Cholpon-Ata, July 31, AZERTAC

An award ceremony for the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan was held on July 31.

Addressing the event President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov said:

- Dear Ilham Heydarovich,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Modern Azerbaijan is a strong and influential state playing an important role in regional and international affairs. Over the years of your leadership, Azerbaijan has achieved significant success in strengthening its statehood, developing the economy, and implementing large-scale projects. Thanks to your support and unwavering commitment to bringing our nations closer together, our brotherly countries have forged a genuine strategic partnership based on strong bonds of friendship and mutual trust.

Today, our relations have reached a qualitatively new level and have evolved into an alliance. Your role in the development of ties between Central Asia and the South Caucasus is of particular importance. Azerbaijan's participation in the Consultative Meetings of the Heads of State of Central Asia opens up new opportunities for expanding cooperation in the trade, economic, transport, and energy spheres. You also consistently use your influence to promote lasting peace, strengthen stability, and create a new atmosphere of cooperation in the region.

Your commitment to strengthening friendship between our countries commands deep respect from the Kyrgyz people. It is for this reason that I decided to award my dear friend and brother, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, His Excellency Ilham Heydarovich Aliyev, the highest state award of the Kyrgyz Republic—the “Manas” Order.

This high award recognizes your outstanding personal contribution to strengthening Kyrgyz-Azerbaijani relations.

On behalf of the people of the Kyrgyz Republic and on my own behalf, I cordially congratulate you on receiving this high award. I wish you robust health, well-being, and continued success in your state duties, and peace and prosperity to the brotherly people of Azerbaijan.

Dear Ilham Heydarovich, allow me to present you with the “Manas” Order.

x x x

Then, the Decree of President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov awarding President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev the 1st Class "Manas" Order for his significant contribution to the development of strategic partnership between the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Azerbaijan and the strengthening of friendship between the peoples of the two countries was read out.

President Sadyr Zhaparov conferred the 1st Class "Manas" Order upon the Azerbaijani leader.

x x x

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in his remarks:

- Dear Sadyr Nurgozhoevich.

Dear friends.

First of all, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this high award. I regard it as recognition of my efforts to strengthen the brotherly ties between Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan.

Over the years of our cooperation, our countries have travelled a long and glorious path, elevating our interstate relations to the level of a strategic alliance. There is no higher level of interstate relations than this. I am deeply grateful to you for your personal contribution to strengthening the relations between our two brotherly countries.

Our close friendship and brotherly relations serve as an important driving force behind the successful development of cooperation between our countries.

I would also like to express my sincere gratitude for your kind words and for this high order. I wish to assure you that, in the years ahead as well, I will spare no effort to ensure the steady development of Azerbaijan-Kyrgyzstan relations for the benefit of our countries and peoples.

Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for such a high award.

x x x

Then, the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan awarding President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov the Heydar Aliyev Order in recognition of his special contribution to strengthening the friendly and brotherly ties and partnership between Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan was read out.

x x x

Speaking at the event, President Ilham Aliyev said: Before presenting this high award, Sadyr Nurgozhoevich, I would like to once again personally congratulate you, your team, and the brotherly people of Kyrgyzstan on the historic achievements your country has attained under your leadership.

This is not my first visit to Kyrgyzstan, but it is during your presidency that our contacts have become regular. If we count my visits to Kyrgyzstan and the visits of Sadyr Nurgozhoevich to Azerbaijan, they have probably exceeded ten.

All of this, however, has taken place since the brotherly people of Kyrgyzstan entrusted you with the high office of President of the Republic. The transformations are visible to everyone. They are evident both to friends and to foreign visitors who come here and see them with their own eyes. They are impossible to overlook. Even what we are witnessing today here in the Issyk-Kul region would have been impossible to imagine before Sadyr Nurgozhoevich assumed the leadership of Kyrgyzstan.

Today, this beautiful corner of Kyrgyzstan is undergoing unprecedented development. Never before has this region witnessed such rapid progress within such a short period of time. This is your personal achievement, reflecting your devotion to your people, your roots, the rich spiritual values of the Kyrgyz people, and your determination to lead Kyrgyzstan to a new level of development. You have succeeded in doing so. Today, the international standing of your country is higher than ever, as evidenced by Kyrgyzstan's election to the highest international body.

Economic and social development, the care you show for the Kyrgyz people, and the reverse migration taking place today—not from Kyrgyzstan abroad, but from abroad to Kyrgyzstan—all of this would have been impossible without your personal involvement, your decisions, and your vision for the future.

I have visited Bishkek many times, and this is not my first visit to the beautiful shores of Issyk-Kul. I can confidently say that progress is taking place throughout the country. The people of Kyrgyzstan, of course, know this better than anyone else, and I believe that the broad popular support you enjoy is the principal outcome of your work and, perhaps, its greatest reward. For its part, Azerbaijan highly appreciates your contribution both to the development of Kyrgyzstan and to the strengthening of the brotherly relations between our countries. By the decree I have just signed, which has now been read out, you have been awarded Azerbaijan's highest state decoration—the Heydar Aliyev Order.

Allow me to present this high award to you.

x x x

President Ilham Aliyev then conferred the Heydar Aliyev Order upon President Sadyr Zhaparov.

x x x

President Sadyr Zhaparov said: Dear Ilham Heydarovich,

Allow me to express my sincere gratitude for this token of respect and friendship. It is a great honor for me to receive from your hands one of the highest state awards of the Republic of Azerbaijan—the Heydar Aliyev Order. This award holds special significance for me, as it bears the name of an outstanding statesman and a great son of the Azerbaijani people who laid the foundations of modern Kyrgyz-Azerbaijani relations.

I regard this order as a symbol of the strong ties between our peoples and of our shared commitment to strengthening our strategic partnership and allied relations. Thank you for this meaningful gesture, for your attention to Kyrgyzstan, and for your unwavering commitment to bringing our peoples closer together.

Thank you.