Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to BiH Eldar Humbat Oglu Hasanov told reporters in Sarajevo today that Azerbaijan and Bosnia and Herzegovina are partners, friendly and fraternal countries.
“Our histories have had similarities in problems, and both of our countries were part of some larger state,” said Ambassador Hasanov, who was one of the participants of the conference “How to Connect the East and the West” organized by the Association of Independent Intellectuals “Circle 99” on the occasion the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan and the 75th anniversary of the restoration of the BiH statehood.
Today, he said, “we are developing in the fields of economy, politics, culture, science, education, tourism …” He added that Azerbaijan cooperates with BiH in the sphere of energy, citing projects like TANAP and TAP.
“Azerbaijan was, it is and will be a worthy friend to the people of BiH,” said Ambassador Hasanov and wished citizens of BiH prosperity, peace, dialogue, cooperation, and success.
President of “Circle 99” Adil Kulenović said that the sessions, held on the occasion of the centenary of the Republic of Azerbaijan and 75 years of restoration of the Bosnian statehood at the session of ZAVNOBIH in 1943, are coming at a time of worrying turbulences in the modern world.
“Both Azerbaijan and BiH, which are often treated as the West to the East and the East to the West, and must be sensible politically, economically and culturally, globally speaking, the relations of the East and the West, the linking of the East and the West, for the sake of peace in the world, but also preserving the stability of our own countries,” said Kulenović.
He assessed that Baku and Sarajevo have a long tradition of mutual connections and development of good and friendly relations.
Academician Slavo Kukić told reporters that BiH and Azerbaijan shared a common fate over the past 100 years, “because both of them were in state alliances and emerged out of them carrying their own wounds.”
He added that Azerbaijan today has Nagorno Karabakh as its wound, “while BiH has its politicians from the top of the state pyramid who today say that they are just working here, but that their homeland is somewhere else.”
“I personally believe that both Azerbaijan and Bosnia and Herzegovina will overcome these wounds and that they will manage to build normal societies respecting what their citizens want,” said Kukić.
(Source: Fena, photo TV1)
