Azerbaijan's President To Visit Germany This Week

BAKU, Aug 23 (AFP) - Ilham Aliyev, president of the oil-rich former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, is due to travel to Germany Tuesday for his first state visit there, an official in his administration told AFP Monday.
The 42-year-old Azeri leader, who succeeded his father as president last year, will say in Germany until Thursday, the official said, but he did not give any further details of the visit.
Azerbaijan is a mainly Muslim nation of about eight million people which borders Iran, Russia and Turkey. It has sizeable oil deposits which it is starting to export to world markets.
Its pro-Western and secular government has said it wants to move the country closer to European institutions.
On a visit to Azerbaijan in April this year, Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer told the country's rulers they needed to improve their performance on democracy and human rights.