Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev congratulated Naoto Kan with appointment as Prime Minister of Japan, AzerTaj state news agency reported.
"The current level of development of Azerbaijan-Japan relations is encouraging. I hope that our bilateral relations and multilateral ties of friendship, fruitful cooperation in many spheres of mutual interest, will be continuously developed and strengthened in accordance with the interests of our peoples. I wish you sound health, happiness and success in the upcoming activities for the benefit of friendly people of Japan," a message said.