Baku, Rome seek broader interaction

Long-standing relations between Azerbaijan and Italy have more strengthened following the official visit of Italian Foreign Minister and International Cooperation Paolo Gentiloni to Baku, as part of the South Caucasus tour.

Subject of negotiations of the two-day visit was the development of bilateral relations and the situation in the region.

During the visit Italian entrepreneurs accompanied the foreign minister, who have long been exploring Azerbaijani market for investments.

The visit opened up opportunities for exchanging views over the expansion and strengthening of cooperation between the two countries in a number of fields.

Baku and Rome are strategic partners in the energy sector. Italy, whose scanty natural resources traditionally make the country dependent on import has been a key partner for Baku. Since 1999, Italy has begun to receive a large part of Azerbaijani oil exported through the Baku - Supsa pipeline and then through the Baku - Ceyhan. This made Italy the number one partner for Azerbaijan and this position is maintained until today.

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev also underlined this main fact in the bilateral relations, noting that "Italy is Azerbaijan's largest trade partner," as he received a delegation led by Italian Minister, adding that the two countries enjoy good relations in various fields, including in political, economic and energy ones.

President Aliyev recalled with pleasure his last visit to Italy, and stressed the significance of the Joint Declaration on strategic partnership between the two countries that was signed during the visit. The head of state emphasized the importance of the document in terms of developing cooperation between the two countries and reaching the goals set.

President Ilham Aliyev said economic relations are also developing successfully, lauding Italian businessmen's interest in business doing in Azerbaijan. He noted the importance of business forums in intensifying contacts between businessmen.

The president emphasized the significance of TANAP and TAP projects in terms of energy security and diversification of economy, saying seven countries had already joined the project. The head of state noted the significance of two more countries' joining the project in future.

President Aliyev said the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project was on the agenda. The head of state noted that 80 percent of the work on Shahdeniz 2 project and approximately 30 percent of the work on TAP project had already completed, expressing his confidence that overall work would be carried out on schedule.

Gentiloni, in turn, hailed the development of ties between Azerbaijan and Italy, saying Italy appreciates Azerbaijan's commitment to developing the non-oil sector, and underlined the importance of diversifying economy.

The minister emphasized Italy's active participation in the energy projects involving Azerbaijan, especially TAP pipeline as Italian industrial policy is closely connected with this project, whose commencement, Gentiloni believes, will be an important milestone in the development of bilateral relations.

At the meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov, the sides underlined that Azerbaijan and Italy have strong and reliable cooperation, expressing their satisfaction with the level of bilateral relationship and comprehensive cooperation in various fields.

Commending on high level political and economic relations between the two countries, they stressed the importance of making joint efforts to further strengthen this relationship. The ministers emphasized that the fundamental base of the bilateral political relations is the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership between Azerbaijan and Italy.

Mammadyarov hailed his Italian counterpart’s first ever visit to Azerbaijan, noting that stable political, economic, energy, petrochemical, transport, tourism and humanitarian cooperation is successfully developing between the two countries, while touching upon the importance of activity of Intergovernmental commission.

The Azerbaijani minister underlined that the projects implemented by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation led by the First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva which particularly contributed to the humanitarian dimension of cooperation between the two countries.

FM Mammadyarov briefed his Italian counterpart about the transport projects with Azerbaijan’s initiative and participation, including Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and invited the Italian companies to benefit from these opportunities.

Gentiloni, for his part, said “there is solid basis of our relations, and fortunately we enjoy the excellent Italy-Azerbaijan economic ties.” He also added that his country supports the development of a new level of relationship between Azerbaijan and the European Union.

The sides also exchanged views on the implementation of the TAP project which will play a significant role in ensuring the energy security of Europe. The ministers also spoke about the importance of the development of cooperation in the framework of international organizations and forums as well as mutual supports in this regard. They expressed their consent on the development of Azerbaijan-Italy interparliamentary relations, and stressed that the reciprocal visits of the delegations contribute to the political relations between the two countries.

They mentioned the successful activities of Italian companies in Azerbaijan, particularly in energy sphere and stressed the importance of taking the necessary steps for continuing this successful collaboration in nonoil sector, especially in the fields of agriculture, textile-garment, leather processing, construction materials production, as well as tourism, cultural and scientific-technical areas.

Noting that Italy is one of the states of OSCE Minsk Group, Mammadyarov informed his colleague on the latest status of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.

Mammadyarov underscored that according to the norms and principles of international law and in compliance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council the conflict should only be settled on the basis of territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan. He also stated that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries at the level of heads of state declared the fact of unacceptability and unsustainability of the current statusquo. He stressed that the attempts to change the internationally recognized borders of states by use of force is unacceptable. He added that Armenia attempts to undermine the negotiation process by pursuing destructive policy and resorting to the acts of provocations after Vienna and Sankt Petersburg meetings.