THE LAND OF FIRE AND THE LAND OF PYRAMIDS

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has made a three-day official visit to Egypt where he held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, parliament speaker Fathi Surur and Amr Musa, secretary-general of the Arab League. The sides signed a number of agreements on sport, tourism, postal services, agriculture and justice.

The Azerbaijani head of state considers Azerbaijani-Egyptian relations to be very important. Ilham Aliyev said that his first official visit to Cairo had once again confirmed the closeness of bilateral relations and of the two countries' positions on regional issues. "We enjoy successful cooperation in international organizations. I am sure that this visit will open a new page in the development of our relations," the Azerbaijani president said.

Ilham Aliyev also drew attention to the importance of expanding economic ties between the two countries. "I think that there are now excellent opportunities and potential for this. Azerbaijan is a country with a fast-developing economy. For the third year running our country leads not only the region, but also the world in terms of growth in GDP. It was 26 per cent in 2005 and 35 per cent in 2006. In the first quarter of 2007 growth in GDP hit 40 per cent. This expands our potential," the president said, referring to the country's transformation into a major exporter of hydrocarbons. The Azerbaijani side will welcome Egyptian companies as investors and service companies.

During his visit to Egypt the Azerbaijani president also met the secretary-general of the Arab League, Amr Musa, and the ambassadors of the league's member states. The Azerbaijani leader briefed the meeting on the situation in the country, spoke about the difficulties Azerbaijan had faced in 1992-93 and said that within a short period in 1993 stability had been established in the country and economic success achieved. Then Azerbaijan began to step up its role in the international arena and now cooperates with many international organizations, including the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Telling the meeting about the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, the president said that Azerbaijan supports a peaceful resolution, but did not rule out an armed solution to the conflict. He said that Azerbaijan was busy building up its national army with this possibility in mind. "For more than 10 years now our main problem has been Armenia's continuing occupation of 20 per cent of Azerbaijani land. As a result of the Armenian state's policy of ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis more than one million of our compatriots have become refugees and forced migrants in their own country. Seven Azerbaijani districts outside the administrative boundaries of Nagornyy Karabakh have been occupied for more than 10 years. Nagornyy Karabakh itself is occupied. The 40,000 Azerbaijanis who lived in Nagornyy Karabakh have been driven out, while 700,000 Azerbaijanis who lived outside Nagornyy Karabakh's administrative boundaries have become forced migrants and 250,000 Azerbaijanis have been driven out of Armenia proper. Armenia's genocide against Azerbaijanis and its aggressive policy have caused the deaths of thousands of civilians and wrecked the infrastructure. Eight Azerbaijani towns can be said to have been completely destroyed. All the mosques, cemeteries and our historic monuments have been destroyed by the Armenian occupiers," Ilham Aliyev said. 

The president also said that official Baku sees the solution to the problem in developing its military capability. Azerbaijan's economy is today outstripping Armenia's by a factor of seven at least. "Our economy is developing dynamically. We are carrying out major energy projects which allow us to create powerful economic potential. We are increasing funding of our defence capacity. Azerbaijan's military spending today is equivalent to Armenia's entire budget. The difference between our countries is growing bigger and bigger and this factor will help us to solve the problem. I would like to repeat that this is the No 1 problem for us. We are doing everything possible to ensure that hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis return to their villages, their native land." In his speech the president also thanked the Arab League for its support for Azerbaijan in the international arena. The Egyptian president said in reply that Cairo respects Azerbaijan's sovereignty and calls for a peaceful settlement to the Karabakh conflict in accordance with international law and UN Security Council resolutions and with the assistance of the OSCE Minsk Group.

The talks also discussed the situation in the Persian Gulf "in the light of the stand-off between Iran and the West", the situation in Iraq and Lebanon, problems in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the lifting of the blockade on the Palestinian Autonomy.

Intensive work is under way to open a direct flight between Egypt and Azerbaijan via Sharm-el-Sheikh. The countries have quite extensive links in education and culture. Approximately 200 Azerbaijani students are studying at present in various Egyptian universities. From this year 16 Egyptian students have begun to study in different Azerbaijani state educational institutes. The first Egyptian Culture Week in Azerbaijan was held this year and confirms our active cultural ties. Azerbaijani Culture Days were held in Egypt in November 2005.

Official Baku fully appreciates the role and importance of Egypt in the UN, OIC and other international organizations and it is, therefore, very important today for Azerbaijan to strengthen links with Cairo. For its part Egypt understands that Azerbaijan is today the leader in the Caucasus region. This means that the countries' interest in one another is mutual and this mutual interest can become a good basis for the further development of mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries.