Baku, March 5, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkiye Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Welcoming the Turkish Foreign Minister, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Welcome, dear Mevlut bey. Welcome to your homeland. I am glad to have the opportunity to meet again.

Of course, we will exchange views on the future development of Turkish-Azerbaijani allied relations today. In three months, we will celebrate the first anniversary of the Shusha Declaration. This is a historic document. As a matter of fact, Turkish-Azerbaijani relations have always been at the level of alliance, and alliance is in the hearts of our peoples. We simply confirmed this in Shusha last year.

Today and in the years to come, Turkish-Azerbaijani fraternal relations will always be of great importance for both our peoples and the region. Because our relations are of great importance not only in the bilateral format, but also for regional security. Through joint efforts, Turkey and Azerbaijan are contributing to the future development of our region, ensuring security and well-being of our peoples. Our relations are so diverse that it will take a long time to list each aspects of these relations. We are literally allies and brothers, and there is no relationship in the world that would be similar to ours. There are no other countries in the world that would be more attached to each other than Turkey and Azerbaijan. This is our great asset, and we are protecting and strengthening it. We are ready for any situation and always stand with each other.

This is why it is a great pleasure for me to see you today. As you know, we are in constant contact with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. We are in constant telephone contact, we meet and take our steps together. Welcome again!

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Mevlut Cavusoglu: Mr. President, first of all, thank you for receiving us. I want to express my gratitude to you. I would like to convey the sincere greetings of your brother, President Erdogan, with whom you are always in touch. When I went to Brussels two days ago and told him that I would travel to Baku from there, he said, “We always meet with my brother anyway, but do give him my regards.”

Mr. President, it was your idea to prepare and sign the Shusha Declaration. My brother Jeyhun and I worked on it, and about a year ago, nine months ago, you signed it with your brother, President Erdogan. The endorsement of this document by both national assemblies about a month ago, with a difference of two days, further strengthened the resolve you have expressed. It was important that representatives of our people also voted for it. We coordinated the process together on your orders.

The Shusha Declaration – indeed, we are already natural allies anyway – is well worthy of one nation, two states. Mr. President, we have only made it official with your signatures. We are working hard with our brothers to implement the issues reflected in it. Not only foreign ministers but also all our agencies are working, as we must take concrete steps. As you said, the strengthening of relations between us will be very useful not only for reinforcing the relations between our two countries and peoples, but also for the stability and peace in the region. For this reason, we will work in trilateral and quadrilateral formats to ensure that the issues contained in the Shusha Declaration are reflected in our relations with the countries of the region.

Of course, important processes are taking place in our region, and these processes have implications. In addition, there are important projects that you will implement, including the Zangazur Corridor. I came to Baku today to provide information about the work we have done on all these issues and to evaluate what further steps we will take together.

Thank you very much for your time. Thank you again, Mr. President.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you.

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President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev thanked for Recep Tayyip Erdogan`s greetings, and asked the minister to extend his greetings to the Turkish President.