President Ilham Aliyev has received ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions of Muslim countries in Azerbaijan on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan.

Saluting the meeting participants, President Ilham Aliyev said:

Dear ambassadors, let me salute you from the bottom of my heart. Our meetings in the blessed month of Ramadan are traditional. I am very pleased to meet with you again.

I would like to ask you to communicate my congratulations and best wishes to the heads of state and government of the countries you represent.

Azerbaijan closely cooperates with the countries you represent. I am very pleased that this cooperation and friendly relations are strengthening by the day. We are very interested in our relations with Muslim countries in political, economic and all other spheres growing even broader and deeper.

I am very pleased that the number of embassies of Muslim countries in Azerbaijan is growing. The number of ambassadors around this table is rising by the year. Insha’Allah, we will gather around an even bigger table in a few years. At the same time, Azerbaijan is increasing the number of its embassies in Muslim countries. This is a manifestation of our attitude towards each other. At the same time, this is a necessity. We want very much the relations among all Muslim countries to develop even more rapidly. Our cooperation within the framework of international organizations is also successfully under way. We always cooperate and support each other in the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, other organizations. During a discussion of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue at a UN General Assembly several years ago Muslim countries provided us with the biggest support. We appreciate this support and still feel it today. Azerbaijan, for its part, always protects the interests of Muslim countries in all international organizations, and this policy will be continued. I am sure that the strengthening of Muslim solidarity is particularly important in the current circumstances. There should be greater unity between us. Economic relations should be broader still. Of course, mutual support should be at a high level. In any case, Azerbaijan is taking important steps to meet these objectives.

Several high-level activities have been held in our country through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. As you know, we have very close contacts with ISESCO. Our country is doing a lot to promote Islamic culture worldwide. We are proud that in 2009 Baku was declared the capital of Islamic culture. In 2018, this honorary title will be conferred to another ancient Azerbaijani city – Nakhchivan.

Dear friends, let me heartily salute you again. I wish success to you, your families and the countries you represent. I am sure that you feel at home in Baku. I do hope that your activity will, as always, be very successful. This is indeed your home country.

Congratulating President Ilham Aliyev and the people of Azerbaijan on behalf of ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions of Muslim countries on the holy month of Ramadan, Uzbekistani Ambassador Ismatilla Yergashev said:
Dear Mr. President! On behalf of ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions of Muslim countries in Azerbaijan and on my own, let me congratulate you on the holy month of Ramadan and Eid ul-Fitr.

Your Excellency, we would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude for the opportunity to meet with you in this holy month. We are very pleased that thanks to you such meetings have become a good tradition. Ramadan is a blessed month that illuminates the souls and thoughts of people, calls for peace, unity and moral purity. During this month, Muslims have the opportunity to fulfill their duty of conscience before the Almighty, experience the joy of good deeds and mercy, the victory of spiritual and moral perfection over self-interest. In this holy month, on behalf of the ambassadors of Muslim countries, I have the honor to wish you and the people of Azerbaijan all the good things that God bestows on us, peace and progress.

Today Azerbaijan is an important factor that has a direct impact not only on regional, but also on international developments and trends. We are genuinely interested in and have a great sympathy for the dynamic reforms and successful economic and social transformation in Azerbaijan. One of the most striking and convincing pieces of evidence is the fact that, despite the current global financial and economic crisis, Azerbaijan continues to show good results in terms of national economic growth. The country is successfully implementing large-scale infrastructure projects. Of course, underlying all this are correct and thought-out economic reforms.

Mr. President, you have been successfully continuing the economic reforms the foundation of which was laid by nationwide leader Heydar Aliyev. The people of Azerbaijan are not only seeing but also benefiting from these reforms. No less impressive are Azerbaijan’s achievements in the humanitarian sphere. In this context it should be noted that Azerbaijan’s victory in the Eurovision-2011 song contest has been a joyous event for all Muslim countries. At the same time, we welcome Azerbaijan’s efforts towards reviving and enhancing the rich Muslim heritage. Vivid evidence of that is the fact that the International Mugham Festival is held in Azerbaijan every year.

Of course, as representatives of Muslim countries, we will support the people of Azerbaijan in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We are sure that this problem will be resolved on the basis of norms and principles of international law and within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani IDPs will return to their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh.

We, as representatives of Muslim countries, will support the election of Azerbaijani as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2012-2013, and we believe that, Insha'Allah, this issue will be resolved within the UN.

Mr. President! Let me express our deep appreciation to you. I wish you success, and progress and even greater achievements to the people of Azerbaijan.

Thank you very much!

Expressing his gratitude for the kind words about our country, President Ilham Aliyev said:

Thank you very much. I appreciate your kind words about our country. Indeed, our country is developing in all the spheres, as you have mentioned: economic, humanitarian and cultural. We are trying to develop our country comprehensively, to improve the well-being of our people and to meet all our objectives. As you know, there are different programs. These programs are being executed. The appearance of our cities is changing, creative and landscaping work is under way everywhere. When we see that our friends and brothers rejoice in our successes, we also feel very happy.

Representatives of your countries have always sincerely supported the positive developments ongoing in Azerbaijan. We have always felt this support.

This year we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of our independence. Over the years, Azerbaijan has demonstrated that it can live and develop as an independent country, and live well. Of course, a lot remains to be done. We have great plans. We are trying to make Azerbaijan one of the developed countries. We have the opportunities for that. We have the political will, we already have financial resources, sound policies and a strategic course. Of course, to achieve what we want we must certainly expand our international relations on the basis of mutual confidence.

I want to reiterate that we have always received and are still receiving the greatest support in the international arena from Muslim countries. Muslim countries have supported us since the first years of our independence to this day. We were first recognized by a Muslim country – Turkey. After that, other countries recognized us as an independent nation. We became members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation – it was called the Organization of Islamic Conference at the time. We have always felt support within the organization. In particular, there are numerous decisions and resolutions of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation related to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, and they strengthen our position.

As you have indicated, Azerbaijan has become a candidate for non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. In this regard, I have duly sent letters to my colleagues. I am very pleased that some of my colleagues have already sent a positive response. I am very grateful for that.

Once again, I want to say that all Muslim countries should always be next to each other, support each other in both political and economic spheres. Unity, solidarity and cooperation among Muslim countries should reach an even higher level. Especially now when in some cases we are confronted with an abnormal attitude towards our religion.

Unfortunately, the Islamophobia trend is growing. Different views related to multiculturalism are put forward. There are suggestions that multiculturalism has allegedly failed. But our experience and the experience of the countries you represent shows that multiculturalism is alive and growing. There are good examples of this. This experience should be studied. All these questions, of course, must be in the spotlight. We continually raise these issues from international platforms. Azerbaijan is a member of both the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Council of Europe. So we have enough opportunities to express our position, in particular on these issues, and we use them.

We must promote our national and religious values. The Islamic religion is a religion of brotherhood and friendship. Islam strengthens peace-loving trends in the world. Therefore, we must promote the true essence of our religion in the wider world.

Unfortunately, some people have an inappropriate, abnormal and very negative attitude towards Islam. We must struggle with that, and this struggle can only be successful if there is unity. We have a position on all international matters, and we must defend it. Calls for unity are not just nice slogans. This is really a necessity, it is necessary for our peoples and countries. We want the entire Muslim world to be even more united. This is a great need for that. We are also very concerned about the difficulties and problems confronted in some Muslim countries. We want to see this crisis end as soon as possible, and peace, cooperation and calm to be established in the Muslim world.

In the economic sphere, we have mutual economic commissions with Muslim countries. These commissions work effectively, and we should try to achieve success in all areas.

It is very good that political relations are at a high level. There must be ties in the economic and cultural fields, among youth. The Youth Forum of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation is very active. We must also unite our youth, so that they could communicate with each other. In the future, they will run our countries. They should be in touch even now, so that our interests could be secured.

You know that every country has its own problems. Of course, domestic resources play a major role in resolving the problems of each country. But outside support, foreign aid and moral support also play a significant role. I want to say again that over the 20 years of independence we have always felt this attention and support of Islamic countries. In turn, we have tried to give our support. I am absolutely sure that our success and successful development in the coming years will depend on this mutual support even more.

Once again, congratulations on the upcoming holiday! I would like to ask you again to convey my sincere greetings to the leaders of the countries you represent and my best wishes to the people of your countries. Thank you.

A picture was taken in conclusion.