Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan and Afghanistan, which are bound with historical links, as well as religious and moral values, are determined to open up a new page in the bilateral relations and cooperation in different spheres.

Azerbaijan, which has actively contributed to the restoration of stability in Afghanistan, has repeatedly voiced its readiness to further continue cooperation with the war-torn country.

With a purpose to intensify cooperation with Baku, Afghanistan’s President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani paid an official visit to Azerbaijan accompanied by the foreign minister, minister of finance, national security advisor, minister of trade and industry, labor and social security minister and other senior officials.

President Ilham Aliyev has officially welcomed his Afghan counterpart on December 22. The presidents held a one-on-one and expanded meeting.

President Aliyev said the two countries conduct a very active political dialogue in international organizations and closely cooperate within the UN, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation.

He thanked Afghanistan for its sustainable support for Azerbaijan in resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

President Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan also supports Afghanistan in all international organizations.

Noting the excellent political relations, the president said the countries should also focus on economic issues.

Azerbaijan is interested in Afghanistan’s economy as it represents a wide space of cooperation. Afghanistan has been a close country for a long time and now it is opening its borders to Azerbaijani investors and money.

The two countries have great prospects for cooperation in diplomatic, political, economic, military, cultural, humanitarian and other spheres.

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan amounted to $173.76 million in January to October, which is by 22.2 percent less than for the 10 months of 2014, according to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee. Azerbaijan does not import goods from Afghanistan.

Geography also played an important role in bringing the two nations together. Azerbaijan, with its great experience in the oil sector has attracted Afghanistan’s economy. Also, Afghanistan is interested in the electricity production via natural gas, the mining sector and petroleum.

Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company SOCAR can become a marvelous solution and initial guide for other oil companies. SOCAR has already assisted in the launch of an oil refinery in Mazar-i-Sharif in 2013.

President Aliyev said both public and private companies of Azerbaijan are willing to make investment in Afghanistan and to strengthen this economic component of cooperation.

President Ghani, in turn, thanked Azerbaijan for its continuous support for his country. He noted that Azerbaijan has given major contribution to the international peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.

With an aim to further develop the bilateral ties, Azerbaijani-Afghan documents were signed following the expanded meeting of the two countries’ presidents.

Azerbaijani labor and social protection ministry and Afghanistan’s ministry of labor, social affairs, martyrs and disabled signed a memorandum of understanding "On cooperation in the sphere of labor, social protection and employment”.

Moreover, the sides signed an agreement “On cooperation between Azerbaijan Television and Radio Broadcasting Closed Joint-Stock Company and the National Radio Television of Afghanistan”.

Azerbaijan is a very important partner for Afghanistan in terms of transit opportunities, as Kabul can reach a new level of development while becoming closer to Europe through Azerbaijan. So, taking into account this fact, Afghanistan is vying to get this access through Turkmenistan, onwards the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.

Azerbaijan and Afghanistan also plan to implement various projects in the sphere of transport and logistics.

Azerbaijani political analyst, professor of Western University Fikrat Sadigov believes that Afghanistan can benefit from the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars regional transport hub in the future.

He noted that Afghanistan can use the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway for transporting its cargo.

Furthermore, Mehmet Fatih Oztarsu, the vice chairman of the Turkish Analytical Center Strategic Outlook, the expert on the South Caucasus told Trend that the Afghan president’s visit to Azerbaijan will mark the beginning of major changes in the region.

He said Afghanistan will be able to establish the energy, economic relations with the West on the basis of transportation projects through Azerbaijan, adding Afghanistan has repeatedly expressed interest in the Baku - Tbilisi - Kars project.

Azerbaijan is also one of the important countries that undertake the task of ensuring stability in Afghanistan. As part of the coalition forces, the Azerbaijani contingent has been engaged in protection of various civil and military facilities in Afghanistan, ensuring this country’s security for many years.

Azerbaijan's military personnel have been part of the ISAF contingent in the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan. The mission of the armed forces in Afghanistan began on November 20, 2002. The Azerbaijani peacekeeping contingent in Afghanistan doubled in 2009. Currently, some 90 Azerbaijani servicemen are serving as part of international forces securing safety in Afghanistan.

Azerbaijan is among the eight partner countries that have confirmed their presence in Afghanistan after 2014.

Recently, President Aliyev has approved the agreement on ensuring Azerbaijan’s participation in NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan.

Moreover, Azerbaijan has decided to broaden its activities in Afghanistan's non-military areas. Real cooperation began with Afghan specialists' training in mine sweeping. The preparatory works are underway on Azerbaijani military doctors' activity in Afghan hospitals, education of Afghan people at medical universities and participation of medical personnel in Azerbaijan's educational courses.

The extensive training programs are conducted for Afghanistan's law-enforcement and government officials at different academies in Azerbaijan. A total of three million euros has been transferred into the Fund of Trustees of Afghanistan's National Army, while one million euros was spent on strengthening operations.

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

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