President Aliyev in Ukraine for official visit (UPDATE)
By Aynur Jafarova
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev left Baku for Ukraine on November 17.
First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva accompanies President Aliyev in the official visit.
The president was seen off by head of the Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev and Baku Major Hajibala Abutalibov at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport.
Later in the day, President Aliyev and Mehriban Aliyeva were welcomed by Ukraine's top ranking officials at the Borispol International Airport.
As part of the visit, President Aliyev visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers and the monument to the victims of Holodomor - a devastating famine in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1930s - in Kyiv on November 18.
On the same day, President Aliyev was officially welcomed by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
After the welcome ceremony, the presidents of the two countries held a meeting.
The presidents hailed the two sides' bilateral relations, saying they were rapidly developing in various areas, especially in politics and economy.
They also stressed the importance of reciprocal visits, including the current trip by President Aliyev, in terms of boosting the bilateral relations.
The two heads of states further said there was good potential for development of Azerbaijani-Ukrainian cooperation.
The presidents expressed confidence that the relations between their countries would further expand.
The one-on-one meeting was followed by the 4th session of the Council of Presidents of Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
At the beginning of the session which was held under the chairmanship of Yanukovych and Aliyev, the Ukrainian president said that his country highly appreciates friendly relations with Azerbaijan, as well Baku's support and assistance.
"We are very grateful to the President of Azerbaijan for the respect to Ukraine and Ukrainian people. We are very impressed," Yanukovych said.
"We remember different times in our relations, difficult periods for our countries. A friend in need is a friend indeed," Yanukovych said adding that Azerbaijan had once assisted Ukraine with an oil supply.
The Ukrainian president also congratulated Ilham Aliyev for his victory at the October 9 presidential election and wished the Azerbaijani president and friendly Azerbaijani people stability and prosperity.
President Aliyev, in his turn, noted that Azerbaijan appreciates relations with Ukraine and will work to further develop them.
"We are willing to fill our relations with new sense. We maintain a very close cooperation between our countries in many spheres. Regular session of the Council of Presidents is a new step on the way of strengthening our cooperation," he said adding that Ukraine and Azerbaijan have good prospects for development of bilateral cooperation in political, economic and energy spheres.
The Azerbaijani president also expressed confidence that Ukraine will continue to follow the path of "creation through sovereignty enhancement and solution of important social, infrastructural and economic tasks".
After the session, Yanukovych and Aliyev exchanged state awards.
The Ukrainian president awarded his Azerbaijani counterpart with Order of Liberty and President Aliyev awarded Yanukovych with Heydar Aliyev order - a supreme state award in Azerbaijan.
The presidents of the two countries also signed a number of documents.
In particular, Aliyev and Yanukovych signed the Protocol of the 4th Session of the Council of Presidents of Ukraine and Azerbaijan, which lays down the results of the discussion of the main issues of Ukrainian-Azerbaijani bilateral relations agenda, particularly the conditions and prospects for the development of political dialogue, cooperation in trade, economic, fuel and energy spheres, as well as the arrangements achieved following the session of the Council of Presidents.
Furthermore, in presence of the presidents, bilateral documents were signed.
The agreement on cooperation in the sphere of plant protection and quarantine is aimed at facilitation of mutually beneficial cooperation in the sphere of quarantine and protection of plants, coordination of state phytosanitary measures, mutual assistance in the given sphere and exchange of rules and regulations of respective quarantine measures on the territories of the two countries.
The plan of holding consultations on relevant issues of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the foreign ministries of the two countries contains the list of events between Ukraine and Azerbaijan for 2014-2015, the implementation of which will facilitate further development and enhancement of mutually beneficial cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats in all spheres of Ukrainian-Azerbaijani interaction.
The protocol on cooperation in economic and socio-cultural spheres between Ukrainian Rovno Regional State Administration and the Executive Power of Gabala Region of Azerbaijan is aimed at the development of cooperation between enterprises, scientific and educational institutions, state and private organizations of respective regions in the spheres of industry, trade, agriculture, transport, science and engineering, education, tourism and sports, environment and rational use of natural resources.
The agreement on cooperation between the Institute for Cultural Research of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine and the Scientific Methodical Center of Cultural Studies of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan will facilitate the development of cooperation between scientific-research centers of Ukraine and Azerbaijan in academic and cultural spheres aimed at holding of scientific research, exchange of information, scientific-methodical and cultural-informational activities.
Following the signing ceremony President Aliyev and his Ukrainian counterpart held a joint press conference.