Baku, August 8, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has hosted an official reception in honor of President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.

The heads of state made speeches at the reception.

Addressing the reception, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Dear Gurbanguly Malikguluyevich,

Dear friends!

First of all, let me welcome you and the delegation you are leading to Azerbaijan again - you are welcome!

Our peoples share deep historical roots, spiritual and cultural values. The traditional relations of friendship and brotherhood between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan rely on such a strong foundation.

In recent years, Turkmenistan has passed a successful path of development under your leadership, and earned a high reputation in the international arena. The successes your dynamically developing country has achieved cover the spheres of state building, social, economic, humanitarian and other areas. We are inspired by these successes of fraternal Turkmenistan.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. I am pleased to note that during these years our cooperation, covering various spheres, served the interests of our countries and the well-being of our peoples.

Today, there are good opportunities for raising Azerbaijani-Turkmen relations of mutual confidence in the economic, trade, transport, humanitarian and other spheres to a qualitatively new level. I am sure that our meetings, discussions, the documents signed and the Declaration on Strategic Partnership will contribute to the development and expansion of our cooperation.

Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan effectively cooperate in a multilateral format. This is evidenced by mutual support for the initiatives being put forward within the framework of international organizations.

I should also note that Azerbaijan was a co-author of the resolution on "Permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan" unanimously adopted at the June plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly.

I would like to emphasize our cooperation in the energy sector. We intend to further deepen our work in this area, and there are all the possibilities for that.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which is to be commissioned in the near future as the shortest, safe and economically efficient link between Europe and Asia, creates new transit opportunities for our countries.

Today, new sea ports are under construction both in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. This will further expand our transport capabilities in the future.

We consider the Caspian Sea to be a sea of friendship, peace, security and cooperation. Azerbaijan is paying special attention to the development of bilateral relations with Caspian littoral countries on the basis of mutual respect and trust.

Azerbaijan is in favor of speeding up the alignment of the basic principles of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea by way of discussions and consultations both in multilateral and bilateral formats.

Taking into account the historical and cultural ties between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, the strengthening of our cooperation in the fields of culture, art, science, education, youth and sports is of great importance.

Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan successfully cooperate within the framework of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. 2017 was declared a "Year of Islamic Solidarity" in Azerbaijan. At the same time, the Fourth Games of Islamic solidarity were held in Baku in May of this year. They were joined by more than 50 countries. This is our contribution to Islamic solidarity.

In September 2017, the city of Ashgabat will host the Fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. I am sure that the Asian Games will serve to further strengthen the ties between the peoples living in this geographical area and give an impetus to the further development of cultural cooperation. Congratulations on this occasion! I am confident that these Games will be held at the highest level.