5th session of Azerbaijan-Turkey High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council was held

The 5th session of the Azerbaijan-Turkey High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council has been held in Ankara with the participation of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

President Ilham Aliyev addressed the event.

President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Mr. President, my dear brother!

I want to thank you for the hospitality extended to me and the delegation.

First of all, I want to express my condolences over the loss of lives in the aftermath of the monstrous terrorist attack in Ankara two days ago. May Allah grant patience to the relatives of the victims! This monstrous act of terrorism shook us, too. The Azerbaijani people, as always, stand by the Turkish people. We are together. We are friends and brothers. Our relationship is underpinned by the unity and brotherhood of our peoples. We are always next to each other in joy and on difficult days.

As you noted, Azerbaijan will celebrate the 25th anniversary of restoration of its independence this year. Turkey was the first country to recognize our independence. From that day on, our cooperation has deepened and developed, and today it has reached the level of strategic partnership. Today Turkey and Azerbaijan are the closest countries worldwide.

We are carrying out extensive activities in many areas. As you mentioned, our cooperation in the areas of security, counter-terrorism, energy, transportation, military, and military-technological spheres has a great history, and I am sure that this cooperation will gradually deepen.

We are also pleased with the rapid development of Turkey in recent years. Turkey today is one of the strongest countries in the world. All friends of Turkey are pleased with this. First of all, the people of Azerbaijan are delighted.

In November of last year, you chaired a G20 meeting. This was yet another great victory for your country. We are proud of the fact that Azerbaijan was invited to that meeting. You once again demonstrated your fraternity – you could invite only one country, and that country was Azerbaijan. The people of Azerbaijan highly appreciate this.

In short, there are all the possibilities for the further development of our relations. The projects we are implementing together are further strengthening us. In the energy field, as you pointed out, we have already started the implementation of the TANAP project. I am confident that it will be executed in a timely manner. In 2012, we launched the TANAP project in Istanbul together with you. Afterwards, based on the TANAP project, the Southern Gas Corridor project appeared.