Baku, November 14, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, first lady Mehrıban Aliyeva and their daughter Leyla Aliyeva have met with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Welcoming Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Your Holiness, I want to say “Welcome” to you again. I am very glad to see you again.

Thank you for attending the Summit of World Religious Leaders. Your participation in this event makes it particularly significant. I listened carefully to your amazing speech. I fully agree with your theses, with the assessment of the situation and with what needs to be done in order to protect traditional values, protect the principles of world religions and develop inter-religious dialogue. I think that today's event is very important for the whole world because the Summit of Religious Leaders of the World, which takes place in such a format and with such participants, reflects the mood of the leaders of world religions, the sentiments aimed at cooperation. A lot depends on the word of representatives of world religions. A word can heal, a word can hurt, a word can kill. Therefore, the consensus that was voiced in all the speeches today inspires optimism that we will jointly promote the values of humanism, cooperation, peace and mutual understanding.

Of course, Azerbaijan plays an important role in this direction. I said in my speech that we host many humanitarian events related to the development of intercultural dialogue, but today event is quite special. And the joy of this event comes exactly from the participation of such prominent representatives and leaders of world religions. Thank you again for taking the time to attend this event. Also today, Mehriban and I recalled all our meetings in both Baku and Moscow. I would like to once again express highest consideration from the entire Azerbaijani people. We know that you are very kind to us, to our country, and have repeatedly visited us. Thank you again and we hope to see you again soon.

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Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said:

- I sincerely thank you, Mr. President, dear Ilham Heydarovich. For me, visiting Baku is always associated with positive emotions only. Sometimes we ask ourselves the question why we like or dislike a place. Probably the answer is that it all depends on what we are experiencing visiting this or that place. Baku is surprising in many ways. I visited Baku in Soviet times and I remember this city. What you see now is like day and night. This, of course, testifies to the enormous development that has taken place and is taking place in your country under your leadership. Of course, Azerbaijan is not a poor country, but we know examples when the availability of money does not help development. And here we really see that investments are being made to make life better, for people to live better, but I would like to emphasize the appearance again. Baku, of course, is evidence of great progress.

I would also like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to meet with representatives of world religions. It seems to me that the most important thing that we should learn from such meetings is that there can be no consensus either at the political level or at the philosophical level. There is only one basis for global consensus - it is morality. Because morality is universal. If we proceed from the fact that morality is universal and the concepts of good and evil are the same for all mankind, first, of course, this indicates that God exists. Because from the materialistic point of view it would have been impossible to have a single morality with such a colossal diversity of human cultures. But since there is a single common morality, it also presents us with the opportunity to communicate and create a real community and achieve the goals we face. The statesmen who understand the importance of this moral and religious factor deserve deep respect, of course.

Once again, I would like to cordially congratulate you on the achievements that are simply obvious, the achievements of your people, the country under your leadership, and wish you God's help in your future work, blessings to your wonderful family whom I have not only met but also got very internally and spiritually close to.

Let everything facilitate your endeavors aimed at the prosperity of your people and country. May God grant that the relations between Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation develop further. Indeed, our countries interact very closely. You know how big the Azerbaijani diaspora is in Moscow. This is a significant part of our Moscow life. May God allow for all these factors to work for the common good. I sincerely thank you for your hospitality.

Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much.