Speech by Ilham Aliyev at the official reception hosted in honor of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Distinguished Prime Minister, dear brother, dear guests, dear friends! Dear brother, let me warmly welcome you to Azerbaijan again. Welcome to Azerbaijan.

I have already congratulated you today. In this hall I would like to heartily congratulate you again on a comprehensive victory of the party you are leading in the parliamentary election. Under your leadership Turkey has come a long way in recent years. When you assumed leadership, Turkey was in the grip of problems – it was gripped by the economic and financial crisis. Thanks to your policy, Turkey is a dynamically developing country today. Neither the financial nor the economic crisis in the world have affected Turkey. This is your achievement, the result of your political course. This is very gratifying for us too. Turkey for us is a brotherly, friendly country. The stronger Turkey, the stronger we will consider ourselves.

This year we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of our independence. Turkey was the first country to recognize our independence. In essence, this step opened the way for the recognition of Azerbaijan’s independence by other countries. We have never forgotten and will never forget that. Our nations share a common history, a common culture. Our people have been together for centuries, have supported each other.

Today, Turkey and Azerbaijan successfully cooperate as independent states, and this cooperation has excellent results practically in all the areas. We have the same roots. However, there have been instances in history when nations very close to each other, even countries with the same language do not get along well with each other. Our advantage is that by relying on these strong historical and cultural roots, Turkey and Azerbaijan are currently working in political, economic and all other areas like allies. Over the past 20 years this alliance has gone through great trials. Azerbaijan has always felt and is still feeling Turkey’s support and attention. At the same time, the strengthening Azerbaijan of today also represents support for Turkey. Azerbaijan’s opportunities are growing, and our country is thus contributing to the development of bilateral relations, to common interests.

When we faced the strategic choice relating to energy issues, we, without any doubts and hesitation, made the right choice, and all our key energy routes pass through Turkey. These routes have become a corridor that is already open to traffic. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipelines, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which we have talked about today, have gone beyond the regional plane and are now of international significance. As is the case with our friendship, brotherhood and cooperation, they no longer fit into the regional level. Our unity, our joint activities are already of global importance in any sphere. Of course, as our countries grow stronger over the years, our influence opportunities will further expand.

Together we provide a very positive impact on the cooperation among Turkic states. In some cases, the initiatives we have put forward serve the unity of the Turkic world. These initiatives are already producing excellent results in political, economic and cultural spheres. The unity of the Turkic world is a very positive development, and both Turkey and Azerbaijan are paying great attention to this issue.

Once again I want to say that our relations cover all the areas. Today we have discussed practically all the issues on our agenda. Not a single issue was left out. We are implementing specific programs and projects in all the areas, are putting forward initiatives.

Our trade is growing, mutual investment is increasing. I have already mentioned at the press conference today that Azerbaijan has started to invest in the Turkish economy. So far more than $4 billion has been invested. In the next few years a further $6 billion will be invested in Turkey’s petrochemical industry alone. At the same time, Turkish companies are investing heavily in Azerbaijan. This shows again how close we are to each other, how much we believe in each other. Otherwise companies would not invest in such volumes.

As a result of the railway project, the whole Turkic world will be joined by a new Iron Silk Way. This road will serve our peoples and, at the same time, connect the continents.

Today we have also discussed issues of energy security of Turkey and Europe. Azerbaijan’s major oil and gas fields are playing a role in Turkey’s energy security, and this role should further expand in the future. I do hope that further important steps will be taken in this direction in the near future.

In other words, while analyzing our relations and their history, we can say again that Turkish-Azerbaijani relations, the Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance holds a special place in the world. Perhaps there are no other two countries in the world that would be so similar, so close to each other, that would have so much mutual sympathy and cooperation. This is our greatest asset, a source of great pride. This path was shown to us by our leaders. The statements made by them, the great leaders of the Turkish and Azerbaijani people, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Heydar Aliyev, and their legacy is still the guiding light for us. We are together in both happy and sad moments. We are one nation in two states. This is a bright and illuminated path. We are successfully walking along it path. I wish Turkey and Azerbaijan further progress on this path.

Dear brother, let me warmly welcome you to Azerbaijan again. I wish you and the fraternal people of Turkey further successes. Thank you.