Interview with His Majesty King Abdullah II

AzerTAc: Your Majesty, how do you evaluate the current relations between Jordan and Azerbaijan?

King Abdullah: I would like to express my great satisfaction with the strong brotherly relations between us that we've always been keen to strengthen in all sectors in order to benefit our peoples. I feel our enthusiasm is also shared by His Excellency President Ilham Aliyev, whom I hold in great regard. I appreciate his relentless efforts to achieve progress and prosperity for the Azeri people.

As you know I was honoured to visit your country in August 2006 and in July 2007, we were delighted to welcome President Aliyev to Jordan. We are satisfied with the level of our bilateral relations, and we are determined to advance and deepen them in all sectors, especially in the economic and commercial fields.

AzerTAc: During your visit to Azerbaijan two years ago, which you already mentioned, and during President Aliyev's visit to Jordan last year, several documents and agreements were signed. How do you evaluate the impact of these agreements on cooperation between the two countries, especially in the economic field? And in general what are the fields where wider cooperation could be achieved?

King Abdullah: As I mentioned before, the two visits were great opportunities to define the areas where we could expand cooperation between our two countries. The two visits reflected the mutual interest in building strong, cooperative relations in all vital sectors, and the bilateral agreements signed lay the ground for this constructive cooperation. There are great possibilities to intensify and enhance cooperation in the economic and investment fields, and to establish mutual projects that make use of the two countries' assets, expertise, and distinguished geographical location, and that build an effective partnership between the Jordanian and Azeri private sectors. Jordan in fact could be a springboard for Azerbaijan to Middle Eastern and European and US markets. At the same time, we think that your country, at the heart of Asia, could be a connection point between the two regions. I strongly believe that we have valuable unprecedented opportunities to realise mutual benefits for us and to serve the peoples of our two countries. We are still at the starting point and we hope to move with faster steps in this field.

AzerTAc: Azerbaijan is considered an economic corridor between Europe and Asia because of its distinguished geographical location. The importance of its role will increase when the Baku-Tbilisi railway is operated. What benefits could Jordan reap from this corridor?

King Abdullah: We in Jordan realise the importance of your country's geographical location. This is a very important feature for strengthening the bonds of economic and commercial cooperation between Jordan and Azerbaijan, especially for increasing the volume of trade exchange. We think that since the Asian and European continents possess tremendous resources and great natural riches, the states in these two continents should strengthen the bridges of cooperation between them, especially as the world copes with difficult economic challenges due to the huge increase in oil prices and the increasing demand on basic foodstuffs which have also experienced unprecedented price increases. To confront these challenges, we believe that intensifying cooperation between our two countries in the first place, and between states in the two continents, in the second place, is now a must and highly desirable. Our two countries play an important role in this regard.

AzerTAc: Your Majesty, your friendship with His Excellency President Ilham Aliyev is very strong. Does that strong friendship play a role in strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries?

King Abdullah: I am proud of my personal friendship with President Aliyev. We both agree in our vision for providing a better future for the Jordanian and Azeri peoples and realise their aspirations for progress and development. We also share the belief that our two countries can employ their capabilities in the service of our mutual interests. This is always emphasised during official discussions, whether at the summit level, or at the level of senior officials in the two countries. In this context, I am looking forward to my upcoming visit to Azerbaijan and to meeting President Aliyev to take another step on the path of strengthening cooperation between our two brotherly countries and dealing with all the issues that concern the Muslim nation.

AzerTAc: Your Majesty, how do you see the efforts exerted to realise peace in the Middle East and South Caucasus areas, especially that Your Majesty's efforts in this field are highly appreciated in Azerbaijan?

King Abdullah: It is common knowledge that the Palestinian problem is the core issue in the Middle East conflict, and it is our conviction that solving the other interrelated issues in our region depends on our ability to find a just and permanent solution to the conflict in Palestine. Failure to realise this goal will only bring more turbulence, violence and destabilisation to the region. We are in continuous contact with all the concerned parties to encourage Palestinians and Israelis to overcome obstacles to negotiations on all the final status issues, in order to establish an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. In this context, we emphasise that the permanent and just peace we seek should be based on international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative. This means Israel should refrain from adopting unilateral policies. Paramount among the things that need to happen is that Israel needs to stop its aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza, to end the siege, and to immediately stop settlement activities on Palestinian land, so that conditions will be appropriate for resuming negotiations between the two parties. We hope, at the same time, that the international community's support of peace efforts in the region will continue, including support from the members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

As for the developments related to consolidating security and stability in South Caucasus, we support every serious endeavour to ensure that this strategically important region enjoys security and stability. In this context, we understand Azerbaijan's position regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, and we support every sincere endeavour to find a peaceful solution for this territory that would be acceptable to the conflicting countries, and that is based on dialogue, understanding and reaching a common ground between Azerbaijan and Armenia that guarantees their respective rights.