BAKU - State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener participated on Friday in oath taking ceremony of new Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Aliyev took an oath for being the new Azerbaijani President after he won the presidential elections on October 15 with the ceremony in Baku.
Stating that the basic factor in development of his country was policies of former President Haydar Aliyev, he said that he would carry on policies of Haydar Aliyev.
Ilham Aliyev said that stability was of great importance for foreign capital and investments and noted that 40 percent of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline project was completed.
Stating that totally 1 billion 200 million U.S. dollars of investment had been made in BTC pipeline project so far and stated that Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural gas pipeline project entered the process of being put into practice.
Touching on Upper Karabakh issue, Aliyev said that the problem should be solved within the scope of international law and stated that nearly 1 million refugees should be returned to their own territories.
Aliyev said that territorial integrity should be provided in his country and stated that they would not accept occupation of their territories. He added that they wanted a peaceful solution to the issue.
Stating that they had a powerful army, Aliyev said that they would carry on structuring the army.
Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, Russian Federation Council Chairman Sergei Mironov also attended the ceremony.
(EÖ-AÖ) 31.10.2003