His Excellency Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Your Excellency,

As we join the people of Azerbaijan in celebrating the 105th anniversary of the Independence Day, the National Day of the Republic of Azerbaijan, we also celebrate your enormous achievements in liberating the occupied territories and securing universal recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. And beyond this historic accomplishment, we also want to extend our congratulations to Your Excellency and the First Vice-President, as we also reflect on the enormous progress that Azerbaijan has attained in so many fields in the past 30 years, despite the many obstacles and challenges in the world we live in.

We would also like to seize the moment to extend our heartfelt thanks to you, Mr. President, for the great support you have shown to the creation, growth and international outreach of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC) and with gratitude for your trust and confidence, we believe that together we will continue to strengthen the NGIC and take it to ever more successful endeavors.

Please accept, Mr. President, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Respectfully,

Vaira Vike-Freiberga

Co-Chair of NGIC, President of Latvia (1999-2007)

Ismail Serageldin

Co-Chair of NGIC, Vice-President of World Bank (1992-2000)

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic

President of Croatia (2015-2020)

Tzipi Livni

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel (2006-2009)

Boris Tadic

President of Serbia (2004-2012)

Amre Moussa

Secretary-General of the Arab League (2001-2011),

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt (1991-2001)

Rosen Plevneliev

President of Bulgaria (2012-2017)

Eka Tkeshelashvili

Deputy Prime Minister of Georgia (2010-2012)

Ivo Josipovic

President of Croatia (2010-2015)

Yves Leterme

Prime Minister of Belgium (2008, 2009-2011)