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Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by Foreign Minister of Greece Nikos Kotzias on February 3, Azertac state news agency reported.

President Aliyev expressed confidence that Kotzias’s Baku visit would be important in terms of the strengthening of relations between the two countries.

Hailing ties between Azerbaijan and Greece, the head of state noted that during the visit the issues related to the further development of the cooperation in a number of fields would be discussed.

Recalling the official visits of two Greek presidents to Azerbaijan and his two official visits to Greece, President Aliyev described this as a good sign of relations. The head of state stressed the importance of developing bilateral ties between the two countries even further.

Noting that Azerbaijan and Greece have a long history and unique culture, Kotzias said the two countries` peoples shared a number of common values, and underlined the significance of effectively using this potential for further development of relations.

They exchanged views over the development of bilateral ties between the two countries in a variety of fields, the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and other issues.

During the Baku visit, the Greek official also met with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov. Following the meeting, the ministers held a press conference.

Mammadyarov highlighted the existence of beneficial cooperation between Azerbaijan and Greece. The Minister also said they discussed bilateral and regional cooperation.

The discussions also focused on issues related to bonds within the European Union and cooperation in the field of energy.

Greece believes that Azerbaijani gas will reach Europe in the next two-three years, Kotzias said at a briefing after talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart.

“Greece plans to receive Azerbaijani gas and has already resolved all issues related to the infrastructure. We hope that we will get Azerbaijani gas in the coming years,” he said.

The official further noted that Greece considers it important to use the TAP project and to transport Azerbaijani gas to Europe.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.

At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor project. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.

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