President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with former President of the French Republic Nicolas Sarkozy, who is on a visit to the country.

Nicolas Sarkozy hailed great construction and redevelopment work carried out in Baku under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev since his last visit to Azerbaijan a few years ago, noting that he is deeply impressed by all these development processes.

President Ilham Aliyev thanked for the warm words.

They underlined that Azerbaijan-France relations strengthened during Nicolas Sarkozy`s presidency in 2007-2012, pointing out that the bilateral ties developed considerably in a number of areas. President Ilham Aliyev and Nicolas Sarkozy recalled their meetings with pleasure. It was noted that new frameworks of cooperation were established at that time only as a result of joint efforts of President Ilham Aliyev and Nicolas Sarkozy. A groundbreaking ceremony of the French Lyceum in Baku with the participation of both presidents was described as a remarkable event. As a result of the strengthening of high-level political relations those years, many French companies started to operate or expanded their activities in Azerbaijan.

Nicolas Sarkozy thanked for the hospitality shown to him. President Ilham Aliyev said he is pleased to see Nicolas Sarkozy again in Azerbaijan.