On November 25, the Press Office of the Azerbaijani President reported that an international conference under the motto "Along the Middle Corridor: Geopolitics, Security and Economy" was held at ADA University. Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, attended the conference.

Regarding the energy policy of Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev stated: "Five years ago, we inaugurated together with our partners the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad project, and now when we see the growing volume of cargo crossing our country, we started to invest in the expansion of the Georgian segment of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars. This project will cost us more than a hundred million US dollars, and we plan to accomplish it within a year and maybe in a year and a half. At the same time, other transportation projects like the North-South corridor will add synergy to the East-West corridor. So, Azerbaijan participates in both corridors, and most of the transportation and logistics infrastructure concerning these corridors in Azerbaijan is ready." 

Regarding its relations with Turkmenistan and energy projects, he added: "Our cooperation with Turkmenistan has a very good history, and today we provide important transit for cargos from Turkmenistan, and even in our Trade Sea Port in Alat we have allocated a special place for particular cargos from Turkmenistan. We started swap operations concerning Turkmen gas. And the reason is that we are now facing growth in our industry and a big need for additional gas volumes. The industry is growing, and the population is growing. We are now in the process of active reconstruction of Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur. Therefore, the demand for natural gas will grow. What is necessary to be done, of course, we will continue our cooperation with foreign oil companies which plan to increase gas production from existing fields and the new fields which will be operational starting next year, particularly the huge gas condensate Absheron field will start production next year. The first phase of production will be 1.5 billion cubic meters. Of course, there is a potential to increase several times the production. At the same time, we need to expand the existing pipeline system, which also is brand new. We just completed less than two years ago the final segment of the Southern Gas Corridor Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). However, already today, we see the demand to expand the capacity twice from ten to twenty bcm. That will need, of course, a consolidated position and investments of all shareholders. Azerbaijan has only a twenty percent share in TAP. Therefore, we hope to get to that point with partners and expand TANAP from 16 to 32 billion cubic meters because the capacity of TANAP is almost fully engaged. So, all that will need, of course, additional investments. Of course, for that, we will need to have the transit arrangements with our Turkish colleagues. Without that, it will not be possible to satisfy European and Turkish consumers' growing needs. There is an opportunity now without losing time to engage the Trans-Balkan pipeline, especially after the interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria was inaugurated last month, and we are ready. The capacity of that pipeline is three bcm. So, we are ready to supply the necessary volumes maybe within one month. But for that, we need a transit arrangement with Turkey; unfortunately, we did not get to that point yet. Negotiations continue. They last longer than we anticipated, but hopefully, we will agree. Because if it is not reached for some reasons, then all our plans to supply additional gas to Turkey and Europe will be under threat." President stated, "For instance, at one of the international events in which I participated relatively recently, there was an agreement signed on the construction of a railroad between China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. This project was on hold for many years. But now everybody understands that there is a need to bring cargo towards the Caspian to engage Trans Caspian opportunities to a large degree. Therefore, this project which is, as far as I know, financed by China, has a great chance to contribute largely to transportation. We have excellent relations with Pakistan, and I know that the Gwadar Port of Pakistan is transforming into a big international hub. And to connect Gwadar Port with our infrastructure is not difficult, just to properly address the issue of tariffs, legal framework, coordination on regulation and to have teamwork."

He said about relations with Iran and Iranian Azerbaijanis: "We will do our best to protect Azerbaijanis living in Iran." President Aliyev pointed out that in October-November, first Iran and then Azerbaijan conducted military exercises on the Iran-Azerbaijani border. He said Azerbaijan had to conduct military exercises on the border with Iran to demonstrate that it is not afraid of them. "I have worked with three presidents of Iran - Khatami, Ahmadinejad, and Rouhani. In all these years, a situation similar to today's has never arisen. Never has Iran held two military exercises on our border within a few months. Never has it been so full of hatred and threats against Azerbaijan. No statement was made," Aliyev added.

About the next meeting in Brussels between leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Aliyev stated, "The next meeting in Brussels was supposed to be held on December 7. Because at the last meeting, we agreed to meet in November, but then we had a meeting in Sochi organized by President Putin at the end of October. So, it was supposed to be held on December 7. However, yesterday I got information from Hikmet Hajiyev that he was communicated from the office of Charles Michel and informed that Prime Minister Pashinyan agrees to the meeting on one condition – that President Macron also should participate. Of course, that means that this meeting will not take place because of what happened after Prague." Aliyev said that Macron attacked official Baku and insulted Azerbaijan and, therefore, should not mediate. "Macron criticized Azerbaijan in his interview and accused us of things we did not commit," Aliyev added. 

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Ilham Aliyev on Iran's Threats to Azerbaijan, Russian Peacekeepers, and Relations with Armenia