Azernews.Az

By Arslan Abbasov

Senior officials of Saudi Arabia are expected to visit Azerbaijan in the coming months, Ambassador Fahd Bin Ali Al-Dosari has said in an interview with Trend news agency on the eve of completing his diplomatic mission in the country.

According to Al-Dosari, two visits of Saudi Arabia's high-ranking officials to Azerbaijan are expected in March -- by a delegation of the Ministry of Defense as well as by the head of Saudi Arabia's Frontier Corps, who is due to meet with Azerbaijani Border Service chief Elchin Guliyev.

Head of Saudi Arabia's General Auditing Bureau Osama Jaffer Faquih will visit Azerbaijan in April, the ambassador said.

Concerning the level of relations between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia, Al-Dosari said that bilateral relations are fraternal and based on friendship and mutual understanding.

"Our countries have close cooperation in various fields," he said. "Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Both countries are doing their best to further strengthen the relations. Of course, the development of relations between our countries is the result of the wishes of President Aliyev and King Abdullah."

The outgoing Saudi ambassador highlighted the cooperation of the two countries in the fields of culture and education.

He also stressed that Saudi Arabia supports Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. "This is Saudi Arabia's official position which will never change," he said.

"The Kingdom supports all international resolutions adopted on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said. "Saudi Arabia will continue supporting Azerbaijan's position in this conflict."

The Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The two South Caucasus neighbors fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a precarious cease-fire in 1994. Armenian armed forces have since occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory. Peace talks brokered by US, Russian and French mediators through the OSCE Minsk Group have been largely fruitless so far.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on a pullout from Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven surrounding regions.

Trade turnover

Ambassador Al-Dosari says the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia may double after the parties agree to sign an agreement to cancel double taxation.

"If the parties sign a final intergovernmental agreement on the lifting of double taxation, then from next year it will be possible to observe a sharp increase in the trade turnover between the two countries," he said.

The ambassador said the direct trade turnover between the two countries amounts to only $27 million, which is quite small for these countries.

As for the trade turnover carried out through third countries, its volume is much more than direct trade, he said.