From the talk of President of the Azerbaijan Republic Heydar Aliyev with prince of Saudi Arabia Ablullah ibn Abdel Aziz al-Saud - Tehran, 11 December, 1997


Ablullah ibn Abdel Aziz al-Saud: Honorable Mr. President, I pay my respects to You. It is an honor for me to meet with prominent statesman, Heydar Aliyev. I state that Your visit to Saudi Arabia is always recollected with satisfaction. I hold it as my duty to convey You greetings, respect and esteem of King of Saudi Arabia Fahd ibn Abdel Aziz al-Saud.

Heydar Aliyev: I appreciate You for Your warm words. Speaking about my visit to Saudi Arabia in July 1994 and visits to sacred cities of Islam religion as Mecca, Medina and Jeddah, as well as meetings with the king and other high-ranking officials of the country, I also remember with satisfaction the negotiations held with the king in Morocco in December1994.

I express hope that the VIII Summit of the Organization of Islamic Conference will play an important role in further deepening of unity of the Islamic world and surmounting of difficulties faced by some member-states of this organization. I speak about the most painful problem for the young independent Azerbaijan Republic - the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict. As a result of this aggression lasting since 1998, armenian troops have occupied 20 percent of the Azerbaijan territories evicting more than a million our citizens from native lands. The fundamental principles for the settlement of this conflict were adopted at the OSCE Lisbon Summit, the negotiations within the Minsk group are being held and the co-chairs have advanced their proposals. However, non-constructive stance of Armenia hampers fair settlement of this conflict.

I express gratitude to the leadership of Saudi Arabia for humanitarian aid rendered to Azerbaijani refugees and ask to convey my greetings and good wishes to King Fahd ibn Abdel Aziz al-Saud. I highly appreciate close assistance of Saudi Arabia in joint exploitation of oilfields in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea and investments made by this country in a number of areas of Azerbaijan estimating it as important steps towards expansion of our bilateral links.

"Heydar Aliyev: Our independence is eternal" (speeches, statements, interviews, letters, appeals, decrees) - Azerneshr, Baku - 2004, vol. XIII, p. 377-378.

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Azerbaijan - Arabic world