Ilham Aliyev received the President of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly Volkan Bozkir.

Welcoming Volkan Bozkir, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Welcome! We have met many times. You have been to Baku on many occasions, but this time you are visiting us as the President of the UN General Assembly. It is a notable event. I am delighted that you are visiting Azerbaijan. We are proud that a representative of the brotherly country is the President of the UN General Assembly. I know that despite COVID, the 75th session is proceeding, and you have made a great effort in that direction.

At the same time, thank you for your support. As you know, we have launched several initiatives on COVID. We held the Summit of the Turkic Council, the Non-Aligned Movement Summit and succeeded in holding a special session of the UN General Assembly on COVID. You have also extended great support. I believe that subsequent developments showed that that was indeed one of the most important issues on the agenda. Vaccine nationalism and unfair distribution of vaccines is an issue on the world agenda today. Azerbaijan was one of the first countries to raise this issue. We are trying to eliminate this injustice today. In the meantime, during the COVID pandemic, we provided material and humanitarian assistance to more than 30 countries and are committed to continuing this activity.

We have traditionally enjoyed close relations with UN agencies, and these relations continue. In the post-war period, contacts have become more frequent, and they will continue. Indeed, as the world's leading body, the UN must be active in the post-conflict period. I have repeatedly stated that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been resolved. Azerbaijan has resolved it and implemented the resolutions that remained on paper for almost 30 years. The conflict has now been consigned to history. A new era has begun now – a period of development, a period of recovery. It has already started, and we are already in close contact with all UN agencies, including UNESCO. A mission is expected to come on a visit as a result of our discussions with UNESCO. We repeatedly asked UNESCO during the conflict to send a fact-finding mission to the occupied territories. According to the information available to us at the time, our historical, religious, and cultural sites were destroyed by the Armenians. We wanted international organizations, including UNESCO, which was directly involved in that matter, to come and confirm that. Regrettably, our request went unanswered during the conflict, but a mission is now expected to come on a visit. We welcome that because Armenian savagery and vandalism are evident across the liberated lands. The more international organizations see it with their own eyes, the clearer the picture of the conflict and Armenian occupation will be in the world community.

In short, dear Volkan bey, we will continue our work in this direction. I want to thank you for coming to Azerbaijan again. I know that you have recently visited Turkey, your homeland, and you are visiting Azerbaijan, another homeland for you, today.

President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly Volkan Bozkir said:

-Dear Mr. President!

Indeed, I am happy and proud to be paying my first visit as President of the UN General Assembly to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a significant country for the UN. The United Nations' special session chaired by Your Excellency during the pandemic was indeed a timely and critical meeting. The many months of your efforts have made me feel proud to chair the organization, so thank you for that.

You are also chairing the Non-Aligned Movement with great success. It is an essential international body for the UN, and it is crucial to be its chairman. I came to thank you for your work in this regard.

As a Turkish chairman of the UN General Assembly, visiting Azerbaijan is an exceptional source of happiness and pride for me. We in New York are closely following all the matters you have mentioned.