Heydar Aliyev: Mr. Wolf!

Dear ambassadors!

I greet you heartily! Welcome to Azerbaijan again. I`m very glad to see you. I guess we always need to meet and talk and there are also many issues to talk about.

John Wolf: Mr.President, thank you very much.

Today while making a speech in the intrenational conference in Baku, I said that I have a double feeling from my visit to your country. On the one hand, I am pleased that you had received me in my previous 8-10 visits to your country and these meetings had been the top of my visits and I`ve always been proud of it. On the other hand, I regret that it will be my last visit to Azerbaijan. May be you have heard that president Clinton has taken into account a new job for me. But I am fully confident that inspite of a new job, the USA will continue the policy which I was responsible for and my close friend, dear Mrs. Johns will keep on this work, and follow het activity as a special representative on energy problems of the Caspian Basin of the US president and secretary of state.

Your region is not unfamiliar for Mrs. Jons. She doesn`t consider herself as a stranger here. Because, before that she had worked as US ambassador to Kazakhstan. Mrs. Jons knows this region well. She is also a professional person in foreign policy.

Mr.President, I have brought You greetings by president Clinton. He was very glad to receive a letter from You at the beginning of the week. We absolutely agree with You especially in about making extra efforts in the field of collaboration to provide security of pipe lines that you mentioned in the letter addressed to president Clinton and there is a need to work on it. Mr. President, I confess that although you were engaged in these problems more than me, but on my part I was busy in energy issues for 18 months and while turning back after this 1 year 6 months period and see the progress we achieved, once more I want to express my thankfulness and gratitude for your support and leadership in the sphere of realization of the East-West corridor and fulfilment of huge projects in the region named by your conception.

I think that we together prepare appropriate structures for economical development and progress of both Azerbaijan and the region and in this sight we define the future architecture of this region.

Hopefully we will have a chance to make additional exchange of views about the specific features of this great strategy after the mass-media representatives' departure.

Heydar Aliyev: Dear Mr.Wolf, firstly thank you for conveying the greeting by president Clinton. I very highly appreciate that president Bill Clinton had expressed his opinion on the occasion of signing of all contracts of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipe and had sent me a congratulation letter. I congratulate him as well. Because this was realized by our mutual efforts. I also promoted some issues in the congratulation letter. Because they are very important for the next targeted activities.

I am very glad, as you said, that our opinions with president Clinton, in other word, the opinions of Azerbaijan state with USA are similar. And you, of course, had done much works within 18 months with us. I haven`t calculated actually how many months you worked here, but we had done much works together.

I understand your feelings concerning the present leave of work. But at the same time I consider that you are very happy that we have finally signed a big contract together in Istanbul about BTC pipe line and consequently, the last contracts were signed in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. We completed this work together. Mr. Wolf, personally you have played a big role to gain all of these achievements. I appreciate it. If our collaboration with the US organizations working on the other directions increased up to this level, It would be better. Our collaboration in this field is an example, I think. We will continue these relationships afterwards, i.e. your work will go on. You offer a great perspective job to your partner. I guess that the esteemed lady being acquainted with your job and generally the last 6 years jobs that we had done, she may be certain about our very successful cooperation.

I wish you every success in your future work and I will never forget our collaboration. The time will come our ways will cross again, who knows. Everything may happen in future.

John Wolf: Mr. President, one thing I know for certain that I will see you either in Baku or in Ceyhan in 2004.

Heydar Aliyev: We will be together both in Baku and Ceyhan.

John Wolf: But we will act so that the oil will run from here up to there and not back

Heydar Aliyev: Surely. Oil can not be back from there.

All the people who participate in this process have the right to attend the great celebration when BTC pipe line will be realized. I believe in this celebration.

I wish you success in your future works once more.

Esteemed Mrs. Johns also, as you said, is very much acquainted with our region. There is one problem in BTC issue, president Bill Clinton had mentioned that in his letter. I think that Mrs. Johns can achieve to solve this problem. Because she had worked in Kazakhstan. I wish you successes as well.

Elizabeth Johns: Thank you very much.