BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 21
By Samir Ali - Trend:
The state visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Italy is an important step towards further development of relations between the two countries, Azerbaijani MP Tahir Karimli told Trend.
Karimli noted that the official welcoming ceremony for President Ilham Aliyev showed Italy’s special respect for Azerbaijan.
“The meetings of the head of state with Italian President Sergio Matarella, President of the Council of Ministers Giuseppe Conte, President of the Senate Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellatti, President of the Chamber of Deputies Roberto Fico speak about the high level of cooperation between the two countries,” said the Azerbaijani MP. “During the state visit, the Azerbaijani president, first of all, showing affection to his state and people, visited a monument to Nizami Ganjavi in Italy.”
“Following the meetings, about 20 documents were signed between the two countries,” Karimli added. “In particular, the signed document on military cooperation suggests that Italy perceives Azerbaijan as a reliable strategic partner.”
“Italy is Azerbaijan’s main strategic partner on an international scale,” said the MP. “The trade turnover between the two countries in the amount of $6 billion once again proves the above mentioned fact, and shows how important Italy is for Azerbaijan.”
Karimli stressed that the Joint Declaration on Strengthening Multidimensional Strategic Partnership between Azerbaijan and Italy, signed during the meeting, is an important political document that defines close cooperation between the two countries over the next years.
The MP said that this document defines future directions of the strategic partnership between the two countries and shows that bilateral relations have entered a qualitatively new stage.
“In a word, the state visit by President Ilham Aliyev, as well as the documents signed during the visit, will comprehensively simplify Azerbaijan’s integration into Europe with Italy’s assistance,” Karimli noted. “The visit was extremely important for both countries.”