Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko will pay an official visit to Azerbaijan on 28-29 November, the Belarus president’s press-service said in a statement on Nov. 25. While in Azerbaijan Alexander Lukashenko is expected to meet with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for face-to-face negotiations and expanded-participation negotiations. A number of international documents will be signed as a result of the talks.
Azerbaijan and Russia will sign two bilateral agreements on cooperation in the spheres of pension provision and labor migration, Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Azerbaijan’s Population Salim Muslimov said on Nov. 24 at a meeting with representatives of Russia’s Social Insurance Fund in Baku. The Minister said that Azerbaijan is the only country in the CIS, which has no bilateral agreement with Russia on pension provision.
A Japanese citizen, an employee of the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, Hitoshi Omae has been removed from the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s list of undesirable people who illegally visited the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received US Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Bridget Brink on Nov. 22. The head of state recalled broad discussions on bilateral relations and regional issues that they held with Bridget Brink in summer of 2016. President Ilham Aliyev expressed hope that successful cooperation between the two countries will be continued with the new administration of the US. Brink highlighted her country’s strong support for Azerbaijan, as well as for the entire region. She said the US has carried out consistent policy in this regard for a long time.
The European Union and Azerbaijan are creating delegations for the negotiations on a new partnership agreement, Malena Mard, head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, told reporters on Monday. Mard noted that the EU is satisfied with starting negotiations with Azerbaijan on an extensive and comprehensive agreement that covers many areas.
The World Bank (WB) will make a decision regarding financing of the construction of the Azerbaijani part of the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project until late November 2016. The WB is in negotiations simultaneously with Turkey’s Botas Petroleum Pipeline Corporation and Southern Gas Corridor CJSC for financing TANAP.
Azerbaijan has never considered the Southern Gas Corridor project as a kind of alternative or kind of competitor to any other gas projects being implemented in the region, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. He made the remarks on Nov. 17 during a meeting with a group of participants of the 5th News Agencies World Congress. “Our project is only aimed at the target, which I identified – to produce, to supply, to satisfy the needs of consumers, to make happy transit countries, and also to earn money for the country,” noted President Aliyev. “So implementation of the project is on schedule. There were certain delays in Europe regarding some ecological concerns. But, as far as I know, they are being resolved.”
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will pay a working visit to France on November 17. During the visit, Mammadyarov will meet with French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development Jean-Marc Ayrault and discuss prospects of bilateral and multilateral cooperation. The current state of the negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will also be discussed at the meeting.
Azerbaijan’s energy cooperation is based on national interests, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. The president made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 5th News Agencies World Congress and the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) in Baku Nov. 16. President Aliyev noted that the diversification of Azerbaijan’s economy continues, and it does not depend on a single source. Stressing the importance of Azerbaijan’s geographical location, the President said there is a need to create an appropriate infrastructure. President Aliyev said he believes the North–South and East–West Corridor will expand the export and transit potential of Azerbaijan.
An unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the Armenian Armed Forces has been destroyed by the Azerbaijani Army, said a message from Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry on Nov. 14. The UAV was destroyed while attempting to make reconnaissance flights over the Azerbaijani army positions along the line of contact between the two countries’ troops in the direction of Azerbaijan’s Tartar district on November 14 evening, said the message.