Caspian Sea unites Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan - Kazakh Ambassador to Azerbaijan

BAKU. March 31. KAZINFORM /Arnur Mukhametkarim/ Kazakh Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Azerbaijan Serik Primbetov gave interview to a number of the Kazakh mass media yesterday; Kazinform reports.

The Kazakh diplomat told about the Kazakh Embassy?s activity in Azerbaijan, development of the Kazakh-Azerbaijani relations and some moments of bilateral economic cooperation. S.Primbetov told journalists about the history of formation of Azerbaijan as an independent republic during the ruling of Heydar Aliyev. In particular, he told about a role of H.Aliyev in overcoming the crisis in 1993 and in its further development owing to signing of ?The contract of the century? ? implementation of ?Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan? pipeline. The Ambassador informed of the growing trade turnover between the two countries in recent years. According to him, at present this economic index forms USD 465 mln. In this context the diplomat noted economic aspects of bilateral cooperation. One of the key moments was the Embassy?s activity on clarifications of the main provisions of the Kazakh President?s Message to the Nation to the Azerbaijanis. As S.Primbetov noted, N.Nazarbayev?s annual Message, his article ?Keys to the crisis? in ?Rossiyskaya gazeta? and his speech at the II Astana Economic Forum earned positive praises among governmental and expert circles of Azerbaijan. The Ambassador told about N.Nazarbayev?s idea on creation of the regional currency on the EurAsEC space ? ?euras?, which can be an example for other regional integration structures. ?Kazakhstan?s President announced an idea of creation of a single regional currency ?altyn? for a long time and now this is a moment of this initiative implementation?, S.Primbetov added. During the interview the Ambassador told about one of the most topical problems of the region ? the issue of determination of the Caspian Sea's legal status, which is on the agenda since the Soviet collapse. He said that three Caspian Sea countries ? Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan ? solved the issues of further use of the Sea?s water space. According to him, the Caspian Sea states confirm a common interest in conclusion of the text of draft Convention on the legal status. The Kazakh diplomat told about the activity of the Kazakh commercial structures in Azerbaijan. According to S.Primbetov, the Caspian Sea does not divide Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, but unite them.