Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has received participants of the Baku International Humanitarian Forum that kicked off on October 2.

President Aliyev received Chairperson of the Federation Council of Russian Federal Assembly Valentina Matviyenko firstly.

President Aliyev congratulated Matviyenko on her re-election as Chairperson of the Federation Council and described the participation of Russian delegation at the fourth Baku International Humanitarian Forum as a great importance given to this event.

He also asked Matviyenko to convey his gratitude to President Vladimir Putin for his congratulations on the occasion of the Forum.

The president said positive and dynamic development of relations between the two countries, the scope of cooperation in all areas, the growth of trade in the economic field were highlighted during a recent meeting with the Russian president in Astrakhan.

The head of state stressed the importance of interparliamentary ties in terms of the further development of bilateral relationship.

Matviyenko, for her part, conveyed greetings and best wishes on behalf of President Putin to the head of state and thanked President Aliyev for the invitation to this forum.

She said the development of Baku had made a deep impression on members of the Russian delegation.

During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Later, President Aliyev met with Turkmenistan's Deputy Prime Minister Sapardurdu Toyliyev.

During the meeting, the sides expressed their satisfaction with the development of bilateral relations.

The sides noted the importance of the summit of the heads of state of Caspian littoral states held in Astrakhan a few days ago in terms of the regional cooperation and stressed the role of the intergovernmental joint commission in the development of ties.

They noted that there were good prospects in the economic, transport, investment fields and stressed the significance of strengthening efforts in these sectors.

Later, President Aliyev received former Latvian President Valdis Zatlers and the sides said bilateral relations between the two countries were developing successfully.

The sides also hailed the role of the fourth Baku International Humanitarian Forum in expanding dialogue among nations and cultures.

Also, President Aliyev met with former Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergi and the sides expressed their satisfaction with the development of ties between the two countries.

They lauded the contribution of the International Humanitarian Forum held in Baku for the fourth time to intercultural dialogue.

President Aliyev also received former Croatian President Stjepan Mesic and the sides said the fourth Baku International Humanitarian Forum was of particular importance in terms of the expansion of international cooperation.

The sides also noted the relations between the two countries were developing successfully in a variety of fields.

Later, the Azerbaijani president hosted a dinner reception in honor of the participants of the forum. President Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva and family members attended the dinner.