Angela Merkel and Ilham Aliyev made statements for the press ahead of their talks in Berlin on Thursday.
The texts of the statements are published below. News.Az has translated Angela Merkel's statement from the German text posted on the chancellor's website and the Azerbaijani president's statement from the Azerbaijani text posted by state news agency AzerTAj.
Statement by Chancellor Angela Merkel
Ladies and gentlemen, I am glad to welcome President Aliyev to Berlin today. He is back in Berlin almost three years since his last visit, in February 2007.
I believe that relations between Germany and Azerbaijan are very close and on a good path. This applies especially to cooperation in the economic sector. But there is still very, very great potential here. I believe that German firms can accomplish even more on modernization of the Azerbaijani economy and the development of infrastructure.We have a particular interest in developing political relations in tandem with economic ties.
We have a special interest in developing energy relations. This can be a win-win situation, as on the one hand we have the technical know-how required to build a modern energy system. On the other hand, Azerbaijan has reserves of natural gas in particular. Therefore, the Nabucco project is, of course, of outstanding significance for us. We will talk more about this today
We will talk about energy projects - including Nabucco - today, but also about the development of democracy and the rule of law in Azerbaijan. Germany is ready to maintain close contact with Azerbaijan on this as well and to promote the development of democracy and the rule of law.
May I take this opportunity to warmly welcome you once again, Mr President!
Statement by President Ilham Aliyev
Thank you very much, Mrs Chancellor.
First of all, I would like to thank you for inviting me to Germany.
You noted that we met three years ago here in Berlin. Ties between Germany and Azerbaijan have developed rapidly since then. Political ties are on a very high level. Mutual economic interest is growing and today almost 100 German companies are working successfully in Azerbaijan. We very much want economic cooperation to deepen and there are good opportunities for it. Azerbaijan is experiencing a period of modernization. Certainly, we need advanced technology for comprehensive development, and this technology is at a very high level in Germany.
In turn, Azerbaijan is ready to contribute to successful settlement of the issues of Europe’s energy security. Today you voiced your thoughts about the Nabucco project. We support this project. I would like to note that discussion of the Nabucco project is more intensive today. I think this is a very positive factor. The transport infrastructure, especially gas pipelines, created in recent years in Azerbaijan, provide a good foundation for Nabucco and South Stream and other projects.
Azerbaijan recently joined the EU's Eastern Partnership program. The implementation of this program will expedite political and economic reforms and the process of democratization in our country.
Thus, the maintenance of bilateral relations is very valuable while their scope is broad. I am sure that our relations will develop more rapidly after our meeting today.
News.Az