"Reform packages should be adapted in Azerbaijan as well"

Speaking during his meeting with Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Murtuz Aleskerov in Baku, Gul said that the Azerbaijani parliament had an important task while the government performed its duty.

Gul stressed that the friendship between the two countries should be turned into more concrete projects and it should be used for the prosperity of the peoples, adding that important steps were taken in that regard particularly during the era of Haydar Aliyev and he was sure that those steps would continue during the new government.

Noting that important progress was recorded in economic cooperation, Gul said that the biggest projects between the two countries namely Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum made the region more strategic. Gul said that Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project was at the application stage, adding that the project was planned to be finished in Spring 2005.

Gul stated that a new period would start in Azerbaijan by the completion of the project and economic prosperity would develop in a faster way.

Gul remarked that Turkey favoured solution of Upper Karabakh problem by taking basis the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, by peaceful methods and through dialogue. "Karabakh is the matter of us all," he said adding that Turkey was doing what was necessary for solution of the problem.

Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Aleskerov said in his part that the two countries’ having warmer relations was very important, adding that the visit of Gul would contribute significantly to improvement of bilateral relations.

Aleskerov stated that Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project would contribute significantly to development of relations between the two countries. Complaining about the fact that the situation in Upper Karabakh didn’t change despite the U.N. resolutions and the studies of OSCE Minsk group didn’t yield any result, Aleskerov said that "we are very uneasy about it, we want solution of this problem peacefully and within the scope of international laws and territorial integrity." Aleskerov stated that Azerbaijan was pleased with the contributions of Turkey for solution of the problem.

He added that he was also very pleased with the existing good relations between the two parliaments and the reciprocal visits of the delegations.