Presidents of Azerbaijan and Switzerland made joint press statements

Presidents of Azerbaijan and Switzerland made statements for the media

Statement by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev

- Dear Mrs. President!

Dear guests!

Ladies and gentlemen!

Mrs. President, I would like to salute you in Azerbaijan again. I am very pleased to see you in our country. We are attaching special importance to your visit. This demonstrates the rapid and successful development of our relations. We have already exchanged important bilateral visits. I recall my official visit to your country and the talks we held there. We also met in Davos early this year and held very fruitful negotiations. We have continued this dialogue today and discussed a number of important issues relating to bilateral relations and regional development.

Our bilateral relations are developing very successfully and, as I have already mentioned, there is a very useful and important political dialogue between us. We have also discussed cooperation within international organizations today. We have a strong mutual interest in developing economic relations. There are already good results of that. We welcome Swiss investment in the Azerbaijani economy, namely in the non-energy sector. I do hope that we will witness many similar facts in the coming years. During negotiations with Mrs. President today, I invited Swiss companies to Azerbaijan to participate as contractors in various infrastructure projects being implemented in our country, so that these companies could work more actively in our country. Azerbaijani companies are interested in participating in investment projects in Switzerland. Our State Oil Company is already actively engaged in trade operations and oil supplies to Switzerland. Of course, if we consider that our bilateral agenda is mostly made up of discussions on the Southern Energy Corridor, including the supplies of Azerbaijani gas to European markets, I am sure we will have broader and more comprehensive energy cooperation in the future. Azerbaijan supports the Southern Corridor and other projects related to it, including the trans-Adriatic project in which Switzerland is also involved. I think this project has a great future. Talks are under way between companies on this very special issue.

At the same time, you know that during a visit to Azerbaijan by the President of the European Commission, Mr. Barroso, early this year, Azerbaijan signed a declaration on energy cooperation. I think this can become a highly important practical step towards developing the Southern Corridor project. We have immense oil and gas reserves which will last us for decades. We also have a diversified infrastructure of supplies. This infrastructure may be expanded, its capacities may be increased or new pipelines can be built. Producers and consumers have a mutual interest to embark on a very serious and important cooperation in this sphere. At the same time, we are attaching special importance to contacts between our peoples. In my opinion, the better our people know each other and the more they travel to sea each other, the better for us. Thus, there will be a better understanding and cooperation between us.

Our relations have always been good and positive. But I can say that over the last several years we have been seeing a rapid development of our ties and, as I have mentioned, the visit by Mrs. President to our country is a manifestation of this mutual interest.

We have also discussed issues pertaining to the development of the regional situation today, including regional cooperation and security. Switzerland is extremely active in the South Caucasus. We appreciate Switzerland’s efforts towards negotiated settlement of conflicts. I have informed Mrs. President of the current state of talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia regarding the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. I have expressed hope that Armenia will act constructively in the talks and start implementing resolutions of international organizations demanding a withdrawal of occupying forces from our territories. All influential international organizations have expressed their political stance over a settlement of this issue. There are four UN Security Council resolutions demanding an unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from occupied Azerbaijani territories. Decisions of the OSCE, resolutions of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament, decisions of the Organization of Islamic Conference require the Armenian armed forces to withdraw from Azerbaijan’s occupied territories. The Minsk Group has already been in operation for 19 years. Unfortunately, there are no practical results. The time has come to change the status-quo, to start the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to the occupied territories. It is their fundamental right to live on their lands.

Armenian armed forces have been denying them this right for a long time. Unfortunately, the agreements reached and the declarations adopted during negotiations are breached by Armenia. Here is the latest example. A meeting organized by President Medvedev has been held in Sochi. At the end of it, we signed a joint declaration on measures of confidence and intentions to resolve all issues peacefully. Unfortunately, three days later Armenians killed a nine-year-old boy. A nine-year-old boy is not a soldier, he is a child. How can we trust a party that has resorted to a such horrendous act of violence?! In this case it is a civilian, namely a ordinary child, who has been targeted. This shows that the Armenian side does not even respect its own signature and declaration. This significantly reduces the level of mutual confidence and can bring about a situation with unpredictable consequences. We demand that Armenians put an end to attacks on civilians which are carried out with unprecedented cruelty. This is not the first such fact, and possibly not the last one. We, for our part, have never committed such acts against civilians, namely children. The conflict can be resolved on the basis of norms and principles of international law. The present format of talks may lead to a peace settlement. For that, the Armenian side has to have the political will to fulfill the resolutions of international organizations and act in keeping with the spirit and form of the negotiations. The issues being discussed today may lead to a negotiated settlement, restoration of our territorial integrity and return of all refugees and IDPs to their native places. At the same time, we can provide Nagorno-Karabakh with the status of self-administration with strong political guarantees and guarantees of security. This formula is being discussed. Azerbaijan, which is adhering to a constructive position in the talks, is ready to continue them in this format. 

I have informed Mrs. President of the current state of talks and expressed hope that we will witness progress because we can’t waste any more time. A lot of time was lost in recent years, in 2010 in particular. In my opinion, 2010 was the year of missed opportunities. I believe the Armenian side now has a better understanding than last year that the only way of establishing peace and stability in the region is to start vacating occupied territories.

I want to note again that relations with Switzerland are highly important for us. I am sure that after the visit by Mrs. President these relations will be developing in a sustainable and successful manner and we will identify many other spheres for cooperation. Our countries will become closer still to each other and we will see better results in the future.

Thank you.

Statement by Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey

- Thank you, Mr. President!

Mr. President!

Ladies and gentlemen!

Mr. President, I am grateful to you for the hospitality I have enjoyed in Baku and for your invitation. I noted with delight during the talks and discussions this morning that our bilateral relations are excellent. These relations are based on the determination to strengthen and develop bilateral contacts.

Economic relations between Azerbaijan and Switzerland are dynamic and good. In 2010, trade relations between our countries expanded, but I think there is still a potential in this area. Azerbaijan today is one of the most important countries delivering crude oil to Switzerland. There are extensive opportunities in the areas of trade and direct investment because Switzerland is one of the biggest foreign investors. I think the construction of a new cement plant in Azerbaijan by the Swiss Holcim group is a good example of such investment. I should say that this is the biggest investment made in the non-oil sector of your country. To me this is a demonstration of the potential for the development of our economic relations.

We are partners within international organizations, the Bretton Woods institutes, are on the same regional group, there is a wonderful cooperation between us. We collaborate not only within Bretton Woods institutes but also in the Council of Europe and the OSCE. Our cooperation in the energy sector is of great importance. I am glad that this cooperation will continue to be extensive. We are very pleased to have contacts with your country which were stepped up after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with Azerbaijan in 2007. I must say that the trans-Adriatic project is extremely interesting for Switzerland. Swiss company IGEL is one of the main participants in it. I believe that the trans-Adriatic project will be implemented in the name of common interests of Azerbaijan and Switzerland. 

Switzerland has been cooperating with Azerbaijan for over 10 years now. A Swiss company is involved in a project on the provision of technical support for capacity building in the macroeconomic sphere being implemented by the Institute of International Finance and the Central Bank, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance of Azerbaijan. The Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development, which is part of the ministry I am heading, is implementing various programs of cooperation and assistance. I will pay a visit to Nakhchivan to become familiar with an assistance project we are implementing there. It began in 2002. Therefore, I would examine it with great pleasure. The objective of this project, which has to do with irrigation, is to restore the traditional water sources in this region, the Kahriz (underground water pipes). We used them in Switzerland in the past too. This is very important for me.

I am grateful to you for the information on the regional situation in the South Caucasus. One of Switzerland’s foreign political priorities is the negotiated settlement of conflicts. Switzerland is a mediating country because we are a neutral state. We are trying to approach the situation objectively. I wish you progress in the solution of your regional problems.

Thank you very much.