Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Germany on a working visit on January 20.

During the president’s meeting with German officials and members of the political parties, the sides focused on issues of mutual interest.

President Aliyev met members of the German-Azerbaijani Forum, Bundestag members from Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) parliamentary groups, Social Democratic Party of Germany, Greens Party, and heads and members of Bundestag committees in Berlin.

During President Aliyev`s meeting with members of the German-Azerbaijani Forum, the sides noted the significance of such meetings in terms of conducting a fruitful exchange of views on the state and prospects of Azerbaijani-German cooperation in politics, economy, culture, science and other areas.

Underlining the successful cooperation between the two countries ,the sides said inter-parliamentary ties considerably contribute to this process.

Touching upon the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, President Aliyev informed the meeting participants of Azerbaijan`s position on the dispute.

He stressed the importance of resolving the conflict, which emerged in 1988 over Armenia’s territorial claims against Azerbaijan, in compliance with international legal norms and principles, within Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s. Long-standing efforts by U.S., Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.

The sides further discussed Azerbaijani-German energy cooperation, economic relations, cooperation in the fields of technology and medicine, as well as the participation of new German companies in Azerbaijan`s economy.

They also had a broad exchange of views on inter-parliamentary ties, cooperation within international organizations, particularly the Council of Europe and the European Union, and the issues related to participation in the Eastern Partnership initiative. They stressed that there must be a just stance on Azerbaijan in this regard.

On the same day, President Aliyev met Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany in Berlin.

Steinmeier recalled the meetings he had during his last visit to Azerbaijan in last October, and described his trip as fruitful.

The sides discussed the state and prospects of Azerbaijani-German relations, and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

During his visit to Berlin, President Aliyev also met Wolfgang Friedrich Ischinger, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference.

The Munich Security Conference`s contribution to regional security and international cooperation was stressed during the meeting.

The sides also exchanged views over a range of issues.

President Aliyev is also scheduled to meet with Angela Merkel, the Federal Chancellor of Germany on January 21.

Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Germany were established in February 1992. The Azerbaijani-German trade turnover amounted to $1.744 billion in 2012. In the first half of 2013, the figure was $1.066 billion.

There are over 100 German companies in Azerbaijan. German companies have also acted as contractors in 10 investment projects worth more than 460 million euros.Germany is fourth among Azerbaijan's foreign trade partners.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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