Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

Azerbaijani Ambassador to the U.S. Elin Suleymanov spoke about Azerbaijani-US strategic relations at an event held at the Loyola University in Chicago last weekend.

"Bilateral strategic relations are important for the interests of Azerbaijan and the United States," he said.

Suleymanov underlined the efforts of the two countries in the fight against terrorism.

He said Azerbaijan is an open and tolerant society, stressing the country's role as a platform for inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue.

"All conditions are provided for representatives of world religions including Jews, Orthodox [Christians] and Catholics," the Azerbaijani embassy quoted Suleymanov as saying.

The ambassador spoke about cooperation in the energy sector and energy projects. Citing the support of the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project, Suleymanov noted the importance of further political support to the ongoing energy projects.

The diplomat appreciated the support of the US government to the Southern Corridor of gas pipeline projects, referring to the speech of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at Georgetown University.

Furthermore, Suleymanov met with the leadership of the Chicago office of the American Jewish Committee during his visit and discussed the cooperation between Israel and Azerbaijan, the relations that have traditionally existed between the two countries and the developments in the Middle East.

Representatives of the Azerbaijani embassy also met with members of the Turkish community in the U.S. and discussed various measures to organize activities for campaigns aiming to promote the country.

At the same time, Suleymanov held several meetings with Illinois officials during his visit to the US state.

Representatives of government agencies, businessmen, members of the Turkish community, as well as Australia and Israel's consuls general in Chicago attended the working lunch given by House of Representatives Speaker Michael Madigan in honor of the Azerbaijani diplomat last Thursday.

The ambassador also had a meeting with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn. The sides exchanged views on possible cooperation between the state of Illinois and Azerbaijan. The governor said mutual investments and establishment of relations between universities would be useful.

The Azerbaijani ambassador also addressed students and faculty members at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, which is considered one of the most prestigious universities in the U.S. Suleymanov informed participants about Azerbaijan's successful oil diplomacy, infrastructure and energy projects which are on the agenda. The ambassador added that Armenia's involvement in these projects would be useful for full regional integration, but the main condition for this is resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.