I wish you all the best as you begin your third term as President of Azerbaijan. I look forward to continuing our conversation about important issues in our strategic partnership. Our bilateral relationship, now more than two decades old, has made significant contributions to regional stability. We have welcomed Azerbaijan's impressive economic and social progress in this period, and we remain committed to strengthening our partnership and deepening cooperation on our common challenges.
The United States and Azerbaijan cooperate closely on a wide range of issues both bilaterally and, recently, in the United Nations Security Council. We appreciate your partnership in Afghanistan and our cooperation to combat terrorism. We stand ready to work with you to seize the historic opportunity to find a peaceful, negotiated resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and we welcome the decision you and President Sargsian have made to meet later this month. We remain committed to supporting development of the Southern Energy Corridor, bolstering reforms to advance economic diversification, and strengthening regional stability and security.
To achieve the full potential of our cooperation and partnership, we hope Azerbaijan will strengthen the democratic processes that are so important to ensure your country's long-term stability and prosperity. As we noted following the election, we encourage Azerbaijan to take steps to deepen respect for the universal freedoms of association, assembly, and expression; to promote political pluralism and judicial independence; and to strengthen the electoral system. Our partnership with Azerbaijan itself will continue to grow ever stronger for these efforts.
I look forward to our continued close cooperation and wish you and the people of Azerbaijan peace and success following the twenty-second anniversary of the restoration of your independence.
Politics
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Aide to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev is on a visit to Iran, where he met with Adviser to the President of the Islamic Republic Mehdi Sanayi.
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On January 31, the trial of opposition politician Tofig Yagublu continued at the Baku Serious Crimes Court, where the examination of documents resumed. Yagublu pointed out the falsification of the search protocols related to the search at his home. He drew attention to the fact that the protocol stated that on December 14, 2023, at 16:00, the investigator completed the questioning of the "victim" and decided to conduct a search.
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Elvin Zeynalov, a religious activist living in the village of Mashtaga, was detained on January 31 around noon by individuals in plain clothes outside a store near his home. According to his relatives, later in the evening, Zeynalov was brought back home by people in black clothing, who conducted a search. They took Zeynalov's pants from the wardrobe, put marijuana in the pocket, then "seized" the drugs, filmed the video, and then took the activist away again.
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During the winter session of PACE at the Palais de l'Europe in Strasbourg, a "parallel event" was held on January 30 dedicated to the "alarming human rights crisis in Azerbaijan." The hearings were organized by the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) and PACE member, co-chair of the Group of Unified European Left (Group of the Unified European), Spanish parliamentarian Laura Castel Fort.
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