Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan and Turkey highlighted the successful development of relations in all areas of cooperation.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu on September 16.

President Aliyev congratulated Sinirlioglu on his appointment as Turkey’s foreign minister and wished him successes in his future activities, AzerTac state news agency reported.

He stressed the importance of the fact that Sinirlioglu is paying his first official foreign visit to Azerbaijan. He also highlighted the fact that the presidents of the two brotherly countries traditionally pay their first foreign visits to each other’s country as a sign of strong bilateral ties.

The president said brotherly feelings lie at the heart of bilateral Azerbaijani-Turkish bonds.

President Aliyev noted that successful cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey in all fields, including political, economic, energy, and cultural, has yielded good results, emphasizing the significance of discussing a further expansion of ties.

The president said he recently had a phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, where he stressed that Azerbaijan will always support Turkey on every issue.

The head of state also expressed confidence that this visit of the Turkish FM will create good opportunities for discussing bilateral and regional issues.

Sinirlioglu, for his part, said he was proud to visit Azerbaijan as Turkey’s foreign minister. He conveyed greetings of President Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmed Davudoglu to President Aliyev.

The Turkish FM said the exchange of first visits of the heads of state and government and chairs of various governmental bodies of Azerbaijan and Turkey was a good tradition, stressing the importance of its continuity.

He noted that Azerbaijan was a fraternal and partner country for Turkey, praising the development processes in Azerbaijan starting from the early years of the country`s independence to the tenure of national leader Heydar Aliyev and the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev.

Sinirlioglu said he was deeply impressed by what he saw in the country during his visit, adding the country has developed enormously over the past 23 years. He once again invited Azerbaijan to the G-20 summit to be held in Antalya.

Azerbaijan’s Prime Minister Artur Rasizade also met with Sinirlioglu on the same day.

They noted Azerbaijani-Turkish relations have broad opportunities.

The sides added there was great potential for successfully continuation of global energy and transport projects, as well as deepening cooperation in the fields of culture, education, communication, telecommunication, agriculture, trade between the two fraternal countries.

Rasizade said the Azerbaijani government would take the necessary steps to further strengthen cooperation.

On the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the sides noted that they support solving the problem within the norms of international law, territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and principles of borders inviolability.

They also exchanged views on prospects of bilateral relations in terms of ongoing global processes in the world and in the region.

Turkish Ambassador Ismail Alper Coshkun was also present at the meeting.

Sinirlioglu also held discussions with Azerbaijani MPs in the Azerbaijani parliament.

During the meeting, Speaker Ogtay Asadov expressed condolences to the relatives of those who died in the recent wave of terror acts in Turkey, and wished those wounded a speedy recovery.

He applauded Azerbaijani-Turkish ties, describing it as an example to countries of the world.

Asadov also praised economic relations between the two countries.

He further noted that there are some who dislike the developing relations between the two countries. "We know Turkey and Azerbaijan conduct and will conduct independent policies and our bonds will further strengthen," he said.

Sinirlioglu in turn highlighted the steadily developing relations between the two countries. He also touched upon joint projects, and highlighted Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and TANAP projects.

He added Turkey would continue support for solving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Sinirlioglu stressed the importance of inter-parliamentary ties, adding there was close cooperation in relevant fields.

Azerbaijan and Turkey's relations have always been strong due to their common culture and history and the mutual intelligibility of Turkish and Azerbaijani languages.

Turkey was the first country in the world to recognize Azerbaijan's independence in 1991 and has been a staunch supporter of Azerbaijan in its efforts to consolidate its independence, preserve its territorial integrity, and realize the economic potential that arises from the rich natural resources of the Caspian Sea.

--

Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz