Azerbaijani, Austrian presidents hold joint press conference

Posted by

Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Heinz Fischer of Austria have today given a joint press conference in Vienna, APA reports.
Speaking of his official visit to Azerbaijan in October 2011, Austrian President Heinz Fischer pointed out that the visit gave a fillip to cooperation between the two countries. He noted that development of friendly relations opened up avenues for Azerbaijan-Austria cooperation in all sectors.
On the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Austrian President said the conflict must be solved in line with international legal norms. The Austrian leader went on to say that economic ties are on the rise. According to him, Austrian companies are successfully operating in Azerbaijan in a variety of fields. Fischer underlined that there are good prospects for energy cooperation between the nations, adding this topic was high on the agenda as part of the visit.
President Ilham Aliyev said that the Joint Declaration signed between the countries would boost bilateral relations. The Head of State noted economic cooperation between the countries is successful with trade turnover going up. The companies from the two countries are actively cooperating. President Ilham Aliyev touched upon the importance of the energy cooperation, in particular the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline. He pointed out the pipeline will provide additional opportunities for shipping Azerbaijani gas to Europe.
On the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Head of State said Armenia continues to keep part of the Azerbaijani lands under occupation despite resolutions of international organizations, in particular the UN Security Council. The Azerbaijani leader said OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs reaffirmed that the status-quo is unacceptable.
The event featured a question-an-answer session with the presidents.