Thanking the President of Turkey for the opportunity to meet him, Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova communicated to him the greetings and best wishes of President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan.

According to Mrs Gafarova, Azerbaijan and Turkey always support each other in all the fateful matters just as much as they count on each other inasmuch as such matters are concerned.

‘The people of Azerbaijan met with great appreciation the statements made by you personally, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu and the Minister of National Defence Hulusi Akar about the provocation of Armenia towards the Tovuz Province on 12 July. We could sense invariably the support of the brotherly Turkey and we thank you and the members of the Turkish Government for having expressed your support unequivocally. It is clear to us that the developments in the region pose serious threats to Turkey. All the greater is the Azerbaijani society’s appreciation of how resolutely the Turkish State and Your Excellency stand up to such hazards. Your struggle in Syria, Iraq and Libya as well as in the Black, Mediterranean and Aegean seas is waged to protect the well-founded rights of the Turkish nation. We are well aware of that. A few days ago, the President of the Azerbaijan Republic Mr Ilham Aliyev remarked while receiving the newly-appointed ambassador of Greece to Azerbaijan that we, Azerbaijan, are standing by Turkey in this struggle and will be supporting the Turkish Republic come what may. After all, Turkey is not merely a strategic partner of ours – it is a brother state. The sincere friendship bonds between the leaders of Azerbaijan and the Turkish Republic, Mr Ilham Aliyev and yourself, as well as the brotherly ties between our countries create an added impulse for our relations and mutual support,’ Mrs Gafarova was saying.

She then congratulated President Erdogan on the new offshore gas-field find, noting that this discovery would play a material role in meeting the brotherly states’ demand in energy resources.

Speaking in his turn, President Erdogan wished the newly-elected Parliament of Azerbaijan every success and asked Mrs Gafarova to give his best regards and finest wishes to President Ilham Aliyev.

 Turkey and Azerbaijan are two brother countries, Mr Erdogan reiterated.

‘The joy of Azerbaijan is our joy and Azerbaijan’s woes are our woes, too. Our countries take the common stance on the international platforms and support each other in vital matters invariably. The sheer example of this is set by the words that President Ilham Aliyev said as he was accepting the credentials of the inbound ambassador of Greece to Azerbaijan. For that we again thank the Azerbaijani nation with President Ilham Aliyev at the head. Turkey will always be by Azerbaijan’s side – this will be so from now on, too,’ Mr Erdogan said.

Bringing up the joint economic projects that the two countries are implementing in the region, Mr Erdogan mentioned the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars undertakings as components of this collaboration. He also mentioned with pleasure the interaction between the parliaments of the fraternal countries, adding that the parliaments of Azerbaijan and Turkey have extensive opportunities to act together and advance shoulder to shoulder in the international organisations.

 The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis