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  • ZAGREB: Croatian, Azerbaijani presidents discuss economic ties,

    Croatian, Azerbaijani presidents discuss economic ties, terrorism

    HINA news agency
    10 Jun 05

    Zagreb, 10 June: Croatia wants to intensify cooperation with
    Azerbaijan in all areas, particularly in the economy, because
    Azerbaijan will become a new Norway once it uses its potential,
    Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said after talks with Azerbaijani
    President Ilham Aliyev in Zagreb on Friday [10 June]. Aliyev arrived
    in Croatia on Friday for a three-day visit and the first official
    meeting of the two countries' presidents.

    Addressing reporters after the meeting at a joint news conference,
    President Mesic said Croatia and Azerbaijan today signed an agreement
    on cultural cooperation, a protocol on cooperation between the two
    Foreign Ministries, and a memorandum on cooperation between the
    countries' civil aviation authorities.

    Mesic said that Azerbaijan would benefit greatly from the opening of
    an oil pipeline running via its territory from the Caspian Sea. The
    income which Azerbaijan will earn from oil transport will be counted
    in billions of dollars which the country will use to solve its current
    problems and which will make it a new Norway, Mesic said.

    The Croatian president said the talks also focused on the situation in
    the regions where the two countries were located, stating that
    terrorism was one of the biggest threats in today's world and that
    efforts should be made to fight its causes, poverty and dependence of
    some peoples.

    Mesic said Aliyev invited him to visit Azerbaijan, which he accepted
    gladly.

    Addressing reporters, President Aliyev said his visit was not only an
    important step in the development of bilateral relations and that his
    decision to visit Croatia as the first country in the region also bore
    witness to the importance which his country attached to Croatia.

    Aliyev said he and Mesic reached a consensus on all issues they
    discussed because the two countries had similar views and methods of
    solving problems.

    He went on to say that Croatia and Azerbaijan had a lot in common
    because they had been deprived of independence for years, as well as
    that they had suffered an act of foreign aggression.

    He thanked Mesic for showing understanding for his country's problems
    and the need to liberate some of its regions, expressing hope that a
    lasting peace would be established in Azerbaijan as it had been
    established in South-East Europe.

    He explained that his country had been exposed to aggression by
    Armenia under the pretext of protection of Armenians in the Upper
    Karabakh region.

    There was no need for the aggression because Armenians have lived in
    Upper Karabakh for more than 150 years and Azerbaijan offered them the
    highest possible level of autonomy. The actual goal was the occupation
    of territory, which was achieved with the assistance of foreign
    military forces, Aliyev said, expressing hope that Azerbaijan would
    regain sovereignty over its entire territory.

    He went on to say that cooperation possibilities between the two
    countries were best in the power industry, tourism and agriculture, as
    well as in all other sectors of the economy. The Azerbaijani
    delegation visiting Croatia also includes a group of business people.

    The two presidents said they discussed the issue of opening diplomatic
    offices, with Mesic saying that they discussed the opening of honorary
    consulates.

    President Aliyev said he hoped Croatia would become a permanent member
    of the European Union and that it would help his country draw closer
    to Europe.

    The Azerbaijani delegation is visiting Croatia at the invitation of
    President Stjepan Mesic. It will end its visit by visiting the
    northern Adriatic archipelago of Brijuni.
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