Azernews.Az

President Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by a senior representative of the US House of Representatives on Wednesday.
Democrat Robert Wexler, who represents the state of Florida, pointed out that the United States and Azerbaijan were close strategic partners, citing dynamic development of bilateral relations in all fields.
President Aliyev, for his part, voiced confidence that the visit would be a good opportunity for US lawmakers to become closely familiar with the developments ongoing in Azerbaijan and contribute to further expansion of bilateral ties.
On the same day, Congressmen Wexler met with a number of opposition leaders, including the chairs of Musavat, National Unity Movement, Popular Front Party and the Public Forum for Azerbaijan. The specific issues tabled were not elaborated but party leaders said the discussions focused on US-Azeri relations, regional issues, human rights and freedoms and the socio-political situation in Azerbaijan.
In a meeting with the congressional delegation, First Vice-Speaker Ziyafat Asgarov said US-Azeri inter-parliamentary cooperation has strengthened, which is of great importance given that Azerbaijan is interested in further expanding relations with the United States.
Wexler noted that Azerbaijan is located in a crucial geo-political region and lauded the fact that the country is capitalizing on this by pursuing a policy aimed at Western integration.
Wexler highly assessed Azerbaijan's contribution to the anti-terror operations in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Iraq.
Another group of US lawmakers led by Republican Congressman William Shuster started a visit to Azerbaijan on Thursday.
Discussions to be held during the visit are to focus on issues of energy and commerce. Congress members are expected to meet with the heads of foreign companies operating in Baku.
The lawmakers toured the Sangachal oil terminal on the first day of the visit.