TURKMENBASHI, Turkmenistan, August 22. Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, as two brotherly nations, will continue to move forward shoulder to shoulder, President Ilham Aliyev said in his statement on the outcomes of the high-level meeting between Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan, Trend reports.
Statement by President Ilham Aliyev
- Dear Gurbanguly Malikgulyyevich.
Dear Shavkat Miromonovich.
Dear friends.
First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my brother Gurbanguly Malikgulyyevich for the invitation and hospitality.
This is my second visit to the city of Avaza, and the development taking place here clearly shows that the country is in capable hands. Thanks to the wise leadership of Gurbanguly Malikgulyyevich, both Avaza and all other cities and villages are developing and improving, with new cities emerging. Among the documents signed today is the sister city agreement between Arkadag and Fuzuli. This, in fact, is a symbol of our brotherhood. The Turkmen and Azerbaijani peoples have lived and created as one family and as brothers for centuries. Today, two independent states remain committed to these traditions, keep these traditions alive, and are moving towards new horizons together.
On my invitation, Gurbanguly Malikgulyyevich was on a visit to Azerbaijan in July this year. We were in both Baku and the Karabakh region for two days together and discussed a number of issues. Our positions also coincide. The key point is that Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, as two brotherly countries, will continue to move forward shoulder to shoulder, addressing all issues in an atmosphere of friendship and brotherhood and expanding not only bilateral but also multilateral cooperation opportunities.
While in Fuzuli, Gurbanguly Malikguliyevich proposed building a mosque here as a gift from Turkmenistan. I accepted this proposal with gratitude. Although only a month has passed, the architectural design of the mosque has already been completed and the foundation will be laid in the near future. This is an example of the support of the Turkmen people and the Leader of Turkmenistan in particular for the Azerbaijani people, for Azerbaijan. It is also the embodiment of our brotherhood.
We recently welcomed my brother Shavkat Miromonovich with the same brotherly feelings. We were together at the ECO Summit in Khankendi. While in Khankendi, we got acquainted with the operations of a large sewing factory created on the initiative of Shavkat Miromonovich. Currently, more than two hundred people are working there. The vast majority of them are women, and as a result of the expansion of this factory, the number of people working there will increase several times. This is a great gift from the fraternal people of Uzbekistan to Azerbaijan and to the reviving Karabakh region. The first gift among the steps taken towards the revival of Karabakh was also provided on the initiative of Shavkat Miromonovich in the form of a secondary school with a capacity of 960 students in Fuzuli. It is named after the great Uzbek thinker Mirzo Ulugbek. That school was inaugurated in our presence, and hundreds of young people from Karabakh are already studying there. Every time we pass by that school, we express our gratitude to both the fraternal people of Uzbekistan and their leader Shavkat Miromonovich.
This is friendship and brotherhood not just in words, but in deeds. Our brothers have always been with us in the most important and most difficult times for us. This is also the case today. It has already been noted here that this is a historic meeting and a historic summit. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my brother Gurbanguly Malikgulyyevich again for putting forward this initiative.
The issues discussed have already been mentioned here, so I would not like to repeat that. But I can say one thing – the instructions have already been given to relevant state bodies to create a trilateral cooperation format and submit proposals on specific directions for our next meeting. All instructions have been given. I repeat what was already mentioned here - transport, transit, logistics, power industry, oil, gas sectors and cultural relations. And I have no doubt that all these instructions will be implemented in a timely manner.
Joining the opinion of my colleagues, I would like to conclude my speech by saying again that this is a historic day. A new multi-faceted cooperation format aimed at peace and partnership is emerging in our region. As they say, may it be good and successful. Thank you.