Day.Az interview with Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles Elin Suleymanov

- How do you assess events held in a number of countries worldwide to mark 18th anniversary of the Khojaly Genocide? To what extent these events were helpful to inform people around the world about true reasons and consequences of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?
- The world is already aware of Khojaly tragedy due to events organized in many countries. This is result of joint efforts by public authorities, NGOs, Diaspora organizations and individuals united by a desire to voice truth about the terrible days in February 1992.

Azerbaijani Presidential Spokesman Azer Gasimov gave Day.Az a comment regarding Armenian FM's statement.
Mr. Gasimov, what are your comments on Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian's recent statement, which he made in a joint press conference with the Spanish Foreign Minister, in which he expressed his dissatisfaction with Azerbaijan's statements on a possible use of force to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict? Moreover, the Armenian diplomat said:

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy's chief foreign policy adviser Jean-David Levitte during his visit to Paris, which begins March 5, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Elkhan Polukhov said.

Day.Az interview with Tofiq Abbasov, a political expert with the Azerbaijan-based Lider TV.

- Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John R. Bolton, speaking at the American Enterprise Institute, said that the U.S. will not take any steps to solve the frozen conflicts in post-Soviet area. How do you comment on this statement?
- To begin with, Former U.S. envoy to the United Nations John R. Bolton is one of the "hawks" who always took a very radical stance on issues related to strategic interests of the United States.

It seems Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian's fame is giving no peace to the country's Finance Minister Tigran Davtyan.
All had long been accustomed to regular fantastic and comic statements by the foreign minister. He has outperformed other Armenian ministers in this respect. But some people who apparently cannot tolerate such a state of affairs have literally decided to grab the palm from Nalbandian.

Azerbaijan's First Lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, UNESCO and ISESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mehriban Aliyeva was awarded with the Officer rank of the Legion of Honor by the French President's order.
French leader Nicolas Sarkozy has sent a congratulatory letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the occasion, saying Mehriban Aliyeva was awarded with the order for outstanding service and loyalty to France.

On Feb. 17, Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) assigned Ba1 corporate family (CFR) and Probability of Default (PDR) ratings to the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR).
The outlook on the ratings is stable, Moody's reported.
A one-notch downgrade of Azerbaijan's sovereign rating from the current rating of Ba1 would result in one notch downgrade of SOCAR's corporate family rating, assuming unchanged support and dependence factors.

Senior research fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of World Economy and International Relations Alexander Krylov says there was no normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia from the very beginning.
Krylov believes that the process of normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations should not be taken seriously, because no one has approached this issue in a fundamental manner so far.

Day.Az interview with well-known Russian political expert, founder of the Russia-based National Strategy Institute Stanislav Belkovski.

- The Armenia-Turkey normalization process were stalled after Armenian Constitutional Court adopted the protocols with reservations. Some experts argue that difficult, but obvious process of ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocols is underway and some say that Ankara-Yerevan dialogue has failed. What do you think about this?

Even if the Armenian parliament ratifies the Armenian-Turkish protocols, we can hardly expect an equivalent response from the Turkish parliament, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University Director Svante Cornell said.