[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 17 (Monday, May 1, 2006)]
[Pages 809-810]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan

April 28, 2006

    President Bush. Mr. President, welcome. We've just had a really 
interesting visit. And we talked about the need to--for the world to see 
a modern Muslim country that is able to provide for its citizens, that 
understands that democracy is the wave of the future. And I appreciate 
your leadership, Mr. President.
    We, obviously, talked about Iran. I assured the President of my 
desire to solve this problem diplomatically and peacefully. I appreciate 
so very much the Government's contribution of support in troops to the 
new democracy in Iraq. I spent time describing to the President a 
meeting I had today via video conference with our Ambassador and General 
Casey--very important for me to bring our ally up to date on the 
progress that's being made on the ground there. I shared with him my 
hope that the national unity Government will help achieve the objective 
we all want, which is peace and democracy.
    And we, of course, talked about energy. And I appreciate the vision 
of the Government and the vision of the President in helping this world 
achieve what we all want, which is energy security. Azerbaijan has got a 
very important role to play. And we discussed internal politics, and we 
discussed politics of the neighborhood as well, particularly relations 
with Armenia.
    I appreciate very much the candid discussion. I thank you for 
sharing your thoughts with me, and thank you for our alliance. And 
welcome.
    President Aliyev. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I am very 
grateful for the invitation. I'm very glad to be in Washington and have 
an opportunity to discuss with you the issues of bilateral relations. 
I'm sure that our relations of strategic partnership will strengthen in 
the future.
    We covered all the aspects of our bilateral relations. We are very 
grateful for the leadership of the United States in promotion of the 
energy security issues in the region, in assisting us to create a solid 
transportation infrastructure which will allow to develop a full-scale 
Caspian oil and gas reserves and to deliver them to the international 
markets.
    We are allies in the war on terror. We've been from the very first 
day, shoulder to shoulder with the United States in the peacekeeping 
operations in various parts of the world, and will continue to 
contribute to the creation of peace and stability in the region.
    Of course, the issues of resolution of Armenia and Azerbaijan, 
Nagorno-Karabakh are also in the center of our discussions and we--I 
informed Mr. President with the latest status of the negotiations and 
expressed my hope that a peaceful settlement of the conflict will happen 
and will serve to the peace and stability in the whole region.

[[Page 810]]

    In general, I'd like to say that I'm very satisfied with my visit, 
and I consider this as instrumental in the future development of 
Azerbaijan as a modern, secular, democratic country. We share the same 
values. We are grateful for United States assistance in promotion of 
political process, process of democratization of our society, and very 
committed to continue this cooperation in the future.
    Thank you very much, Mr. President.
    President Bush. One final word. I forgot to mention, I do want to 
congratulate the President and the First Lady on the marriage of their 
daughter this weekend. It's a major sacrifice for the President to be 
here during the planning phases of the wedding. And we wish you and the 
First Lady all the best, and more importantly, we wish your daughter all 
the best.
    President Aliyev. Thank you, Mr. President.
    President Bush. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 10:49 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay 
Khalilzad; Gen. George W. Casey, Jr., USA, commanding general, Multi-
National Force--Iraq; and President Aliyev's wife, Mehriban Aliyeva, and 
daughter, Leyla Aliyeva.