“Norway is ready to assist Azerbaijan in European integration and we intend to develop relations with Azerbaijan. I welcome the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev´s latest amnesty decrees and I hope that the problem of political prisoners would be fully resolved in a short run in Azerbaijan”, Norwegian Foreign Minister, Chairman of the Council of Europe´s (CE) Ministerial Committee Ian Petersen, who arrived in Baku on last Tuesday as part of his tour of the South Caucasus region, told a news conference that he was satisfied with his visit to Azerbaijan. (22-OCT-2004)

Norwegian gov’t fully supports the activity of its ambassador to Azerbaijan, Steinar Gil
 
Commenting on permanent attacks on the Ambassador of Norway to Azerbaijan Steinar Gil, who turned to be the target of government controlled media due to his open support to democracy, tortured opposition activists and human rights, Mr. Petersen said that the government of Norway fully supports and is happy with the activity of its Ambassador to Azerbaijan. He went on saying that Steinar Gil expresses the attitude of Norwegian government to Azerbaijan. “I will not bring up this question at the talks with Azerbaijani government officials. “However, in case if the authorities of Azerbaijan bring up this issue in negotiations, they will be given answer”.

 Characterizing bilateral Azerbaijani-Norwegian relations Petersen called them “beautiful”. Fulfillment of obligations by Azerbaijan before the CE was the central point of the talks with Azerbaijani President, speaker of Parliament and Ministrer for Foreign affairs of Azerbaijan.

 “There exist contradictions in the opinion between Norway and Azerbaijan. We need political dialogue between two countries. I will focus on eliminating this ambivalence during the talks”, Petersen said.

“Of course, I am going to touch the problem on politically jailed, the coming municipal elections, providing of freedom of speech, creation of public television and the settling of the Karabakh conflict” Mr. Petersen told a press conference before his meetings with officials.


Responding the question if Norway is going to expand participation in the oil sector of Azerbaijan, Petersen said that Norway was one of the largest investors in Azerbaijan. Concerning the future, it will depend on the investors and the investment climate in Azerbaijan.

Being asked about the attitude of Norway to the nuclear programs of Iran, Petersen said that Oslo was concerned with it and considers necessary cooperation of Iran with MAGATE
 
 
 Petersen: “CE is not capable of resolving Upper Garabagh conflict”

“The Upper Garabagh conflict settlement depends on a mutual agreement of Azerbaijan and Armenia”, Norwegian Foreign Minister, chairman of the Council of Europe’s (CE) Ministerial Committee, Ian Peterson said during his meeting with Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. “The Council of Europe is not capable of solving the Upper Garabagh conflict but can act as a mediator”, he said.

 In a meeting with Speaker Mr. Alasgarov the parties focused on the Garabagh conflict and the Azerbaijani-CE relations. Alasgarov underlined that Azerbaijan binds hopes with the Council of Europe with regard to the conflict resolution. Mr. Alasgarov emphasized that Azerbaijan has joined over 40 conventions and passed 100 laws.
Peterson said in reply that adopting decisions does not mean fulfilling commitments, as their execution is important. As for the Upper Garabagh conflict, Peterson said he supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group in this area.

Moreover, Peterson met with ambassadors of the CE member-states accredited in Baku, representatives of opposition parties and human rights organizations. He also visited a school for refugees in Masazir settlement, which has been overhauled by the Norwegian Refugee Council.