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fact, it would correspond to the interests of the three Caucasian nations. Thank you.
Question: Mr. President, it was reported that there was a problem between Tur-
key and Azerbaijan concerning the price of gas. Turkish officials deny this. We
would like to know your final word concerning this issue. Second question: What
would be your reaction if the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh is not put in the pack-
age of agreement between Turkey and Armenia on opening of borders? Finally, the
last question: Did Mr. Jose Manuel Barroso ask you not to react very harshly to
normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations? Thank you very much.
Thank you Mr. President. I would like to give a question on the same issue,
Turkish-Armenian rapprochement and opening of borders. But it was asked before
me. That is why I want to ask another question. In your view, is it possible any con-
tacts between the people of the two countries before the settlement of the Nagorn-
Karabakh conflict or we must wait for complete settlement for such contacts?
Ilham Aliyev: As regards the initiative of the “Caucasian community” which
you pointed out, our position is that we won`t cooperate with Armenia until the
conflict comes to an end. I think, it is a start position. Sometimes Armenians try to
manipulate the public opinion. They show themselves constructive, very friendly
and the party with whom one can cooperate. It is clear that it is impossible to co-
operate with a country that occupied our territories and caused hundred thousands
of our citizens to be displaced. Namely because of this reason, any joint economic
cooperation in any form is out of question, be it bilateral or multilateral, until the
settlement of the conflict. It is unambiguous.
I want to talk about transport and energy which you noted. We cooperate with
Georgia in these spheres that is our neighbor in the Caucasus region. As you know,
we completely supply Georgia with gas and we are considered the main supplier of
oil products and “SOCAR Energy Georgia”, affiliate our State Oil Company, is the
biggest tax payer and investor in Georgia. We have allocated 200 million dollars
of loan to Georgia for the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Qars railway. This is a
practical result of our cooperation. If Armenias behaves normally and puts an end to
the occupation, it can also be a part of this project in the speheres of energy or trans-
port. Simply, Armenia isolated itself from everything, energy and transport projects
and it will influence its situation more as time passes. This is one of the means for
us to make Armenia put an end to the occupation. It has only one meaning. We want
to show that their policy of occupation has no future. I think this is an explanation
why we don`t want to cooperate with Armenia before the settlement of the conflict.
Concerning the rise of gas price, I would like to say that during this period the
prices had been agreed as a result of negotiations between Turkey and members of
the “Shahdaniz” consortium. Besides, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan is not
the only member of the consortium. When the prices were agreed it was early 2000
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and then it was decided that 120 dollars will be paid for every cubic meter of gas.
This price had been agreed for one year. After one year, the price had to be defined
according to the market. One year came to an end in April of the last year and there
was a common agreement among the members of the consortium to define a new
price. It is hard to say if the price will be higher or lower. Oil prices drop now, and
the prices will likely to fall as well. But it must be a market price. Those who work
in this sphere know that Turkey was purchasing natural gas from Russia by 400 dol-
lars, sometimes 500 dollars and from Algeria 300 dollars or more. The price of gas
from Azerbaijan it was purchasing was 120 dollars. Market prices were 400-500
dollars in 2008.
You may calculate yourselves how much there were losses of the “Shahdaniz”
consortium. But it is also clear that everything must be resolved according to the
agreement. We have always respected the international commitments. Azerbaijan
has never violated international agreements and all negotiations must be conducted
in the framework of partnership, friendly atmosphere, mutual interest, fair market
prices and legal basis. This is our position. That is why I think that it would not be
correct to talk about rising or lowering. We have to talk about commitments of the
agreement and market prices. If there is no market prices, it can not only cause eco-
nomic losses, but also influence the prospects of economic cooperation.
The next question was that what would happen if the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh
was not included in the agreement between Turkey and Armenia?
First of all, I had said this today, in this press-conference that we don`t intervene
the internal affairs of any country. We never interfere the bilateral relations of the
nations. But it is also clear that the reason that the borders between Turkey and
Armenia were closed in 1993, was the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Ar-
menia. At the moment they are still under occupation.
Recent years, statements were made on behalf of the Turkish leadership and they
were saying at the talks that they won`t open the borders until the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Recently we heard the same statement from the Turk-
ish leaders. Your question is quite substantial. This question must not be addressed
to me. Is the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict out of the Turkish-Arme-
nian agenda or not? Its answer is simple and consists of one word. Yes or no. Then
everything will be clear.
Recalling all that, I would like to say that if normalization of Turkish-Armenian
ties happens before any advancement in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflct, it won`t meet the interests of Azerbaijan. But it doesn`t mean that we want
affect this process in some ways. No, this is a question of choice.
Azerbaijan, who maintains strong cultural, historic and political ties with Tur-
key and who suffers from the Armenian aggression for 20 years, enjoys the right of