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The Queen's 90th birthday marked in Baku

17 June 2016 12:06 (UTC+04:00)
The Queen's 90th birthday marked in Baku

By Nigar Abbasova

Baku hosted an event dedicated to the 90th birthday of the Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Elizabeth II on June 16.

British Ambassador to Azerbaijan Carol Crofts, addressing the event, emphasized the dynamically developing relations between the two countries in all spheres. She underlined that the UK is the biggest investor in Azerbaijan.

Touching upon the issue of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict the ambassador also pointed out that the UK government hopes for its peaceful settlement.

Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev in his turn congratulated the Queen Elizabeth II on her birthday.

"The UK is Azerbaijan's main partner in the spheres of economy and energy,” he said, noting that the total volume of the UK investments in Azerbaijan amounts to $20 billion.

Azerbaijan's deputy foreign minister expressed hope that the relations between the two countries will develop in the non-oil sector as well.

Mammad-Guliyev also voiced gratitude to the UK for its support to Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The UK can use its influence to move the process of the conflict's settlement forward, he said adding :"We hope the UK will play a more active role in this issue."

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II became the longest reigning queen on September 9, 2015, after she exceeded the reign of Queen Victoria which had lasted from June 20, 1837 to January 22, 1901. The queen took to the throne on February 6, 1952, following the death of her father, King George VI.

The UK and Azerbaijan enjoy cooperation in different spheres such as education, trade, tourism, ICT, as well as other infrastructure and transit projects.

The cooperation in energy sector is currently the primary factor of the bilateral economic relations between the two countries. Azerbaijan cooperates with the United Kingdom in the field of exploration and transportation of oil and natural gas from the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. BP as a leading oil company which has launched its operations in Azerbaijan in 1992 participates in the main production sharing agreements such as the “Contract of Century” (Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli) and the Shah Deniz project.

Turnover between the UK and Azerbaijan totaled $169.5 million in January-April 2016, some $166.9 million of which falls to a share of imports from the UK. The United Kingdom is considered to be the largest foreign direct investor in Azerbaijan followed by the U.S. and Japan.

The United Kingdom recognized the independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan on 26 December 1991. The diplomatic relations between two countries were established on 11 March 1992. The British Embassy was opened in Baku in September 1993 and the Azerbaijani Embassy in London in January 1994.

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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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