President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation led by Head of Culture and Islamic Communications organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran Abuzar Ebrahimi Turkaman.

Welcoming members of the delegation, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- You are welcome! I am very glad that the brotherly country will participate in the summit of religious leaders of the world, which will take place tomorrow, at a high level. Along with the fact that participation in this summit is very important, it is also a good opportunity to discuss bilateral issues.

As you know, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mr. Rouhani, was on a visit to Azerbaijan recently and took part in the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. We had a meeting during the visit. It was a very good meeting, as we discussed many bilateral issues on the agenda. We once again saw that Iranian-Azerbaijani relations are at a high level and are developing successfully. All the signed documents and reached agreements are being fulfilled. This shows that our ties are very effective and produce good results. I am sure that both parties will make effort to develop these ties in the future, and all agreements reached will be implemented.

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Head of Culture and Islamic Communications organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran Abuzar Ebrahimi Turkaman said:

- Thank you very much, I appreciate that. Let me express my gratitude to you for taking the time to receive us. Two years ago, I had the opportunity to meet with Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva, and I still recall this meeting as it made a good impression on me.

First of all, I would like to convey to you the sincere greetings of the state and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We have a lot in common with Azerbaijan. As a child, I learned the Azerbaijani language from my grandmother. Years have passed, and I am always grateful to her in my prayers for teaching me this language, for transferring this language from her heart to mine.

We have a lot in common, including the cultural sphere. Therefore, we have implemented many joint projects in the field of culture. We are cooperating in this field. Together with the Ministry of Culture, we have implemented many programs and projects, and will continue to do so.

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The sides hailed development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran in energy, trade and other fields, and noted the importance of regular meetings between the two countries’ presidents in terms of strengthening the bilateral relations.