Speech by Ilham Aliyev at the first meeting of Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan High Intergovernmental Council

- Thank you very much, Mr. Shavkat Miromonovich, my dear brother. First of all, I would like to express my gratitude once again for the invitation. It is a great pleasure to visit brotherly Uzbekistan again. I am delighted to see you again.

As you mentioned, we have already discussed the extensive agenda of our relations in a limited format, outlined new areas of cooperation, and, of course, in an expanded format and within the framework of the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Council, we will address important issues of our relations today.

I would like to express my particular gratitude for your remarks on the restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and also my special thanks for having visited the liberated territories more than once. Of course, there is also special gratitude from all residents of the city of Fuzuli, from all residents of Azerbaijan for the help in restoration of liberated territories. This was the first gift to Azerbaijan in the restoration of infrastructure from a foreign state. The school, which bears the name of Mirzo Ulugbek, was opened exactly one year ago. On this day, on August 23, we were in Fuzuli and Shusha. About 500 pupils are already going to this school. As residents keep returning, the number will increase.

The relations between our countries have passed all the tests of time, and today these relations have reached the highest level. As you noted, we now have allied relations – there is nothing higher than that. We have achieved this in a relatively short period of time by demonstrating political will on both sides and by bringing our countries and peoples as closer together as possible. I am confident that both in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, the public in our countries is closely following the progress we are making and rejoicing along with us.

I would like to express my special gratitude for respecting the memory of Heydar Aliyevich Aliyev. Two years ago, when I visited Tashkent, we opened a park named after him, his bas-relief together with you. Yesterday, visiting this place again, I thanked you for that deep inside again.

Of course, I would like to express words of admiration for Uzbekistan's development. I have visited both Khiva and Samarkand, and I also visited Samarkand many years ago. My recent visit is further evidence of the wise policy you are pursuing in the country's development. This is evident in the transformation of cities, the capital and regions of Uzbekistan are flourishing. Today, Uzbekistan is a reputable member of the international community. Your country has a strong say not only in its region but also globally. All of this, of course, is underpinned by economic growth. You have managed to completely restructure economic relations in the country and modernize this and indeed all other sectors.

I would also like to specifically congratulate you on the historic victory of the athletes of brotherly Uzbekistan. We rejoiced at their victories just as we did in our own. Eight gold medals, first place among Muslim countries, and 13th place globally – this historic achievement testifies to the great attention you have given to the development of sports.

Within the framework of today's meeting we will hear, of course, from members of our delegations. I would like to emphasize the importance, as you noted, of holding the climate conference. Of course, we are looking forward to seeing you and working in a bilateral format. The conference is indeed an important event, but significant work will also be carried out next year when we will essentially chair this process. Of course, there are a lot of climate-related issues in our region and Central Asia, and we are ready to actively cooperate bilaterally. In principle, this cooperation has already begun.

So, I would like to thank you once again for the invitation, for your attention, and I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to make a state visit to Azerbaijan next year. While we will see each other again at COP in November, we look forward to welcoming you on a state visit next year as well. Thank you.