Baku, Azerbaijan, May 29
Trend:
President of France Francois Hollande has sent a congratulatory letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of the Republic Day.
"I cordially congratulate you with the national holiday - the Republic Day. I wish the Azerbaijani people peace, prosperity and well-being. I once again express gratitude for the hospitality during my visit to Baku on 25 April," French president said in his congratulatory letter.
Hollande said he is pleased with the further development of the bilateral cooperation based on the trust and friendship in recent years.
"I wish more development and diversification of our mutual partnership. Azerbaijan-French University, the main principles of which were agreed by us during my last visit to your country, is very important in terms of benefiting the youth of both countries", said the letter.
Furthermore he added that as a co-chairing country of OSCE Minsk Group, France will continue being committed to its obligations on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through negotiations.
Hollande added that this conflict has been continuing for a long time and hinders the development of the Caucasus region.
"As I said during the Riga summit of the Eastern Partnership, I support the continuation and strengthening of relations between the European Union and Azerbaijan on the basis of the mutual respect for each partner," said Hollande.
"From this point of view, I wish the negotiations aimed at modernization of the strategic partnership to start soon," he added.