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USA STRESSES AZERBAIJAN'S IMPORTANCE
news.az
June 7 2010
Azerbaijan
Gates meets Abiyev A forthcoming visit by US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton is a sign of Azerbaijan's importance to Washington.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates told his Azerbaijani counterpart
in Baku today that a letter from President Barack Obama to President
Ilham Aliyev, Hillary Clinton's upcoming visit and his present visit to
Baku were all examples of the strategic partnership between Azerbaijan
and the United States.
The date for Hillary Clinton's visit is not yet known. A spokesman
for the US embassy in Azerbaijan, Keith Bean, told APA news agency
today that he was unaware of it.
The US defence secretary is on a two-day visit to Baku to express US
gratitude for its contribution to coalition efforts in Afghanistan
and to shore up relations with Azerbaijan, which cancelled joint
military exercises with US forces in May.
Azerbaijani servicemen are part of the International Security
Assistance Force in Afghanistan and the country is a key element in
a global air and land network that replenishes the reserves of the
troops and Afghan forces, according to the Defence Department website.
An official welcome ceremony was held at the Azerbaijani Defence
Ministry today, Defence Ministry spokesman Lt-Col Eldar Sabiroglu
told journalists.
Defence Minister Col-Gen Safar Abiyev noted the brief history of
Azerbaijan-US military cooperation founded by then President Heydar
Aliyev in 1997 and said that Azerbaijan attached great importance to
cooperation with the US.
Speaking about the joint contribution to the fight against
international terrorism and other security matters, the minister said
the situation was complex and tense in the South Caucasus because of
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. He appreciated
the role of the US as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group mediators.
Safar Abiyev hoped that Azerbaijan and the United States would
establish real partnership relations and that the defence secretary's
visit to Azerbaijan would make a new contribution to the development
of this partnership.
Safar Abiyev referred to a restrictive clause, Section 907, in the
US Freedom Support Act, which, he said, had a negative impact on
US-Azerbaijani relations.
Section 907 prohibits direct US aid to the Azerbaijani government and
prevents the development of strategic relations between the countries.
The Section has been waived by the US president since October 2001
but remains on the statute book.
Robert Gates told his Azerbaijani counterpart that when he returned
home he would tell President Obama of the importance of a solution to
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for Azerbaijan. The US defence secretary
said would do his best to achieve the abolition of Section 907.
Since 2001, tens of thousands of military flights to Afghanistan have
passed via Azerbaijan. Some 100,000 soldiers flew through Azerbaijan
airspace en route to Afghanistan last year, according to the Defence
Department website.
From: A. Papazian
news.az
June 7 2010
Azerbaijan
Gates meets Abiyev A forthcoming visit by US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton is a sign of Azerbaijan's importance to Washington.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates told his Azerbaijani counterpart
in Baku today that a letter from President Barack Obama to President
Ilham Aliyev, Hillary Clinton's upcoming visit and his present visit to
Baku were all examples of the strategic partnership between Azerbaijan
and the United States.
The date for Hillary Clinton's visit is not yet known. A spokesman
for the US embassy in Azerbaijan, Keith Bean, told APA news agency
today that he was unaware of it.
The US defence secretary is on a two-day visit to Baku to express US
gratitude for its contribution to coalition efforts in Afghanistan
and to shore up relations with Azerbaijan, which cancelled joint
military exercises with US forces in May.
Azerbaijani servicemen are part of the International Security
Assistance Force in Afghanistan and the country is a key element in
a global air and land network that replenishes the reserves of the
troops and Afghan forces, according to the Defence Department website.
An official welcome ceremony was held at the Azerbaijani Defence
Ministry today, Defence Ministry spokesman Lt-Col Eldar Sabiroglu
told journalists.
Defence Minister Col-Gen Safar Abiyev noted the brief history of
Azerbaijan-US military cooperation founded by then President Heydar
Aliyev in 1997 and said that Azerbaijan attached great importance to
cooperation with the US.
Speaking about the joint contribution to the fight against
international terrorism and other security matters, the minister said
the situation was complex and tense in the South Caucasus because of
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. He appreciated
the role of the US as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group mediators.
Safar Abiyev hoped that Azerbaijan and the United States would
establish real partnership relations and that the defence secretary's
visit to Azerbaijan would make a new contribution to the development
of this partnership.
Safar Abiyev referred to a restrictive clause, Section 907, in the
US Freedom Support Act, which, he said, had a negative impact on
US-Azerbaijani relations.
Section 907 prohibits direct US aid to the Azerbaijani government and
prevents the development of strategic relations between the countries.
The Section has been waived by the US president since October 2001
but remains on the statute book.
Robert Gates told his Azerbaijani counterpart that when he returned
home he would tell President Obama of the importance of a solution to
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for Azerbaijan. The US defence secretary
said would do his best to achieve the abolition of Section 907.
Since 2001, tens of thousands of military flights to Afghanistan have
passed via Azerbaijan. Some 100,000 soldiers flew through Azerbaijan
airspace en route to Afghanistan last year, according to the Defence
Department website.
From: A. Papazian