President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev hosted an official reception in honor of his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon at Gulustan Palace on Monday.

The two leaders made speeches at the reception.

President Ilham Aliyev called the official visit of his counterpart Emomali Rahmon to Azerbaijan as very successful.

He said: “We consider it as a continuation of the active dialogue begun between our two countries some time ago.”

“Today we have exchanged views on a wide range of issues of great importance for further economic integration, discussed the issues of political interaction, of course, a broad spectrum of bilateral relations and regional problems, and have come to the conclusion that the current dynamics of our relationships will allow us to make a considerable progress in our mutually beneficial cooperation in all fields.”

“During this year, we plan to conduct the Days of Azerbaijani Culture in Tajikistan, and would be very pleased to welcome Tajik artists in our country. I am sure a joint intergovernmental commission to deal with the full spectrum of the bilateral ties, will be set up soon. The embassy of Azerbaijan to Tajikistan is to start working in the near future. All these elements are what allows us to realize our cooperation in a very effective manner and in a very broad context.”

“We regard Tajikistan as a friendly and fraternal state. Our peoples have centuries-old relations of friendship and brotherhood, and we are trying to safeguard and further develop these tradition.”

“We are very satisfied with our countries’ interaction within international organizations; we always support each other, and always come out and vote for each other. It also underlines the friendly character of our relationships.”

“We are convinced that further deepening of our ties will facilitate development of our states, and security reinforcement in the region. Both Tajikistan and Azerbaijan are very important countries in terms of fighting international terror and narcotrafficking. We are actively involved in a variety of projects aiming to reduce risks in the region.”

“Both countries faced very complicated consequences of civil wars as they were being established as independent states. In our case, unfortunately, the war is not yet over. The Azerbaijani lands remain under Armenian occupation - it is twenty percent of our territory. As a result of the policy of ethnic cleansing pursued by the leadership of Armenia against Azerbaijan, more than a million of Azerbaijanis still live as refugees and internally displaced.”

“Four resolutions of the United Nations Security Council demanding immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian occupation forces from our territory, unfortunately, remain unfulfilled. The resolutions of the Council of Europe, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and other authoritative international organizations demanding to put an end to occupation of and aggression against Azerbaijan remain on paper as well.”

“We still intend to continue the process of negotiations considering that it has not yet exhausted its potential, but at the same time, we are actively working on strengthening our economy. The intensive growth of economy seen in Azerbaijan over the past years allows us to cope with both economic and political problems, as well as strengthen defensive capability of our country. Much has been done lately to this end.”

“I think we are able to hasten the day when the Azerbaijani lands are freed from occupation, the day which will definitely come. Historical truth and justice, as well as international law will triumph. To this end, we have to be strong, and we have to be integrated with our friends and partners in the long-term political and economic interaction. To this end, we are participating in large-scale energy and transport projects, and we are the initiators of those projects.”

“Today, we have discussed with Emomali Sharifovich, the issues of cooperation in oil/gas and aluminum industries. We have also informed Tajikistan on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad project, which could serve the interests of the state and people of Tajikistan. We are open about all of our projects, and ready to offer our whole infrastructure and facilities for effective interaction with our Tajik brothers.”

President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon thanked his Azerbaijani counterpart for the “truly fraternal hospitality”.

He said: “We regard the relationships between our countries and peoples, who cherish very kindly feelings for each other, as very valuable, and we are fully determined to safeguard and deepen them for the generations to come.”

“It is gratifying that in the new conditions of independent development of our two countries, the kind traditions of friendship, mutual understanding and trust between our peoples have not lost their significance, and continue on a qualitatively new ground.”

“Taking this opportunity, I would like to state that Tajikistan will continue to take every effort for expansion and deepening of bilateral cooperation for the benefit of the two peoples.”

“Today’s discussion demonstrates the high level of mutual trust, and the both countries’ readiness to achieve qualitative improvement of the cooperation, practically, in all fields. We are convinced that these joint efforts will give a powerful impetus to the bilateral relations, and open broad horizons for the mutually beneficial cooperation, meeting the vital interests of our nations.”