President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Turkey to the country Erkan Ozoral.

Welcoming the Ambassador, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Dear Mr. Ambassador, your tenure is coming to an end, and you are returning to Turkey. First of all, I would like to thank you for your work.

During your tenure in Azerbaijan, you have done a lot to develop Turkey-Azerbaijan brotherly relations, and these relations are at the highest level today. Turkey-Azerbaijan friendship, brotherhood and unity have proved themselves in all spheres. Turkey's support for Azerbaijan in the 44-day second Karabakh war will, of course, always be in our memory and live in our hearts. The support given to us by my dear brother, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, from the first hours of the war inspired us. It prevented certain foreign forces from interfering in this war.

Our relations are multifaceted. As an Ambassador to Azerbaijan, of course, you know how deep these ties are. There is not a single area in which we do not cooperate. In recent years, there has been tremendous development across all areas. The fact that our citizens travel to brotherly countries without passports, just with an ID card, vividly demonstrates how deep our relations are.

Your performance here is highly appreciated both as an Ambassador and as a Turkish citizen. You felt at home here, which is natural. I want to tell you now that you are returning to your homeland, but you are also in your home country here and always have a place here, a place in our hearts. I know that the Azerbaijani public, civil organizations operating in Azerbaijan, media representatives and government officials, including myself, highly value your work. Over these years, of course, I have witnessed and seen your activity during my numerous visits both here and in Turkey. I know that you have made every effort to bring the two brotherly peoples even closer to each other.

Considering all this, you are being awarded the high order of Azerbaijan, the Order of Friendship, and I would like to present this high award to you.

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President Ilham Aliyev presented the Order of Friendship to Ambassador Erkan Ozoral.

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Ambassador Erkan Ozoral said:

- Thank you very much! Thank you!

Mr. President, I would like to thank you very much for considering me worthy of this honor. As you said, I have never separated Azerbaijan from Turkey. Both are my homeland – not my first homeland or second. Both are equally my homeland. Ankara is as dear to me, just as Baku. The result of this love is that I feel thrilled because I have been the Ambassador who came to Azerbaijan and witnessed the best moments among all past and future Turkish ambassadors. It was a great pleasure for me to witness this war. I feel different now.

I did my duty here to bring Turkey and Azerbaijan closer. I worked hard to bring our peoples even closer to each other. But it was you, Messrs. Presidents, who paved the way for us to accomplish this. We were able to do that thanks to you. During my tenure in Azerbaijan, I have always received support from all institutions and officials at all levels, including you. I would also like to express my special gratitude and appreciation to all of you. Through you, I want to express my gratitude to the people of Azerbaijan. I have always felt our brotherhood. I witnessed it everywhere I went. Hopefully, Turkey and Azerbaijan will be even closer from now on because, as you said, we are strong together. Thank you, thank you very much!