The leaders of the U.K. and Azerbaijan agreed on the importance of bilateral relations and 鈥渙f our cooperation on issues of shared interest, including regional security and energy,鈥� a government statement said Thursday.
The statement came following a meeting between Prime Minister Theresa May and Azerbaijan鈥檚 President Ilham Aliyev in London.
May expressed her pleasure that Aliyev had chosen to visit the U.K. so soon after his inauguration after elections in Azerbaijan earlier this month.
The leaders "agreed on the importance of the U.K.-Azerbaijan relationship and of our cooperation on issues of shared interest including regional security and energy,鈥� the statement said.
May and Aliyev 鈥渘oted the commercial opportunities presented by our close ties, underlined by the sixth Production Sharing Agreement between BP and SOCAR which they witnessed being signed following the meeting.鈥�
The two leaders also discussed matters of regional and global security, and 鈥渁greed on the need to restore international norms against chemical weapons use鈥�.
鈥淭he prime minister thanked President Aliyev for Azerbaijan鈥檚 continued contributions to regional security, including through its support to the NATO mission in Afghanistan,鈥� the statement added.
鈥淭hey spoke about the threat to security posed by foreign fighters returning from Syria and Iraq, and agreed on the importance of continued close cooperation and information sharing between our security services,鈥� it said.
During the meeting, May and Aliyev also talked about 鈥渄emocracy and human rights in Azerbaijan鈥�, and also 鈥渁greed that the U.K. and Azerbaijan would continue to work to address concerns both bilaterally and through multilateral organizations in order to support sustainable development and modernization in Azerbaijan.鈥�
By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal in London
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr