MOSCOW. Feb 2 (Interfax-AVN) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said the deployment of U.S. or NATO military bases in Azerbaijan is not on the agenda.
"I would not like to comment on questions that are not on the agenda, including questions about some bases. This subject is raised from time to time, although no such negotiations have been held," Aliyev said on Russian television on Sunday when asked whether Azerbaijan plans to host American military bases on its territory.
"The interests of great powers do exist, but Azerbaijan views its own interests as the priority. When these interests coincide with the interests of our neighbors or great powers, we cooperate, but when they do not coincide, we do not cooperate. What counts most is that confrontation of interests must not put Azerbaijan in a situation in which it would not like to find itself. What counts most is not competition but cooperation," Aliyev said.
Talking about cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan, the president said in the run up to his trip to Moscow, "The two countries enjoy mutual understanding, political dialog, economic cooperation and cooperation in the culture sphere."
"Azerbaijan could serve as an example of its attitude to the Russian language and Russian culture among all the former Soviet republics. Azerbaijan has not closed a single Russian school, despite some dramatic periods in the history of our relations. The number of newspapers published in Russian has increased as compared to the Soviet era times. All this is a good foundation for our relations to develop further," he said.