Baku, August 8, AZERTAC

Following the official welcome ceremony, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow have held a one-on-one meeting.

The heads of state made speeches at the meeting.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Dear Gurbanguly Malikguluyevich,

Welcome to Azerbaijan. I sincerely greet you. We attach very great importance to your visit. I am confident that your visit will be a very significant step in the development of Turkmen-Azerbaijani friendship and brotherly relations.

Our peoples are bound by history. For centuries we lived together, we were friends, and co-existed in an environment of brotherhood. Today we are successfully developing as two independent states. Your visit will give new dynamics to our relations. We successfully cooperate in a number of areas and this cooperation will deepen. There are very good opportunities for development and cooperation in political, economic, humanitarian, cultural, transport and other areas.

Once more I sincerely greet you, and say “Welcome”. I am sure that your visit will be very successful.

x x x

President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow said:

- Dear brother, let me thank you on behalf of our entire delegation for the invitation to visit Azerbaijan.

This visit is of great importance. One of the main postulates of politics is to maintain good relationship with neighbors. These relations depend on how the multilateral cooperation and mutual activities are realized in various areas.

Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan relations are now experiencing a new stage and have acquired a new meaning. This is felt both in political and economic, as well as in cultural and humanitarian areas. It should be noted that both Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are doing everything for the sake of global security, prosperity, stability and development. In order to implement this policy, our countries are interacting and supporting each other in the United Nations, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other influential international organizations.

We are grateful for your constant support of Turkmenistan’s policy which is based on neutrality. As far as trade and economic relations are concerned, by implementing huge projects in energy, transport and other areas both Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan play a special role not only in the region, but also at the international scale. This is not confined just to contribution to the development of the two countries or regional development as the projects implemented by our countries have great significance and play a certain role in the world as well.

As regards cultural and humanitarian areas, you rightly noted that the roots of our languages, history, and spiritual values date back centuries, they are closely related to each other and are similar. Protecting and handing all this down to next generations is of crucial importance.

Dear brother, esteemed Mr. President, I wish you great success in your state activity and in your efforts towards strengthening Turkmen-Azerbaijani relations and ensuring Azerbaijan`s development.

Using this opportunity, I would like to invite you to attend a solemn opening ceremony of the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games to be held in Ashgabat. The opening will take place on September 17. I feel honored to invite you and members of your delegation.

I wish the brotherly people of Azerbaijan great success in development and prosperity. Once more I express my deep gratitude to you for inviting us to your beautiful country.