Dear Mr. President,

Please accept my most sincere congratulations and best wishes as you celebrate your birthday.

Azerbaijan and the United States are bound together by close and multifaceted cooperation, which is built on the foundations of friendly ties.

Fruitful cooperation between our countries successfully continues both in bilateral and multilateral formats. Our efforts to ensure energy security have steadily improved to reach the level of strategic partnership. Our fruitful cooperation in fight against the global threats and terrorism is also satisfactory.

You have played a vital role in elevating our bilateral relations to the current level and ensuring continuous expansion of our cooperation. I believe that friendship and cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United States will continue to develop and strengthen.

We also pin great hopes, Mr. President, on the efforts of the United States as an OSCE Minsk Group co-chair and your personal efforts towards finding a peaceful, fair and international law-based solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

On this remarkable day, I once again cordially congratulate you, and wish you robust health, happiness, and success in your activities.

Sincerely,

Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, August 1, 2016