Azernews.Az

By Trend

Inter-regional cooperation will organically complement the entire range of friendly and good-neighborly relations between Azerbaijan and Russia, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Sept. 27 at the official opening ceremony of the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia Interregional Forum.

“Of course, our relations are underpinned by historical ties, cultural relations, the closeness of our peoples, and, of course, we are working hard to further develop humanitarian ties,” he said.

“The next Baku humanitarian forum under the patronage of the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan will be held in Baku next month,” he added. “This international forum has already become the most important global platform for the discussion of issues of humanitarian nature, intercultural dialogue and interfaith relations.”

“There are 341 Russian-language schools in Azerbaijan, two branches of leading Russian universities – Moscow State University and the Sechenov Medical University,” Ilham Aliyev said. “We also interact very actively in the cultural sphere. We can talk a lot about Russian-Azerbaijani relations, but because of the format of today's forum, it is impossible to cover everything. But we aim for a further development of our relations. I also think that the opening of the Azerbaijan pavilion at the Exhibition of Economic Achievements planned for next year will be an important step in furthering our cooperation.”

“This historic building used to be the Azerbaijani pavilion in the middle of the 20th century, and we are restoring it now,” the Azerbaijani president noted. “So we will be present there and demonstrate our achievements at such an important international exhibition platform. We also have very close relations with Russian regions. About 20 subjects of the Russian Federation have agreements with Azerbaijan. We are opening trade missions in the regions and Russian regions are doing the same in Azerbaijan. In other words, I am sure that inter-regional cooperation will organically complement the entire range of friendly and good-neighborly relations between our countries.”

“I would like to thank President Vladimir Putin for visiting Azerbaijan today,” Ilham Aliyev added. “It is very valuable for us. We view this as a sign of friendship and as a sign of respect for our country. Of course, the fact that we are speaking to you emphasizes the importance of the work you are doing. I wish the forum success and further achievements for the benefit of the prosperity of our countries and peoples. Thank you.”

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