Azerbaijan invests in the deepening of humanitarian cooperation in Eurasia

By Vestnik Kavkaza

The XVIII Eurasian Economic Summit began working today in Istanbul. Heads of state and government, ministers, representatives of international organizations, NGOs, diplomats, parliamentarians, and former heads of state and government will discuss several topics relevant to the region, in particular: "Silk Road: the economy, energy and finance", "The road to peace" and "Where is humanity going?" The topic of the forum is fairly broad - issues related to the information technology, telecommunications, finance, energy, transport and logistics sectors are all discussed here.

The forum's participants agreed that the discussion is not only about economic, but also about human rights issues and democratic values, which indicates an integrated approach of leaders in the region to international processes, and progress may be the only way to fight terrorism, to protect people from bad habits. The value of international development and transportation of hydrocarbon resources of West Azerbaijan was particularly emphasized on the forum.

President Ilham Aliyev sent greetings to participants of the forum, in which he reminded that Azerbaijan is committed to deepening of the humanitarian cooperation in Eurasia and invests major investments in this sector. "In June 2015, we intend to organize the first European Games in Baku at a high level, and two years later - the Islamic Solidarity Games," Aliyev said.

Azerbaijan supports progressive ideas, innovative initiatives, important energy and infrastructure projects, which open up new opportunities for the development of the region. Today there are seven oil and gas pipelines transporting Azerbaijani hydrocarbons in different directions. Azerbaijan is one of the largest shareholders of the projects "Shahdeniz», TANAP and TAP, aimed at ensuring the energy security of Europe. With the laying of the foundation of the Southern Gas Corridor last year in Baku, and of the Trans-Anatolian pipeline three weeks ago in Kars, the practical work on the implementation of the giant transnational project, which is called the 'Contract of the XXI Century', has started. This year, the main part of the international trade seaport on the Caspian Sea will be put into operation, and the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which connects Asia with Europe, will be completed.

Meanwhile, commenting on the Istanbul Forum, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan on socio-political issues Ali Hasanov said that Azerbaijan takes part in such events as a full actor along with major countries in the region, such as Russia, Turkey, Iran, and the countries of the European Union, the United States, China, which has geopolitical, geo-economic, military and geo-strategic interests in the region. According to Hasanov, Karabakh will be discussed at the forum: "For many years, Armenia, which is threatening peace in the region, holds Azerbaijani lands under occupation. We will appeal to the public and non-governmental organizations represented at the event to put pressure on Armenia. We will once again draw attention to the fact that the destructive policies pursued by Armenia contribute to the continuation of the conflict. Armenia does not fulfill the four UN Security Council resolutions on unconditional withdrawal of occupying forces from the territory of Azerbaijan. We will once again remind delegations about this."