov further said Yerevan must stop its aggressive policy against Azerbaijan and withdraw its armed forces from the country's occupied territories.

They also exchanged views on international and regional issues.

Also, Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov received the visiting U.S. delegation.

During the meeting, Hasanov underlined the successful continuation of the Azerbaijan-U.S. military cooperation.

He noted the contribution of Azerbaijani peacekeeping forces to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations in Afghanistan, and the country's role in global anti-terror war.

The Azerbaijani peacekeeping contingent in Afghanistan doubled in 2009. Currently, some 90 Azerbaijani servicemen are serving in ISAF. A company and then a battalion of peacekeepers were established as part of the Azerbaijani armed forces in 1997.

Azerbaijan is among the eight partner countries that confirmed they would keep their presence in Afghanistan after 2014. Peacekeepers of the country will stay in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US troops from the country by the end of 2014. However, Azerbaijan will reduce its presence in Afghanistan after 2014.

Hasanov highlighted the military and political situation in the region, the continuation of occupation of Azerbaijan's territories by Armenia, and the current problems of refugees and internally displaced people.

He also expressed regret that the efforts of the international organizations to settle the conflict had yielded no results.

The congressmen hailed cooperation between the two countries in a variety of fields, including energy security, fight against terrorism, as well as Afghanistan-related issues.

They also discussed regional and bilateral issues of mutual interest.

U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar was also present at the meetings.

Since Azerbaijan's emergence as an independent nation in 1991, the US-Azerbaijan relationship has evolved into a strategic partnership based on mutual interests and common values. At present, Azerbaijan-U.S. relations are developing rapidly.

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