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pleased to see you here.
Excuse me, let me add. I do not want to forget this issue, otherwise I would 
make a mistake. Participation of Azerbaij an in important operations in Afghan-
istan and Kosovo is of great importance for NATO and its partners. I cannot 
forget this, because this step is becoming important guarantor of security of 
Azerbaij an. This issue is very essential in the frame of NATO while our orga-
nization is holding operations in a number places. Excuse me, Mr President, I 
could not forget about it.
STATEMENT OF THE AZERBAIJ ANI PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV
Thank You so much, Mr Secretary-General. I am grateful to You for hospital-
ity.
It is a very important day for the future development of NATO-Azerbaij ani 
relations. Our ties back upon a long history. We have been working on fi rm 
cooperation projects for more than 10 years. We started from “Partnership for 
Peace” program, now we are involved in “Individual Partnership Activity Plan”. 
That plan covers all the fi elds of our political system. Reforms implemented in 
the fi eld of defense, economy and politics are closely inter-connected. Consid-
ering the importance of the Caspian oil and gas deposits, their importance in 
the energy security and regional security, all this brings innovation to our ties.
Our relations have a positive and very good history. And today those rela-
tions enter a new phase. We had wide discussions with Secretary-General on bi-
lateral issues, regional security and development issues. We also had very long 
and sincere talks on our ideas and plans at NATO. We reviewed our previous 
assets and very fi rm grounds were laid for the future cooperation. Azerbaij an 
will continue its role in the creation of a safer environment in the neighbor-
hood. We will continue to partake in peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan 
and Kosovo. I think it is very necessary for our country, which is young, but 
growing its potential to be a real and reliable partner of NATO.
Economic and political reforms, of the society, democratization, social and 
defence reforms - all are inter-connected. All this will bring to the formation 
of a country possessing strong economic and political system, development of 
fi rm ties with our friends and allies.
Then, he answered the questions of reporters.
ASSOCIATED PRESS Agency: Mr Secretary-General, I would like to know 
in what extent the energy security was discussed in Your talks? I know that a 
meeting was held yesterday with the responsible commissioner for energy is-
sues Piebalgs.
Jaap De Hoop Scheff er: Of course, our talks play an important role. We spe-
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cially should consider that Mr President who has worked in the energy fi eld in 
the past is expert on this issue. Azerbaij an is a very important country in this 
sphere, I mean it will be playing a bigger role in oil and gas supply. Because, as 
you know oil, production will seriously increase, as Mr President and experts 
said.
I want to say that regarding energy supply, even if NATO is not a leading 
organization in this fi eld, discussions on this issue are very important for our 
organization. These issues are reviewed in the frames of NATO. Those issues 
were informally discussed yesterday with Commissioner Piebalgs. Looking at 
Azerbaij an and region you will clearly see that energy supply and pipeline 
construction play an important role in the energy security.
I say twice that these issues are beyond the direct authority of NATO, our or-
ganization does not and will not play the leading role in this fi eld. But political 
and geopolitical aspects of discussions on energy security are interesting for 
us. Taking this opportunity we and the ambassadors widely discussed those 
issues with President Aliyev.
Farid Iskandarov (Space TV channel, Azerbaij an): My question is to Mr 
Schaeff er. How NATO can concretely contribute to the sett lement of confl icts 
in the Southern Caucasus? Thank You.
Jaap De Hoop Scheff er: NATO is not a direct participant and mediator, but 
it has good relations with the regional countries. We have very good ties with 
Azerbaij an. We emphasized this today with President Aliyev. Armenia is also 
a partner to NATO. We recently started intensive dialogue phase with Georgia. 
Of course, main position of NATO consists of respecting the territorial integ-
rity of the regional countries - Azerbaij an, Georgia or any other country in the 
region.
We have underlined for many times that all confl icts must be solved peace-
fully, upon mediation. We surely discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh issue with 
President Aliyev in detail. He said his views to me and ambassadors on that 
frozen issue. We all hope that the confl ict will be resolved with the help of me-
diators on the basis of peaceful talks.
Thus, we do not value NATO as a direct participant in region. Because NATO 
does not play a direct role in the South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Not NATO, but 
the Minsk Group deals with the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. But we use our re-
lations and partnership with the regional countries. We know that the region 
is sensitive, and taking this into consideration we fully use that partnership to 
discuss all the elements. This is the role that NATO plays together with its im-
portant partners in the region.
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