Azerbaijan, Baku, June 21 /Trend A. Badalova/
The closer we are to Europe, the more opportunities we have for democratic development, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at the press conference on the outcome of the meeting with the president of European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, the official website of the European Commission reported.
President Aliyev recalled Herman Van Rompuy's visit to Azerbaijan, which was very important for the development of relations.
"This was the first visit of the EC president to Azerbaijan, and the discussions we held in Baku, and earlier here in Brussels, are very important for the future development of our relations," he said. "There is a unanimous approach to our relationship. Azerbaijan wants to be as close to Europe as possible, and Azerbaijan is the active member of the Eastern Partnership Program."
The President of Azerbaijan noted that the closer Azerbaijan is to Europe, the more opportunities the country has for democratic development.
"We are grateful to European institutions for cooperation in this area. I think the cooperation in the areas of democratic development, human rights, helps Azerbaijan to implement political reforms in accordance with high international standards. These issues will be addressed today, and we will continue cooperation in this area," Ilham Aliyev said.
He noted that at the meeting, the sides also discussed such wide range of issues as regional security, stability and of course conflict resolutions.
"We also highly value the statements of the Minsk group co-chairs' presidents. We are grateful to them that they keep the resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the center of agenda, and use such an important forum as G8," he said.
The President noted that Azerbaijan fully supports the comments related to implementation of all necessary steps to find the soonest solution to the conflict.
"The reference to the Helsinki final act is of extreme importance, and it clearly defines the principle which should be the basis of settlement. Self-determination of nations should not contradict countries' territorial integrity," Ilham Aliyev said.
"In case with Armenia, it has already determined its future. They have Armenian state. Self-determination of Armenian nation on the territory of Azerbaijan is not acceptable."
He underscored that Azerbaijan is interested in the soonest resolution based on norms and principles of international law, and implementation of four UN resolutions, demanding immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all Armenian troops from internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.
