Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 13
Trend: The 21st century will be the century of Turkic world, and Azerbaijan and Turkey have undertaken the leadership in this direction, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said, Turkish TV channel TRT Haber reported on Nov. 13.
Azerbaijani President made the remarks at a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following the third meeting of the Supreme Council on Strategic Partnership between Azerbaijan and Turkey.
"I am very happy to be back to fraternal Turkey. I am very grateful for your congratulations on the presidential elections. And naturally, after the presidential elections, my first official visit by tradition was to Turkey. This is a tradition. We have created this tradition, and I am sure that those who will come after us will remain loyal to it," the Head of Azerbaijani State said.
According to President Aliyev, Azerbaijan and Turkey are the closest countries in the world. It is difficult to find two other countries in the world, which were so connected with each other, which supported each other so much.
"This support strengthens us. Development of Turkey is our development. Today I have congratulated my dear brother, the Prime Minister with all the progresses achieved in recent years under his leadership. These are historic successes, great successes," the President of Azerbaijan underscored.
President Aliyev said that over the past 10 years, Turkey has come a long and worthy way.
"Turkey was able to adequately get out from the economic plight. Today on the global scale, Turkey stands alongside with the most powerful countries and is a member of the G20. Turkey's opportunities to influence the processes taking place in the world are gradually expanding, and will grow even more in the future," Azerbaijani President said. "No initiative can be implemented in the region without Turkey's consent. This makes us happy, strengthens us. We, in our turn, make efforts for relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey to continue developing. Today's meeting of the Supreme Council on Strategic Partnership is a manifestation of this unity".
According to President Aliyev, two issues were resolved during the meeting. This demonstrates that the respect, love and commitment of Azerbaijan and Turkey towards each other are so strong that any issue can be easily settled.
President Aliyev said Azerbaijan and Turkey should develop interstate relations, relations between entrepreneurs and cultural ties.
"As the fate willed, we have been separated for 70 years. But this could not extinguish the love in the hearts of our peoples," President Aliyev said.
According to the President, Turkey has become the first country to recognize Azerbaijan's independence.
"From that day on we have been constantly feeling the support of Turkey. This gives us additional strength. We always rely on Turkey, trust it, especially in a very important issue for us - the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," President Ilham Aliyev said. "We are confident that Turkey will always be with us in this matter. As you know, for many years, our lands have been under occupation. Four UN Security Council resolutions are not fulfilled, and the injustice continues. Today, in some cases, they speak about the inaction of the Security Council, that is, it is accused of not taking decisions. However, in our issue a decision has been made, there are simply no mechanisms for implementation of this decision".
According to Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan should be even stronger to restore its territorial integrity.
"We will do it. We are working on these issues, and the Turkish-Azerbaijani relations further strengthen us," President Aliyev added.
The Head of Azerbaijani State noted that the presentation of the development of Turkey's defence industry made a strong impression on him yesterday.
"Today Turkey has an international authority in this sphere too. The military equipment manufactured in Turkey meets the highest world standards," President Aliyev said.
According to the Head of Azerbaijani State, the common history and cultural ties, linking Azerbaijan and Turkey, are the solid foundation of relations.
"We are constructing a beautiful building on this foundation, we build, and as my dear brother noted, there are large multinational projects in this building. We did not just limit our work with transportation of Azerbaijani oil to Turkey by building the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. This was the opening of a corridor, thanks to which large-scale projects are carried out today," the Azerbaijani President said.
The Head of Azerbaijani State congratulated the Prime Minister of Turkey on realization of the Marmaray project.
"This is your historical merit. It will forever remain in the history among the works, which you do for the Turkish people," President Aliyev underscored. "Implementing this project, you connected the continents, brought together the peoples and provided long-term profits for Turkey. Naturally, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is also an integral part of this great project".
The Head of Azerbaijani State noted that a great work is waiting for Azerbaijan and Turkey in the future. Implementation of the TANAP project will completely change Europe's energy map, and Turkey and Azerbaijan will play a role in it.
According to Azerbaijani President, the TANAP project is one of the largest energy projects in the world, and Turkey and Azerbaijan have undertaken the responsibility, political and financial burden.
"With the joint efforts we demonstrated a leadership in this regard too," President Aliyev said.
According to President Aliyev, the leadership of Azerbaijan and Turkey will be helpful to many countries. Today, in the world it is impossible to separate the energy policy from the foreign policy. Azerbaijan and Turkey discuss all matters together, and the nature and advantages of the Supreme Council lies in the fact that many issues are settled during the meetings.
"Just as before, we will achieve the adoption of new decisions both today and at the next meeting, to be held in Baku. At the same time, I would like to say a few words about mutual investments. This is a great indicator," the Head of Azerbaijani State underscored.
The largest investments that Azerbaijan has made and will make are the investments in Turkey, President Aliyev said.
"The investments that are made in Azerbaijan accelerate our economic development. These are investments, made on the basis of mutual trust, friendship and brotherhood. The ongoing projects confirm my words when I say that the basis of our relationship is brotherhood. Brotherhood and friendship are unbreakable and unshakable. The 21st century will be the century of Turkic world. In this regard the role of leadership was undertaken by Turkey and Azerbaijan. I am confident that we will continue further attaining great successes with joint efforts. Dear brother, I once again express my gratitude to you for your hospitality and kindness. I wish prosperity, progress and happiness to the Turkish people," President Aliyev said in conclusion.
