Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and President of the Italian Senate Pietro Grasso signed a declaration of strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Italy, a maritime transportation agreement and a memorandum of understanding in economy, culture and sports.
Baku granted Italy funds for archeological studies at the Mercati di Traiano Museum. Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino said that he was aware of the successful realization of cultural and humanitarian projects by the Heydar Aliyev Fund. "With this help, we will carry out excavations on Alexandria Street. We promise to demonstrate the results of our work at the next visit of Mr. President to Italy," the mayor assured. Ilham Aliyev replied that architectural and cultural heritage belong to all mankind, not Rome alone, and Azerbaijan had great knowledge of Italian history and culture.
Italy is one of the main trading partners of Azerbaijan in the world. They cooperate in the energy sector. The TAP project will change the energy map of Europe, it is of great value for Azerbaijan. The sides discuss cooperation in infrastructure, construction, high-tech and other sectors of the economy. Numerous Italian companies working in Azerbaijan play an important role in development of Azerbaijani-Italian ties.
President of the Italian Senate Pietro Grasso said that his country treated Azerbaijan as a guarantor of stability in the Caucasus. At a meeting with Grasso and other Italian authorities, Ilham Aliyev discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh problem and it seems he managed to put the message across to Italian public opinion.
"I have heard that Nagorno-Karabakh was "a forgotten conflict," but the truth is elsewhere. The truth is that nothing is said about the conflict. Maybe it is because the population of one of the sides of conflict are Christians?! But we, Italians, never pick friends by their religion. Maybe we do not want to offend any of the sides?! But the situation harms international law in any case, especially the truth. The truth is that over a million refugees and displaced persons live in Azerbaijan at the moment because of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan," says the writer of "Silence of the press on the Nagorno-Karabakh" published by an Italian portal Daily Cases.
Now, Rome knows that 20% of Azerbaijani territory recognized by the world has been occupied for over 20 years. "The fact is that on February 26, 1992, the Armed Forces of Armenia, having killed many peaceful residents - 613 people, 106 of them being women, 63 children, exterminated all the population of Khojaly. All these are facts. We should not be afraid to talk about it. We should not fear silence hidden behind the biggest tragedy of our modern history. The "silence of the press" turns the issue into a co-participant of great injustice.
