Baku, March 10, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today received a delegation led by Minister of State for Gulf Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Thamer Al-Sabhan.

The head of state hailed Azerbaijan-Saudi Arabia bilateral relations as excellent. Recalling with pleasure his official visit to Saudi Arabia, hospitality shown to him and negotiations held during the visit, President Ilham Aliyev described all this as a good indicator of friendship between the two countries.

The head of state hailed the two countries' successful cooperation in a number of areas, saying Azerbaijan-Saudi Arabia enjoy excellent bilateral cooperation within international organizations too.

Saying Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with Armenia in connection with the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the occupation of the Azerbaijani lands, President Ilham Aliyev once again expressed his gratitude to Saudi Arabia for the brotherly attitude.

Praising excellent Azerbaijan-Saudi Arabia political relations, President Ilham Aliyev underlined the importance of focusing on economic cooperation, in particular, development of mutual trade. Hailing good prospects in this area, the head of state expressed his confidence that all these and other issues will be discussed during the visit of Saudi Minister of State for Gulf Affairs Thamer Al-Sabhan to the country.

Minister of State Thamer Al-Sabhan conveyed the greetings of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King of Saudi Arabia Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad bin Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud to President Ilham Aliyev. He said that Saudi Arabia's stance on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unchanged.

Thamer Al-Sabhan underlined his country's keenness to develop bilateral and multilateral cooperation with Azerbaijan in all spheres.

He noted that reciprocal visits between the two countries' officials will give an impetus to the expansion of bilateral ties.

The head of state thanked for the greetings of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King of Saudi Arabia Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad bin Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud and asked the Minister of State to extend his greetings to the King and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.