Dear participants of the Summit,

I would like to sincerely welcome you to the opening of the 28th Eurasian Economic Summit organized by the Marmara Group Strategic and Social Research Foundation.

The timing of this year’s Summit coincides with a significant event – the 40th anniversary of the Marmara Group Strategic and Social Research Foundation. On this occasion, I would like to congratulate all the members of the Foundation. Established in 1985 as a peace and dialogue initiative, the Foundation has today become one of the important platforms that greatly contributes to the expansion of global and regional cooperation, preservation of peace and stability, and the promotion of intercultural dialogue by bringing together influential politicians, pundits, economists, representatives of academic circles, and business people.

I would like to emphasize the contributions of the Marmara Group Foundation and its head, the esteemed Akkan Suver, to the expansion of relations between Azerbaijan and Turkiye.

National Leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev always highly appreciated the mission of the Marmara Group Foundation and supported its initiatives. It should be noted that it was on the initiative of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev that Eurasian Economic Summits started in 1998. In the same year, Heydar Aliyev was elected honorary chairman of the Marmara Group Foundation.

It is a great honor for us that the “Turkic World Award” in memory of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev is one of the 16 awards established on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Marmara Group Foundation. It is a particular pleasure that the award dedicated to the National Leader was presented to the world-famous scientist, Nobel Prize winner and honorary member of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Aziz Sancar.

Today, the unity, brotherhood and solidarity between Azerbaijan and Turkiye are making an enormous contribution to the entire Turkic world. My dear brother, esteemed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made unparalleled contributions to the strengthening of the Azerbaijani-Turkish brotherhood and the expansion of our strategic alliance. Our exceptional interstate relations, which stem from a common history, rich national and spiritual values, as well as the unity of our peoples, are developing dynamically, contributing to prosperity, peace and security in the region and playing an important role for all of Eurasia.

This year's session of the Eurasian Economic Summit is dedicated to “A More Humane World - Dialogue for a Livable World.” Regardless of the field, dialogue acts as an important stabilizing factor and bridge in both interstate relations and interpersonal contacts. In Azerbaijan, a country located at the crossroads of East and West, North and South, representatives of different nations and confessions have lived together for centuries in an atmosphere of friendship, brotherhood, mutual trust and understanding. Preserving the traditions of friendship between peoples, interfaith dialogue, multiculturalism and tolerance is not only a way of life for us, but also one of the priorities of Azerbaijan’s public policy. Our country also supports harmonious relations between cultures on the global level and takes initiatives on the basis of inter-civilizational dialogue in the interests of achieving mutual understanding.

Azerbaijan is doing its utmost to establish lasting peace in the South Caucasus and ensure socioeconomic prosperity. I do believe that historical conditions have been created for this region to become a place of peace and cooperation.

In an era of new challenges facing humanity and increasing fragmentation and tension in the system of international relations, the role of dialogue in ensuring peace, security and peaceful coexistence in the world is undeniable. Having chaired the Non-Aligned Movement for four years and COP29 since November last year, Azerbaijan has spared no effort to eliminate the atmosphere of mistrust that had formed between the Global South and the Global North for many years, to build a bridge of dialogue between them and to establish mutual understanding. It was the balanced position taken by Azerbaijan that led to the achievement of the “Baku Breakthrough” at COP29, which gave a positive impetus to global climate action and was a triumph of multilateralism.

I am convinced that this year’s Eurasian Economic Summit will be an important platform for a fruitful discussion, an exchange of ideas and experiences, and coordination of efforts on economy, energy, digitalization, artificial intelligence, healthcare, environment and other topical issues and new cooperation opportunities.

Once again, I congratulate all members of the Marmara Group Strategic and Social Research Foundation on the occasion of this anniversary, and wish the Foundation further success and new achievements. I also wish the Summit the best of luck.

Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, 5 May 2025