Washington. The visit of the Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev to Washington opened a new stage in the relations of Baku and Washington. During three-hour talks held between Heydar Aliyev and the U.S President Bill Clinton, an investment agreement and an eight million dollar contract with U.S. companies were signed. Aliyev, the first Azerbaijani President who had ever visited Washington, got the support of the U.S. government for raising the ban to give humanitarian aid to Azerbaijan, for the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and the Jeyhan oil pipeline route.

In the joint statement as a result of talks, the parties said they had reached an agreement to expand and develop their cooperation. The statement says the Clinton administration supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, its democratic way of development, and the bilateral friendly relations that are very important for the establishment of peace and stability in the region.

The Parties reached a mutual understanding

The statement notes that President Clinton and President Aliyev are both for the immediate solution of the Karabakh conflict on the principles of the Lisbon Summit of the OSCE.

After the talks, Aliyev said that the total cost of the oil contract signed with the U.S. companies Exxon, Chevron, Mobil and Amoco is eight billion dollars. Another agreement signed on investments says that the U.S. investors will be free to take the produced profits to their own country. Another item of agreement provides the security of the property of the U.S. companies. Answering reporters' questions after meeting, the Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev said," They were laying the foundation for the development of the future economic relations" He said that the next stop to follow would be the repeal of Section 907, which banned humanitarian aid to Azerbaijan.

A significant visit

The most important part of Heydar Aliyev's visit to Washington is the support given by Clinton to the Baku-Jeyhan oil pipeline route. Thought the adopted documents do not reveal everything, still the support of Heydar Aliyev of the Baku-Jeyhan route as the most suitable one, also stated by Clinton, makes one come to such a conclusion that the decision of the international consortium engaged in the production of oil in Azerbaijan, will be reconsidered. As it is obvious that the international consortium, in which Turkey has a 8.5 % share, did not include the Baku-Jeyhan route into the list of desired routes to transport the Azerbaijan oil.

The 160 million barrel oil reserves played its role in the improvement of the relationship between the U. S. and Azerbaijan. If we add to it the undiscovered oil deposits this figure will grow even higher.