Azerbaijan, Iran base relations on mutual respect-Aliyev
By Sevindzh Abdullayeva, Viktor Shulman
ITAR-TASS News Agency
December 17, 2004 Friday 10:15 AM Eastern Time
BAKU, December 17 — The Azerbaijani-Iranian dialogue that has improved
over recent years testifies to the fact that “when countries don’t
interfere in internal affairs of each other there is a possibility
of establishing good relations between them,” Azerbaijani President
Ilkham Aliyev said in a conversation with journalists on Friday.
The president stressed, “Azerbaijan and Iran are developing their
relations on the basis of mutual respect and understanding.”
President Aliyev stressed intensification of the two countries’
cooperation noting that the visit paid by Iranian President Mohammad
Khatami to Baku this summer and his own visit to Teheran scheduled
for early 2005 “create the grounds for concrete real affairs.”
Touching upon Iran’s relations with Armenia and implementation by the
two countries of joint projects the Azerbaijani president stressed,
“It is the internal affair of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
“However, we live in a sensitive region. Territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan has been violated, our lands are occupied by Armenia and
these factors should be taken into account in mutual relations in
the region,” Aliyev pointed out.