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President Ilham Aliyev: â€œThere are no countries in the world to work fruitfully in political, economic and cultural spheres like Turkey and Azerbaijanâ€

28 October 2009 18:02 (UTC +04:00)

The head of state emphasized the important significance of the Turkish delegationâ€™s visit to Azerbaijan and said the mutual visits were important to receive information about the regional processes from first sources and to inform the parties.

President Ilham Aliyev said Turkey was first to recognize Azerbaijanâ€™s independence and both countries have been moving from the same position since that period. â€œThere are no countries in the world to work fruitfully in political, economic and cultural spheres like Turkey and Azerbaijanâ€, said President Aliyev. He mentioned the cultural relations and said recently the leaders of the Turkic-speaking countries made very important decisions at their 9th summit in Nakhchivan and welcomed the Azerbaijanâ€™s initiative to establish TURKSOY Fund.

The head of state emphasized that there is no initiative and project in the region that could be realized without Azerbaijan-Turkey cooperation and said these positive tendencies would be developed in future too. â€œIt will be very useful for our countries and peoples and for entire region as wellâ€. President Ilham Aliyev said crisis dominated in the world and developments in the region made us be more communicable with each other because we can lift the misunderstandings that have an effect on the bilateral relations only by this way.

President Ilham Aliyev mentioned the protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia and said Azerbaijan didnâ€™t interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries. The head of state reminded that a part of Azerbaijani lands is under the Armenian occupation for nearly 20 years. â€œArmenia pursued the policy of genocide and ethnic cleansing in those territories. Therefore it should be accepted naturally that Azerbaijani community is sensitive to the relations with Armenia. The main concern of Azerbaijan is that Armenia could solve the economic crisis by the opening of Turkish-Armenian borders and tighten its position in the negotiationsâ€.

President Ilham Aliyev reminded about the statements by the Turkish president, prime minister and parliament speaker that the Turkish-Armenian borders will not be opened without the liberation of Karabakh from the occupation. The president talked about the following processes and said that Turkey and Azerbaijan had special relations and every Turkish and Azerbaijani citizen should contribute to the strengthening of these relations by own work. The President of Azerbaijan emphasized the importance of communications between the parliamentarians of both countries. â€œThe intensification of communications will promote the development of Turkey-Azerbaijan relationsâ€.

Chairman of the Turkish parliamentâ€™s foreign relations commission, member of the parliament from AKP Murat Mercan said the Azerbaijani-Turkish friendly and brotherhood relations were based on the historic roots and said the parliamentarians of both countries established fruitful cooperation at the Council of Europe and other international organizations. He reminded the period when President Ilham Aliyev led the Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and added that the joint activity of Azerbaijani and Turkish deputies played an important role in recognition of Armenia as an aggressive state by the Council of Europe. Touching upon the protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia, Murat Mercan noted that his country understood the sensitiveness of Azerbaijan in this issue and added that Turkey-Armenia border would not be opened without the solution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Murat Mercan stressed the importance of further strengthening of cooperation between the parliaments of Azerbaijan and Turkey and offered proposal on meeting of the foreign relations commissions of the parliaments twice a year. The chief delegate of Turkey expressed his gratitude to the President of Azerbaijan for the organization of the summit of the leaders of Turkic-speaking countries in Nakhchivan at high level.

Member of Turkish Parliamentâ€™s foreign relations commission, MP from National Movement Party (MHP) Deniz Bolukbashi stated that the protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia will not be brought to the agenda of the Turkish Parliament unless the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is solved.

President Ilham Aliyev asked the members of the delegation to convey his best regards to the Turkish President, Prime Minister, Chairman of the Parliament and Chairman of the National Movement Party. At the same time, President Ilham Aliyev expressed his personal thanks for the principal position of the National Movement Party.

President Ilham Aliyev touched upon the significance of relations between our countries. Speaking about the security issues in the region, the head of state underlined that Armenia-Azerbaijan and Turkey-Armenia relations should find their solutions at the same time. Sharing his views on interparliamentary relations, President Ilham Aliyev stressed the importance of establishment of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Turkic-Speaking Countries in Baku. According to him, the summit of the leaders of Turkic-speaking countries in Nakhchivan â€“ the ancient land of Azerbaijan, decisions and signed documents there assume great importance from the standpoint of further strengthening of cooperation between the Turkic-speaking countries. To the president, common past, history, origin, root and language unite the Turkic-speaking countries.

The president of Azerbaijan expressed his satisfaction with the proposal on meeting of the parliamentary delegations twice a year and added that such meetings could be held not only in the capitals but also in the regions. Touching upon the cooperation of Azerbaijani and Turkish delegation in the Council of Europe, the head of state emphasized that the joint activity of deputies from both countries played an important role in the discussion of Nagorno Karabakh conflict in the Parliamentary Assembly of the organization and adoption of the resolution supporting the just position of Azerbaijan. The head of state spoke about the activity of Azerbaijan in other international organizations, including the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and added that Azerbaijanâ€™s positions considerably strengthened. Touching upon the importance of strengthening of cooperation between our countries, the head of state stressed the significance of continuation of mutual visits of the parliamentary delegations in the future.