BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 14. Azerbaijani Ambassador to the Holy See Ilgar Mukhtarov presented his credentials to Pope Francis, Head of the Roman Catholic Church, Trend reports.
Ambassador conveyed the greetings of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva to Pope Francis and invited the Pope to visit Azerbaijan. The ambassador said that relations between Azerbaijan and the Holy See, based on mutual respect, have gone a long way in development over a thirty-year period.
Mukhtarov recalled the official visits of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva to the Holy See during this period, as well as the visit of Pope Francis to Azerbaijan.
The opening of the Azerbaijani Embassy in the Holy See is an indicator of the importance attached to bilateral relations, he noted.
During the conversation, Pope Francis expressed gratitude for the greetings and asked to convey greetings to President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva. The Pope recalled with satisfaction his visit to Azerbaijan in 2016 at the invitation of President Ilham Aliyev and the meeting with representatives of religious communities during the visit. He noted that he was warmly welcomed in Azerbaijan, and the visit to Azerbaijan left him pleasant impressions.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church inquired about the situation in the region. He stressed that Azerbaijan attaches particular importance to the traditions of multiculturalism and tolerance, as well as the importance of the country's activities in the direction of promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue.
Noting the effective cooperation between the Holy See and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Pope Francis said that the restoration by the Foundation of a number of historical monuments of universal significance in the Vatican is a great job in the field of protecting cultural heritage. It was noted that these projects serve to protect the world cultural, historical and religious heritage, the development of intercultural and interreligious relations.
The ambassador, in turn, said that the projects implemented in Vatican on the initiative of the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva, once again confirm the traditional role of Azerbaijan as a country committed to multicultural values and promoting these values.
Pope Francis asked the ambassador to convey sincere greetings and best wishes to the people of Azerbaijan.
At the meeting of Ilgar Mukhtarov with the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, satisfaction was expressed with the high level of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Vatican. The importance of these relations from the point of view of intercivilizational and interreligious dialogue, as well as the promotion of tolerance in the world, was emphasized. The Ambassador recalled that Cardinal Pietro Paroli received an invitation to visit Azerbaijan.
The Secretary of State of the Holy See asked the ambassador to convey greetings to President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva and said that he would visit Azerbaijan this year.
