Opening a sports complex in the city of Masally, 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of the capital Baku, Aliyev said Azerbaijan was the first former Soviet republic to formally express an interest in holding the games.

"A few years ago we would not have thought of this, but today the country's sports potential and the growing economic might of Azerbaijan allows us to do so," he said.

Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has built 11 Olympic-grade sports facilities since 2000 and is building or planning 14 more.

The Caucasus nation enjoys revenue from abundant oil and gas resources of the Caspian Sea, but is locked in a debilitating dispute with neighboring Armenia over Nagorno Karabakh, a mountainous area that has been controlled by Armenian forces since the end of a six-year war in 1994.

Bid cities must submit a letter of interest to the International Olympic Committee by Sept. 15. The host city will be chosen in 2009. The Associated Press

/The International Herald Tribune/