President Ilham Aliyev has received representatives of foreign countries visiting Azerbaijan to attend the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan.
Welcoming the meeting participants, President Ilham Aliyev said:
- Welcome, dear friends. I am very pleased to see you in Azerbaijan and thank you for visiting our country to attend this remarkable event.
Azerbaijan has been a member of the Olympic family for 20 years. We will celebrate that today. In fact, the celebrations began a few days ago. Your participation in these events is very important for us. Our international relations have developed extensively since we became a member of the Olympic family. Now, 20 years on, we have very good ties with federations, Olympic committees, the International and European Olympic Committees. We have conducted many important events in Azerbaijan – a meeting of the Executive Committee of the European Olympic Committee, as well as championships, various workshops, conferences, world cups. We have recently played host to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. We already have experience in organizing international events. We intend to conduct even more major international events in Azerbaijan. I am also sure that your colleagues will inform you about the development of sport and the sports infrastructure in our country, our achievements in international competitions.
I am very glad that sport and the Olympic movement have become part of our lives, the attitude to athletes and veterans is very good. The state program covers many aspects of the development of sport and the Olympic movement. The overall atmosphere in society is very good.
Many of you have visited Azerbaijan before. I see many old friends here. As far as I know, for some of you this is a first visit. I am sure you will find it interesting to see what is happening here and spend a few days with your friends. Welcome again. I want to thank you again for attending today's event. I wish you, your countries and the athletes of your countries all the best.
The next speaker, president of the Polish Olympic Committee Andrzej Kraśnicki, thanked President of Azerbaijan and of the National Olympic Committee Ilham Aliyev for the invitation to attend the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the National Olympic Committee. He said the 20th anniversary of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan was important not only for Azerbaijan, but also for the international Olympic movement as a whole because the Olympic movement in Azerbaijan has taken a very broad scope in just two decades. The Polish guest wished Azerbaijani athletes continued success.
The Secretary General of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation, Mohammad Saleh Gazdar, conveyed greetings on behalf of the President of the Federation, Prince Nawaf bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz bin Fatah, to President Ilham Aliyev.
Noting that he had visited Azerbaijan five years ago, Mohammad Saleh Gazdar said he witnessed extensive development of Baku over the past period. The visitor recalled meeting with President Aliyev during the London Games and congratulated the President on the success of Azerbaijani athletes in the Games.
The President of the Olympic Committee of Slovenia, Janez Kocijancic, said he was pleased to attend the anniversary celebrations. Praising the progress Azerbaijan has made in the Olympic movement in a short time, he noted that the country’s achievements in the Olympic Games were a contribution to the development of sport in Europe in general.
Then a picture was taken.
